Help to pay your water and sewerage rates at your principal place of residence is available to eligible South Australians on low or fixed incomes.
People living in a residential park can apply for a combined concession for energy, water and sewerage - Residential Park Concessions.
Apply or update your details
The online form covers four household concessions, including the water and sewerage concession.
You can use it to apply or to update your details with ConcessionsSA - eg address, energy account, or bank details.
You'll need your:
- Centrelink Customer Reference Number (CRN) or Department of Veterans' Affairs file number:
- if you don't have one of these - a copy of your most recent tax assessment
- most recent electricity and water bills
- most recent Notice of Emergency Services Levy Assessment (homeowners only)
- bank details (BSB and account number).
Who can apply
You must:
- own or rent your principal place of residence
- pay for water supply and/or all water usage
- hold an eligible card, receive an eligible Centrelink payment or meet low income provisions.
Asylum seekers can also be eligible - how to apply for concessions as an asylum seeker
Eligible cards
- Pensioner Concession Card
- Veteran Gold Card:
- Totally and Permanently Incapacitated (TPI)
- Extreme Disablement Adjustment (EDA)
- War Widow
- issued to a person with 80 or more overall impairment points under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004
- Low Income Health Care Card
Eligible Centrelink payments
- JobSeeker Payment
- Youth Allowance
- Parenting Payment
- Special Benefit
- Community Development Program (CDP)
- Self-Employment Allowance
- ABSTUDY
- Austudy
- Farm Household Allowance (FHA)
- War widow pension under legislation of the United Kingdom or New Zealand
Low income provisions
You must demonstrate that you and your spouse or domestic partner meet low-income provisions.
What happens next
How your concession is paid depends on how you are charged for water and sewerage.
Concession amount
Concession amounts are indexed each financial year.
Water
The water concession is calculated as up to 30% of your total water bill for a financial year, subject to the minimum and maximum amounts in the table below.
2024-25 amount (minimum to maximum) | |
|---|---|
| Homeowner-occupier | $250.00 to $398.40 |
| Tenants who pay for all water usage and supply charges | $250.00 to $398.40 |
| Tenants who pay for all water usage only | $162.20 to $310.60 |
You might need to apply for a top up payment to receive the maximum amount.
Sewerage
The current maximum sewerage rate remission is $162.20 a year.
Note: tenants are not eligible for a concession on sewerage rates.
How payments are made
- SA Water customers: your concession is applied directly to your water or sewerage account as a credit.
- Not with SA Water: your concession is paid into your bank account by electronic funds transfer (EFT).
- Council Community Wastewater Management Systems (CWMS) charges: Your sewerage concession is paid directly into your bank account by electronic funds transfer (EFT).
Tenants
Information about water and other charges should be included in your lease agreement. You could be separately billed for water supply and/or usage even if nothing is written in your agreement.
You might be charged quarterly or as part of your weekly rent.
Check your agreement or separate water bill for charges for:
- supply - a set quarterly amount
- usage - payment per kilolitre (kL) used
- excess or partial usage - charges for water above a set kL limit.
Top up payments
An additional annual payment made if your water bills for a full financial year exceed certain amounts.
SA Water customers
Top ups are automatically applied for eligible customers.
Not with SA Water
You must provide copies of all water bills for a financial year to apply for a top up. The bills must clearly show amounts charged for water.
Provide your water bills for the 2023-24 financial year now. Applications for 2024-25 bills open 1 July 2025.
Apply for a top up if you paid more than these amounts:
| 2023-24 | 2024-25 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tenants who pay only for all water usage | over $487.67 | over $540.67 |
| Tenants who pay for all water usage and supply charges | over $752.00 | over $833.33 |
| Homeowners with council or privately supplied water | over $752.00 | over $833.33 |
Phone the ConcessionsSA Hotline to check if you are eligible for a top up payment.
Contact ConcessionsSA
Email: concessions@sa.gov.au
Phone: 1800 307 758 - 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday
