Additional Cost of Living Concession payment hitting bank accounts this week

Payments have begun rolling out to households who received the State Government’s 2023-24 Cost of Living Concession, with all payments to be made by the end of the week.

The additional Cost of Living Concession payment was funded in a $51.5 million commitment announced in the 2024-25 State Budget.

It will provide immediate and targeted support to South Australians on low or fixed incomes at the onset of winter when energy bills increase for many households.

Everyone who received the 2023-24 Cost of Living Concession, whether a homeowner, tenant or Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holder – will receive the same amount of $243.90.

This additional payment will be paid automatically into bank accounts by electronic funds transfer (EFT). People can check the additional payment has landed in their bank account by looking for a payment of $243.90 with the payment description ‘Concessions COLC’.

People whose bank details have changed in the past year should update them by completing the online household concessions form or contacting the Concessions Hotline 1800 307 758.

This once-off additional Cost of Living Concession payment is part of the $266.2 million cost of living relief package announced in the 2024-25 State Budget.

This package also included $36.6 million over four years to permanently double the Cost of Living Concession for tenants and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders so they get paid the same as homeowners from 2024-25.

This means that from 1 July 2024, all eligible recipients will get the new standard amount of $255.60, with this payment to be made from August.

For more information and eligibility, go to: www.sa.gov.au/concessions

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Quotes

Attributable to Peter Malinauskas

We announced the State Budget a little over a week ago and already we are seeing this additional Cost of Living Concession payment of $243.90 hitting the bank accounts of more than 210,000 South Australian households.

This is relief targeted to those South Australians who need it most, at a time when they need it most.

Importantly, we are providing significant additional ongoing support for those recipients who are renters and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders.

From July, they will receive double what they previously received.

We made an election commitment in 2022 to review the concessions system in South Australia to make it fairer and more accessible, and we are delivering.

Attributable to Stephen Mullighan

Our cost of living relief is helping those on low and fixed oncomes, renters, families with school children and those trying to buy their first home. This is exactly what governments should do when times get tough.

Managing our budget responsibly means we have the capacity to help when it’s needed most.

The Liberals spent the dying days of their former government criticising us for promising to help people but then demanded we do more once they were in Opposition. In contrast to Liberal flip-flopping, we have been consistent in promising help and delivering help in tough times.

Attributable to Ross Womersley, CEO, South Australian Council of Social Service

SACOSS and the broader community services sector in South Australia welcome these concessions initiatives from the Malinauskas Government.

In 2021 our major State of Concessions report found the state’s concessions system was fundamentally broken – above all else, it was unfair and wasn’t helping as many people in need that it should have been.

The Labor Party committed to reviewing the concessions system in the leadup to the 2022 election, and this review was conducted in 2023.

As part of the review we hosted a community panel made up of everyday South Australians – some of whom receive concessions, and some who don’t – and we are very pleased that the government has listened to the findings of the panel and many other stakeholders, and made the concessions system fairer and more equitable for those South Australians who need this assistance the most.

These measures are a significant and welcome package of reforms that will provide real and timely assistance to South Australians in financial stress.

Attributable to Miranda Starke, Chief Executive, Council on the Ageing SA

We welcome the additional Cost-of-Living Concession payment and we were glad to hear that renters and Commonwealth Senior Health Card holders will have their concession amount doubled to match that of homeowners. COTA SA were pleased to be a part of the State Government’s concession review and to bring the voices of older South Australians to the table.

More older people than ever before are retiring with a mortgage, and a growing number are renting. They are having to make hard decisions about whether they heat or cool their home, put food on their table or fuel in their car.

This relief measure is particularly important for the growing population of older renters, who are amongst the most financially disadvantaged, as they juggle the increasing cost of living, often on low and fixed incomes.