Pensioner Water and Sewerage Concession in South Australia

What the Water and Sewerage Concession Covers

ConcessionsSA administers a separate water rate concession and sewerage rate concession for eligible South Australians. These are applied directly to your SA Water quarterly bills — they are not cash payments like the COLC.

For 2026–27:

• Water concession (homeowner-occupier): $304.12 minimum to $484.80 maximum per year
• Sewerage concession (homeowner-occupier): Up to $228.12 per year
• Combined maximum: $712.92 per year

The water concession is calculated as 30% of your total eligible water charges, clamped between the statutory floor and ceiling. If 30% of your bill falls between $304.12 and $484.80, that is your concession. If it exceeds $484.80, you are capped at the maximum.

How the Calculation Works

Standard homeowner: Your total annual water bill (supply charge plus all usage tiers) is multiplied by 0.30. The result is then compared against the minimum and maximum thresholds.

An owner-occupier with a $1,250 annual water bill: 30% is $375, which sits between the $304.12 floor and $484.80 ceiling. Concession applied: $375 ($93.75 per quarterly bill).

A high-usage household with a $1,800 annual bill: 30% is $540, which exceeds the $484.80 ceiling. Concession applied: $484.80 (capped at maximum).

A low-usage household with a $900 annual bill: 30% is $270, which falls below the $304.12 floor. Concession applied: $304.12 (boosted to minimum).

The sewerage concession is simpler — it is a flat credit up to $228.12 per year for homeowner-occupiers. Tenants are excluded from the sewerage concession regardless of their card status.

Tenant Rules

Tenants are eligible for the water concession, but at different rates depending on what their lease requires them to pay:

• Tenants paying supply and usage: $304.12 to $484.80 per year (same as homeowners)
• Tenants paying usage charges only: $197.20 to $377.90 per year

No tenant qualifies for the sewerage concession.

Top-Up Payments for Regional and Private Water Customers

If you are not connected to SA Water — for example, you receive water through a council Community Wastewater Management System (CWMS) or a private supplier — the standard automatic billing credit does not apply. Instead, you can claim a retrospective top-up payment from ConcessionsSA.

Qualifying thresholds for a top-up claim (based on prior financial year water expenditure):

• Homeowner or full-lease tenant: total charges exceeded $1,013.75
• Usage-only tenant: total charges exceeded $657.35

Submit copies of all paid water invoices to ConcessionsSA. Top-up claims for 2025–26 expenditure are processed during the 2026–27 cycle. This is a manual process with a high failure rate — many eligible people simply do not know to submit.

How to Apply

You do not apply to SA Water directly. The water and sewerage concessions are assessed through the same ConcessionsSA Household Concessions Application that covers the Cost of Living Concession and ESL remission. One form, one submission.

Once approved, ConcessionsSA sends an electronic entitlement file to SA Water, which automatically calculates and applies the credit to your quarterly bills.

Putting It in Context

Combined with the $270.60 COLC, the $46 ESL remission, and any council-level relief, the total package of concessions available to an SA pensioner homeowner can exceed $1,000 per year. The SA Council Rates Help guide walks through all of these programs in one cross-agency workflow so nothing gets missed.

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