Every Australian household and more than one million small businesses will receive $300 off their power bills, as the federal government tries to ease bill shock fuelled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The package is part of cost-of-living measures in Tuesday’s federal budget, with the government planning to spend $3.5 billion in the 2024/25 financial year.
The $300 rebates will apply to more than 10 million households over the course of 2024/25.
Energy companies will apply $75 credits to each quarterly power bill under the rebate scheme.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the energy rebates would put downward pressure on inflation.
“In 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered the biggest shock to global energy prices since the 1970s,” he said in his budget speech to parliament on Tuesday.
“We know Australian families and businesses felt this pain, and that’s why we’ve stepped in to help.
“Electricity prices would have risen 15 per cent in the last year if not for our efforts, instead they rose two per cent.”
Eligible small businesses will also get slightly more relief, with $325 to be taken off their bills over the course of a year.
Government modelling predicts the energy bill relief measure will see household power bills 17 per cent lower than standing offers put forward by power providers.
The rollout of the energy rebate scheme in the budget is an expansion of previous government measures, which provided similar relief to concession holders.
Treasury forecasts have estimated the energy rebates, along with rent assistance payments, would reduce headline inflation by half a percentage point in 2024/25.