It’s worth looking to see what rebates are available when you are ready to make the change to energy efficiency in your home. See the table below for a summary and links to the current national and state energy rebates. For information on water rebates click here
| STATE | TYPE | INFORMATION |
| All States | Renewable power incentives | Households across Australia that install a small scale renewable energy system or eligible hot water system may be able to receive a benefit under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) to help with the purchase cost. Installing an eligible system allows the creation of Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs), an electronic form of currency with a value that can be redeemed by selling or assigning them. Find out more here |
| ACT | Home energy assessment and rebate | Closure of ACT Government HEAT Program. The Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate advised that the Home Energy Advice Team (HEAT) audit program and advisory service closed 20 April 2013. The Directorate is currently developing a new residential energy advisory service, which will be launched later in 2013. The terms and conditions of the HEAT program give households that have participated in the program six months from the date of their home energy audit to claim their rebate. For more information, email actsmart@act.gov.au or call 6205 2504. |
| ACT | Home energy self-assessment kit | ACT residents can access a Home Energy Action Kit to perform a self-assessment of their home’s energy use. You can borrow a kit from any branch of the ACT Public Library and use it to develop your own Home Energy Action Plan. The kits contain equipment, instructions and worksheets that will help you to find practical ways of saving energy around your home to reduce your energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions. Find out more here |
| NSW | Home energy assessment | NSW residents who are social housing tenants, energy utility hardship customers or who hold an eligible concession card can improve their household energy with the Home Power Savings Program. Every eligible household that joins the Home Power Savings Program will receive a FREE home power assessment by an energy expert to identify ways to save power in the home, a Power Savings Kit to help kick start savings which includes items such as a stand-by saver power board, energy efficient light bulbs, low flow showerhead, tap aerator etc., and a Personal Power Savings Action Plan. Find out more here |
| NSW | Fridge buy back scheme | Fridge Buyback is an energy savings program that actually pays you to help the environment and reduce your power bills by giving up your old second fridge. Old fridges are one of the biggest energy users in the home, consuming up to three times the energy of new fridges. Running your second fridge adds an average of $300 a year to your power bills and results in greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere. Fridge Buyback provides regular collection runs to selected areas of Metropolitan Sydney, The Illawarra, The Shoalhaven, The Central Coast, Newcastle, Maitland, Lake Macquarie, Port Stephens, Singleton, Cessnock and The Blue Mountains. Fridge Buyback is also undertaking a rural ‘fridge drop-off’ trial in Wingecarribee Shire Council. To participate in the program, your fridge must be a working second fridge that has been in regular use, is 200 litres (7.06 cubic feet) or more in size and built before 1996. Fridge Buyback can also now take upright freezers that have been in regular use, are 200 litres or more in size and built before 1996. Fridge Buyback provides residents with free collections by professional removalists and a $35 rebate if the removal of the fridge involves 6 steps (stairs) or less. The fridge is collected for free if there are between 7 and 20 steps but no rebate is available. A fee will apply only if the property has more than 20 steps. The fridges collected are professionally degassed and the metals recycled. Find out more here |
| TAS | Aurora Electricity Feed-in Tariff | Renewable energy grid connection, known as net metering, enables customers using solar power, wind energy or hydro power to use Aurora’s grid like a large battery; drawing energy when they need it and selling it back into the grid when they have an excess. Customers are billed only for the net energy that is imported, plus standing charges. The electricity bill is calculated as the difference between the amount of electricity you export from your renewable energy system and the amount you import from the grid. You only pay for the electricity you use that is over and above what your renewable energy system produces. Find out more here Update – Rebate ending
The Insulation Rebate will close on 30th June 2013. Applications for rebates for installations completed by that date will be accepted up until 5.15 PM on Monday 1st July 2013. |
| TAS | Hobart Council Insulation Rebates
(closing 30/6/13) |
The scheme offers a one-off rate rebate of 30% of the total cost of the installed insulation, up to a maximum of $300. Will be provided to landlords installing eligible ceiling insulation into an uninsulated or poorly insulated rental property built prior to 1991. Find out more here |
| QLD | Electricity feed-in tariff | The Queensland Government Solar Bonus Scheme pays eligible customers for the surplus electricity generated from solar photovoltaic (PV) panel systems, which is exported to the Queensland electricity grid. The scheme compensates customers for energy exported to the electricity grid whenever they generate more energy than they use – not just the balance at the end of the quarter, but whenever generation exceeds consumption during the day. Customers wishing to join the scheme will need a solar PV system installed on their premises and have it connected to the electricity grid. Find out more here |
| SA | Electricity feed-in tariff | If you install a solar PV system, you may be eligible to receive payment for any electricity you export back to the grid from SA Power Networks. The scheme is open to electricity customers that consume less than 160MWh per annum (defined as small customers), including households, small businesses, community buildings and churches. The average household uses less than 10MWh per annum. You will also need to have, or be planning to install, a qualifying solar PV system. The feed-in tariff you may be eligible to receive depends on the date SA Power Networks approved permission to connect your solar PV system to the grid, and in some cases the dates your system and import/export meter are installed. Find out more here
Amendments to scheme from 1 February 2013 Solar customers who received approval from SA Power Networks for an upgrade prior to 1 October 2011 will be permitted to carry out and complete that upgrade before 1 October 2013 to remain in the feed-in scheme, however, they will only be entitled to receive 16c/kWh for future electricity fed into the grid for the whole of their system until 2016, subject to the other eligibility criteria including the daily export limitation of 45kWh/day. |
