NT Garbage Concession Amount by Council — Full 2026/27 Schedule
The Garbage Concession Is Separate From the Rates Concession
Many NT ratepayers claim the $200 council rates concession but miss the garbage concession entirely. They are two separate credits under the NT Concession Scheme, and both should appear on your rate notice if you are a registered NTCS member. The garbage concession is a fixed annual dollar amount that varies by council area — it is not a percentage of your waste charges.
2026/27 Garbage Concession Amounts by Council
Here is the full schedule for the current financial year:
| Council Area | Annual Garbage Concession |
|---|---|
| Wagait Shire | $150.00 |
| West Arnhem Regional Council | $120.00 |
| Elliott | $105.00 |
| Nhulunbuy | $100.80 |
| Timber Creek | $85.68 |
| Central Desert Regional Council | $75.00 |
| Nauiyu | $75.00 |
| Pine Creek | $67.00 |
| Borroloola | $61.96 |
| Alice Springs Town Council | $52.00 |
| City of Palmerston | $47.50 |
| City of Darwin | $46.25 |
| Katherine Town Council | $45.00 |
| Tennant Creek | $45.00 |
| Coomalie Community Government Council | $40.00 |
| Litchfield Council | $25.00 |
| Mataranka | $10.37 |
The variation is significant — a Wagait Shire ratepayer receives six times more garbage relief than someone in Litchfield. These amounts reflect differences in regional waste management costs and local council waste service charges.
How the Garbage Concession Is Applied
Like the rates concession, the garbage credit is applied automatically to your rate notice once the NTCRU has confirmed your membership and property registration with your council. You do not need to apply separately for the garbage concession — it comes as part of the same NTCS registration.
If the garbage concession is missing from your rate notice but the rates concession is there, contact the NTCRU on 1800 777 704 to check that the garbage component was transmitted to your council. Then contact your council's rates office to verify it was applied.
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Strata and Body Corporate Properties
If you live in a unit where garbage charges are billed through a body corporate or strata entity rather than directly on your individual rate notice, you may need to submit strata documentation and proof of payment to the NTCRU to claim the garbage concession as a reimbursement. The concession still applies — it just requires an extra documentation step.
Claiming Both Concessions
The combined value of the rates and garbage concessions ranges from $210.37 per year (Mataranka, with $200 rates plus $10.37 garbage) to $350 per year (Wagait Shire, with $200 rates plus $150 garbage). For most urban NT ratepayers, the total sits between $245 and $252.
Our NT Pensioner Rates Concessions guide includes a rate notice reconciler that checks both your rates credit and garbage credit against the correct amounts for your council area, so you can catch any missing deductions immediately.
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