Redland City Council Pensioner Rates Concession

What Redland Pensioners Get on Their Rates

Redland City Council offers one of the more generous pensioner concession packages in South East Queensland. If you hold a valid Pensioner Concession Card or DVA Gold Card and own your home in the Redlands, you can receive two layers of help on your rates notice.

The first is the state-funded Queensland Pensioner Rate Subsidy Scheme, which provides a 20% discount on your gross council rates, capped at $200 per year ($100 per half-year). Every eligible pensioner across Queensland gets this regardless of which council area they live in.

On top of that, Redland City Council funds its own local pensioner remission. For the 2026/27 rating year, the council remission is structured as follows:

• Full pension holders: $335 per year ($83.75 per quarter)
• Part pension holders: $167.50 per year ($41.875 per quarter)

That means a full pensioner in Redland can receive up to $535 per year in combined rate relief — the $200 state subsidy plus $335 from council. A part pensioner can receive up to $367.50.

The council remission increased from $320 in 2024/25 to $335 for 2026/27, so check that your latest rate notice reflects the current amount.

Who Qualifies

To receive both the state subsidy and the Redland council remission, you need to meet three requirements simultaneously:

1. Hold a qualifying card — either a Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) or a DVA Gold Card (including TPI, War Widow/Widower, and EDA variants). The card must show a Queensland address with a 'Q' prefix on your DVA card number. Queensland Seniors Cards, Health Care Cards, and Commonwealth Seniors Health Cards do not qualify.

2. Own the property — your name must appear on the title deed registered with Titles Queensland, and that name must match the council rating assessment.

3. Live in it as your main home — the property must be your principal place of residence. You cannot claim the concession on an investment property, a holiday house, or a home you own but rent out.

If you are temporarily away from home due to hospitalisation or respite care and the property is not rented during your absence, your principal place of residence status is preserved.

Retirement Villages in Redland — a Critical Exclusion

Redland City Council explicitly excludes residents of leasehold retirement villages from the local pensioner remission. This matters because many retirees in the Redlands live in village-style arrangements where they do not hold freehold or strata title to rateable land.

If you live in a retirement village under a lease or licence-to-occupy agreement, the village operator holds the land title and receives the bulk rate assessment from council. Because you are not the assessed ratepayer, you cannot apply for the state rate subsidy or the council remission through Redland City Council.

This is a Redland-specific policy stance — Brisbane City Council, by contrast, does permit certain retirement village residents to apply for council-funded rebates. If you are considering moving into a retirement village in the Redlands, this is worth factoring into your decision.

Residents of freehold or strata-titled retirement units who hold their own title deed and receive their own rate notice are fully eligible.

How to Apply

Applying is free and can be done through Redland City Council's customer service:

1. Gather your latest rate notice (you need the assessment number), your Pensioner Concession Card or DVA Gold Card, and proof that you live at the property
2. Complete the council's Pensioner Rate Concession Application form — available online, at the council offices in Cleveland, or by calling council
3. Sign the Centrelink Confirmation eServices (CCeS) consent section, which authorises the council to electronically verify your card status with Services Australia
4. Submit the form and keep your receipt or confirmation number

Your concession starts from the date of your application, or from the purchase date of your property if you recently moved in. It does not backdate automatically to prior rating periods.

Once approved, you generally do not need to reapply each year — Redland City Council runs automated checks through CCeS before each rating run. You do need to notify council if you sell the property, move out, or your concession card expires and is replaced with a new Customer Reference Number.

SEQ Water Subsidy — a Separate Application

Redland City Council issues water and sewerage charges on its quarterly rates notices. Eligible pensioners can also receive the state-funded SEQ Pensioner Water Subsidy of up to $120 per year ($30 per quarter) on their water account.

The water subsidy requires a separate application through your water provider. In Redland, that provider is Redland City Council; applying for the council rate rebate does not automatically include the water subsidy.

Check Your Rate Notice

After your concession is approved, audit your next rate notice for two separate line items: the "State Rates Subsidy" credit (up to $100 per half-year) and the "Council Pensioner Concession" credit. If either is missing, contact Redland City Council promptly. If council refuses or reduces your concession and you seek an internal review, submit a written request within 28 days of receiving the decision notice.

For the full step-by-step process across all Queensland councils, including document checklists and a rate notice reconciliation worksheet, see the Queensland Pensioner Rate Subsidy guide.

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