Energy Bill Relief Fund

The Commonwealth Government has announced a $1.8 billion extension of the 2024-25 Energy Bill Relief Fund. Victorian households and eligible small businesses with electricity bills may receive up to $150 in Energy Bill Relief from 1 July 2025.

Rebates will be automatically applied to your electricity bill in two $75 quarterly instalments by your energy relater. Most customers do not need to take any action to receive their Energy Bill Relief.

As part of the extension, eligible customers in embedded networks can apply for their payment of $150 through the Victorian Energy Compare website from 1 July 2025.

To access the energy bill relief rebate, households must:

• hold an active electricity account with an energy retailer for their place of residence
• use the account for domestic (not commercial) purposes.

To access the Energy Bill Relief, small businesses must have:

• an active ABN as listed on the Australian Business Register
• a separately metered business tariff
• an annual electricity consumption below 40 MWh.

Households

As part of the extension Victorian households will receive their Energy Bill Relief in two quarterly instalments of $75. The first instalment will be applied from 1 July 2025 and the second from 1 October 2025.

Small business

As part of the extension eligible Victorian small businesses will receive Energy Bill Relief as a one-off rebate of $150, commencing 1 July 2025.

The Energy Bill Relief rebate should appear on your electricity bill in the 'Understand your bill' section or where your retailer provides an itemised breakdown of any payments or credits.

You should see a row with the 'Australian Government Energy Relief' description and the rebate amount.

Yes. The Energy Bill Relief extension is available to concession card holders.

No, Energy Bill Relief only applies to electricity accounts.

Renting households and small businesses can access the Energy Bill Relief if they meet the eligibility requirements.

Changing retailer or moving house will not affect your household’s access to Energy Bill Relief if you still have an active electricity account on the relevant dates.

For example, if your household changes retailer after the first $75 rebate, you will receive the remaining $75 rebate on your bill under the next retailer.

No. Energy Bill Relief will be applied on an account basis. Customer accounts with multiple meters (multiple addresses connected) can only receive the once.

If you receive multiple bills for the account, your retailer will determine which bill receives the rebate.

No. To receive Energy Bill Relief, a customer must be separately metered and charged for their electricity supply/consumption.

No. The $150 will be applied on an account basis (i.e. one rebate per small business customer account, regardless of how many sites/premises are connected to the account).

If you are a sole trader that is operating a business from home and your consumption is separately metered (i.e. on a small business tariff), you will be eligible for Energy Bill Relief.

If your consumption is on a residential tariff, you will not be eligible for Energy Bill Relief for business.

Yes. The Energy Bill Relief will still be applied to the electricity account and any credit should be carried over to future bills or manage the credit in line with existing retailer policies.

No. The rebates are not taxable or relevant for GST purposes. The rebate should be applied after the GST-inclusive total has been calculated.

As part of the energy bill relief extension, Victorian households will receive their $75 rebates from the below dates:

• 1 July 2025
• 1 October 2025

The exact timing of the rebates may vary depending on your retailer and billing cycle. Please contact your electricity retailer if you have not received your rebate.

As part of the energy bill relief extension, eligible small businesses in Victoria will receive a one-off rebate of $150 from 1 July 2025. Please contact your retailer if you have any questions about the timing of your rebate.

Yes. Households in embedded networks (such as where you receive electricity from your strata or landlord in a caravan park, apartment building or retirement home or village) are eligible for the additional $150 bill relief payment.

Households in embedded networks can apply for the bill relief payment on the Victorian Energy Compare website between 1 July and 31 August 2025.

The Energy Bill Relief extension payment for embedded network households will be provided as a one-off payment of $150 and will be paid via bank cheque or Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). In certain circumstances, it may be necessary for your payment to be made via bank cheque.

To reduce administrative burden and due to the complexity of embedded networks and system limitations, households in embedded networks will receive one-off payments of $150.

If you live in a retirement village, caravan park or some apartment buildings, it is likely that you receive your electricity through an embedded network. Use the following steps to determine whether your property is in an embedded network:

• check your electricity bill or invoice. If you can see a National Metering Identifier (NMI) on your bill, you are unlikely to live in an embedded network
• speak to the body corporation or property manager and ask if your property is part of an embedded network for your electricity supply
• you can visit the Essential Services Commission public register to check whether you are in an embedded network. Please note that some embedded networks are not included in the list.

No. Households in embedded networks can access the Energy Bill Relief extension payment via an application on the Victorian Energy Compare website between 1 July and 31 August 2025.

Households will receive a one-off payment of $150 which will be paid directly to the customer via cheque payment or Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).

If you are an embedded network customer of Energy Locals, Momentum, Origin or WinConnect you will automatically receive your Energy Bill Relief payment through your retailer.

Yes. Small businesses in embedded networks that have a separately metered business tariff and an annual electricity consumption below 40 MWh are eligible for the $150 extension payment.

Small businesses in embedded networks can apply for the additional $150 bill relief payment on the Victorian Energy Compare website between 1 July and 31 August 2025.

The Energy Bill Relief payment for embedded network small businesses will be provided as a one-off payment of $150 and will be paid via bank cheque.

To reduce administrative burden and due to the complexity of embedded networks and system limitations, small businesses in embedded networks will receive a one-off payment of $150.

No. Small businesses in embedded networks can access the Energy Bill Relief extension payment via an application on Victorian Energy Compare. Eligible small businesses will receive a one-off payment of $150 which will be paid directly to the customer.

If you are an embedded network customer of Energy Locals, Momentum, Origin or WinConnect you will automatically receive your Energy Bill Relief payment through your retailer.