More than 95,000 Tasmanians could be eligible for energy concessions they do not know about, with a scheme targeting residents of retirement villages, aged care facilities and caravan parks entering its first full financial year today.
Many of these complexes receive a single energy bill for the whole site rather than each resident having their own account with a power company.
People on these arrangements, known as embedded networks, have historically missed out on the concessions available to regular electricity customers.
Eligible residents can now claim an annual electricity concession of $673 through Service Tasmania.
Those with medical needs such as heating, cooling or life support equipment like dialysis machines can apply for additional payments on top of the base amount.
Treasurer Eric Abetz visited the Oak Tree Retirement Village in Kingston to raise awareness of the program, saying many eligible residents still did not know it existed.
“A government can always do more in this area and that’s why we’re doing a press conference today in the hope that more people will be reached,” Abetz said.
He confirmed the measure would be permanent.
Oak Tree resident Denise Phillips said she had no idea the concession existed until an energy services company visited the village to explain it.
“I had no idea what to even expect. I was told to fill out the form and about two weeks later I got a nice little deposit of over six hundred and fifty dollars or something,” she said.
Phillips said her quarterly power bill was around $190 despite running air conditioning heavily, meaning the concession covered close to a full year of electricity costs.
“We didn’t know about it prior to that,” she said.
The concession was introduced partway through the 2025-26 financial year. To claim it, eligible residents need to fill out an application form and take it to Service Tasmania.