| SA | Home energy incentives | The Residential Energy Efficiency Scheme (REES) is designed to assist households achieve greenhouse gas reductions. Under the REES, energy retailers with 5,000 or more electricity or gas residential customers will be required to provide incentives for South Australian households to achieve greenhouse gas reductions and potentially lower their energy bills through reduced energy consumption. It does this through establishing obligations to be met by electricity and gas retailers. Find out more here |
| SA | Solar Hot Water Rebate
(Ending 30/6/13) |
If you’re a concession card holder in South Australia, and you own and occupy your home, you can be paid a rebate of $500 to help with the cost of installing a new solar hot water or electric heat pump hot water system. Find out more here
Update – Scheme ending The scheme is ending on 30 June, 2013. Solar hot water services installed after 30 June will not be eligible for a rebate. Applications for installations completed by 30 June 2013 close on Wednesday 31 July 2013. Rebate payments will end on Thursday 15 August 2013. |
| WA | Solar Hot Water Rebate
(Ending 30/6/13) |
The Solar Water Heater Subsidy provides rebates of $500 or $700 to Western Australian households who install environmentally friendly, gas-boosted solar water heaters. The scheme is currently set to run until 1 June 2013. Find out more here
Update – Scheme Ending All applications to the SWHS Scheme must be received by the Public Utilities Office by 1 June 2013. Applications received after 1 June 2013 will not be eligible for the subsidy – without exception. Solar water heaters must be purchased and installed within the 12 months prior to a complete rebate application being received by the Public Utilities Office. |
| VIC | Electric heater replacement discount | The Gas Heater Discount for Concession Card Holders provides a $700 point-of-sale discount to eligible Victorian households that replace an electric heater with an approved gas space heater. The discount is only available at point of sale off the full supply and installation costs of a gas space heater through participating gas heater retailers. Find out more here |
| VIC | Gas Hot Water rebate
(Ending 31/5/13) |
The Gas Hot Water Rebate provides Victorian households with up to $400, or $700 for concession card holders, to replace their existing wood-fired or peak-rate electric hot water heater with a natural gas or LPG hot water system. Additional rebates of $300 are also available to help with the costs of installing gas hot water systems into some flats and apartments. Find out more hereUpdate – Rebate Ending
Rebate available until May 31, 2013. Installation cannot occur unless there is a valid pre-approval in place by 31 May 2013. The rebate will only be paid if a valid pre-approval is obtained from Sustainability Victoria by the participating supplier prior to installation. |
| VIC | Energy Saver Incentive Scheme | The Energy Saver Incentive Scheme helps Victorian households save energy and money with a range of discounts and special offers on selected energy-saving products and services. The program works by setting a state-wide target for energy savings which results in a range of energy efficient products and services being made available to homes and businesses at a discount. The first three year phase of the scheme will save more than 8.1 million tonnes of greenhouse gas, the equivalent of making around 675,000 households carbon neutral for a year. Energy Saver Incentive products must be professionally installed by a participatingbusiness.Incentives for the purchase of some appliances may be available at point of sale at participating retailers. Remember to always check with your participating business before you make your purchase. Find out more here |
| VIC | Solar hot water rebate – bushfire affected homes | The Solar Hot Water Rebate – Bushfire Affected Homesscheme can help Victorian households rebuilding homes after the 2009 bushfires. A rebate of up to $1,600 is available to replace a gas or non-electric water heater with a gas-boosted solar hot water system. The Solar Hot Water Rebate only applies to new homes and is only available to people whose residences were destroyed as a result of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires. Find out more here |
| VIC | Solar hot water rebate – metropolitan Melbourne
(Ending 31/5/13) |
The Victorian Government Solar Hot Water rebate can help households in metropolitan Melbourne with a point of sale discount of up to $1,500 to replace or improve the efficiency of an existing hot water system. The rebate is a point-of-sale discount off the supply and installation costs and is only available through participating suppliers. Find out more hereUpdate – Rebate Ending
Rebate available until May 31, 2013. To be eligible for the rebate, you must buy an eligible replacement solar hot water system from a supplier registered with Sustainability Victoria by 31 May 2013. After this time, you can continue to apply for incentives through the Victorian Energy Saver Scheme and the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme. |
| VIC | Solar hot water rebate – regional Victoria
(Ending 31/5/13) |
The Victorian Government Solar Hot Water rebate can help households in regional Victoria with a point of sale discount of up to $1,600 to replace or improve the efficiency of an existing hot water system. The rebate is a point-of-sale discount off the supply and installation costs and is only available through participating suppliers. Find out more here Update – Rebate Ending
Rebate available until May 31, 2013. To be eligible for the rebate, you must buy an eligible replacement solar hot water system from a supplier registered with Sustainability Victoria by 31 May 2013. After this time, you can continue to apply for incentives through the Victorian Energy Saver Scheme and the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme. |
| NT | Electricity feed-in tariff | The Northern Territory (NT) Grid Buy Back Rate rewards households that install solar power (photovoltaic – PV) renewable energy systems by paying them for the electricity they generate. The NT system is a gross feed-in tariff scheme which means that you are paid for each unit of electricity that you feed back into the grid. Find out more here |
| NT | Solar hot water installation rebate | Northern Territory households may be eligible for a Solar Hot Water Retrofit Rebate of up to $1,000 to help with the costs of installing a solar hot water system. The rebate is designed to help you with the installation costs when replacing your electric hot water system with a solar hot water system. Find out more here |
| NT | Home Energy Rebates | Northern Territory households can claim a 50 per cent rebate, up to the value of $200, on the cost and installation of selected energy-saving items. You may be eligible for a rebate on a range of items to save you energy and money including energy efficient light globes, fridge and freezer seals, power boards, timers and power usage meters. Find out more here |
Source: The Commonwealth of Australia (Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) http://www.livinggreener.gov.au/rebates-assistance; and The Alternative Technology Association http://www.ata.org.au/rebates/nsw-rebates.
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