Queensland Home Energy Emergency Assistance scheme


What is the Queensland Home Energy Emergency Assistance scheme?

On 1 March 2008, the Queensland government announced the introduction of the Home Energy Emergency Assistance scheme as a safety net to assist eligible low-income households to maintain access to essential services such as electricity and gas.

The Queensland Government, through the Electricity Rebate scheme, provides financial assistance to eligible pensioners and seniors to help them meet their domestic utility costs.

Origin in accordance with the Electricity Industry Code and the Gas Industry Code are required to offer customers experiencing payment difficulties options to meet their financial obligations.

General Principles:

  • Assistance is available for electricity and reticulated natural gas accounts
  • Assistance is provided to eligible householders suffering a short-term (within the last 12 months) financial crisis
  • Applicants will be entitled to apply to the scheme for assistance every tow years
  • Assistance would not normally be provided if the household income/savings are sufficient to pay the account, particularly by an instalment plan with their Energy Retailer
  • Final billed accounts will not be considered under the Scheme

Who is eligible?

Eligible applications are those who:
  • Hold a current concession card, or who’s base income is no more than the equivalent to the Commonwealth maximum income rate for part age pensioners
  • Reside at their principal place of residence
  • Financially responsible for the payment of the bill
  • Unable to pay their debt and risk disconnection
And who meet one or more of the following criteria:
  • A significant increase in energy use because of unforseen circumstances
  • A significant decrease in income or high unavoidable expenses
  • A natural or family disaster where it is impossible to absorb the resulting expenses
  • The cost of shelter is more than 30% of the household income, or
  • The cost of energy usage is more than 10% of the household income

How to get started

Customers experiencing financial difficulties and who meet the above criteria can simply call 13 24 61 and ask about Home Energy Emergency Assistance (HEEA). Our customer service staff will put them in touch with our Community Liaison Team, which is specially trained to assist with the HEEA application.

Once the Community Liaison Team has initiated the request an application form will be issued to the customer to be completed and returned to the Department of Communities.

All collection action on the account will be suspended while the HEEA application is being processed.

Further information

For further information or support, contact our team on:
Natural gas and electricity: 13 24 61
Interpreter service: 13 14 50
Queensland Government - Department of Communities: 13 13 04