Where did the energy rebate go? Why your 2026 bill has no credit

The short version: it ended, and nothing replaced it nationally

If you have opened a 2026 electricity bill and gone looking for the government credit that used to sit near the bottom, it is not missing by mistake. The federal Energy Bill Relief Fund — the scheme that applied automatic rebates straight onto household and small-business electricity bills — ended on 31 December 2025. There is no universal federal credit being applied to bills in 2026.

That matters more than the dollar figure suggests, because the credit was applied automatically. You did not have to claim it, prove anything or fill in a form; it simply appeared. Its removal is therefore invisible until the bill lands, and for many households the first sign is a bill that looks higher than expected even though nothing about their usage changed.

What remains is a patchwork of state and territory rebates and concessions. Those are real and can be worth more than the federal credit was — but almost none of them are automatic. You generally have to be eligible, and you generally have to register.

What the federal scheme actually was

The Energy Bill Relief Fund ran in stages. In the 2025–26 Budget the Australian Government announced a $1.8 billion extension of six months, under which households and eligible small businesses received up to $150 in rebates applied to electricity bills from 1 July 2025 through to the end of 2025. It was paid through retailers rather than to you, which is why it appeared as a line on the bill rather than as money in your account.

Because it was applied at the retailer, it also quietly flattered every bill it touched. A household comparing this year against last year is comparing a bill with a credit against one without, which exaggerates how much prices themselves have moved. If your bill feels sharply worse, it is worth separating the part that is the missing credit from the part that is genuinely your rates or your usage.

What you can still claim — and why most people miss it

State and territory concession schemes continue, and they are where the remaining money is. They typically cover pensioners, seniors, low-income households, concession card holders and people with specific medical needs. Victoria, for example, runs an annual electricity concession applied as a percentage off usage and service costs, and South Australia has an arrangement giving eligible concession recipients a discount off electricity usage and supply charges through a nominated retailer.

The catch is that these are almost never automatic. Eligibility usually requires registering your concession card with your energy retailer, or applying through a state portal. A household that moves, switches retailers, or simply never registered can be eligible for years and receive nothing — the retailer does not know about your card unless you tell them.

This is the single highest-value ten minutes available to most households right now. Our free energy rebate and concession finder lists what applies in your state and what you need to claim it, and our rebates and concessions guide explains the eligibility rules in more detail.

Separating the missing credit from a real price change

If you want to know why this bill is worse than the last one, the honest method is to compare the components rather than the totals. A missing rebate, a rate change, a longer billing period and a colder quarter all push the total the same direction, and they are indistinguishable if you only look at the final number.

Put two or three bills side by side and check four things: the number of days billed, the total kilowatt-hours used, the rates charged, and any credits applied. A bill that is higher on days and kilowatt-hours is a usage story. A bill that is higher at identical usage is a rates story. A bill that is higher only because a credit vanished is neither, and switching plans will not fix it — though it may still be worth doing.

EnergySorted does this comparison for you across every bill you upload, and then costs the whole market against your real usage so you can see whether your rates are actually competitive or whether you had simply been insulated by a government credit. Upload a bill to check, or get a rough figure first with the free electricity bill estimator.

If the bill is genuinely unaffordable

Retailers are required to offer hardship assistance, and asking for it does not affect your credit rating or your ability to switch later. Payment plans, extended due dates and referral to financial counselling are all standard, and contacting your retailer early is materially better than waiting for a disconnection notice.

Our what to do if you cannot afford your electricity bill guide sets out what to ask for and in what order, and the energy rebate and concession finder covers what you may already be entitled to before you need to negotiate anything.