WA Air Conditioning Rebate - eligible households north of 26th parallel
Cooling load drives bills in northern WA - a Karratha or Broome household can run aircon for 8-10 months a year and post a summer monthly bill double a Perth comparator. The Air Conditioning Rebate adds $71.80 per qualifying month on top of the Energy Assistance Payment for cardholder households living north of the 26th parallel (or in defined 50-day Relative Strain Index zones) that have an installed air conditioner.
Don't want to read the full rule? Get a personalised report on every Australian government benefit you may qualify for in under 3 minutes.
Quick Answer
You qualify when state = WA, receiving_eap = true (Synergy, Horizon or ECES), residential_location = wa_north_of_26th_parallel_or_50day_rsi, and has_air_conditioning = true. The rebate is $71.80 per qualifying month, indexed annually. Maximum entitlement is $861.60 per year (12 months); a typical Pilbara household claims it for the full 12 months because cooling demand never drops to zero.
You do not qualify if you live south of the 26th parallel and outside the 50-day RSI zones (Perth, Bunbury, Mandurah, Albany etc.), if you do not also receive an EAP (the rebate is gated on EAP receipt), if you have no installed air conditioner, or if your retailer is BHP/Rio Tinto (excluded at the EAP gate, which then blocks this rebate).
Eligibility Conditions
The eligibility block is an all set. Source rule: AU_WA_AIR_CONDITIONING_REBATE, rule version 2025-26.
- State gate:
state = WA. - EAP gate:
receiving_eap = true. You must already qualify for one of the three EAPs (Synergy, Horizon or ECES). The aircon rebate is not a standalone product - it is a layer on top of EAP. - Location gate:
residential_location = wa_north_of_26th_parallel_or_50day_rsi. The 26th parallel south crosses WA through Carnarvon-Mt Magnet-Newman; anything north qualifies automatically. The 50-day Relative Strain Index zone adds inland areas where extreme heat exposure is documented over 50+ days a year. - Aircon gate:
has_air_conditioning = true. Any installed unit on your account counts - reverse-cycle split, ducted, window or evaporative.
Required source fields: state, receiving_eap, residential_location, has_air_conditioning. The excludes.any, conflicts and affects blocks are all empty - the rebate stacks cleanly with the EAP, dependent child rebates, life support subsidies and the universal $150 EBRF credit.
Income & Assets Treatment
This rebate has no separate income or assets test - it inherits the gating from the underlying EAP. Whichever federal concession card qualified you for the EAP (PCC, HCC, LIHCC, DVA Gold, DVA PCC) has already done the means-testing.
The location component is a geographic proxy for cooling need rather than an economic test. A high-income household in Karratha that holds no concession card will still not qualify because the EAP gate fails first; a low-income retiree in Perth on the full Age Pension will not qualify because the location gate fails. The rebate is intentionally narrow to the intersection of low-income and high-cooling-need.
The rebate is not assessable income for any Centrelink, FTB or DVA payment. It does not need to be reported on a tax return. It is treated as a bill credit, not a cash transfer.
How to Apply
Application channels per application_meta: phone and online.
- Synergy customers north of 26th: phone Synergy on 13 13 53 or update via My Account, confirming the address is in the eligible zone and that you have aircon installed. The rebate is then added monthly alongside the EAP daily credit.
- Horizon Power customers (the dominant population for this rule): phone Horizon on 1800 267 926. Most Horizon residential accounts in the Pilbara, Kimberley and Gascoyne are already flagged for the rebate by default - check the bill for the line item before lodging.
- ECES customers: add the aircon question to the RevenueWA Online Services Portal application. The rebate is paid as a top-up to the annual ECES bank transfer ($342.85 + up to $861.60 = up to $1,204.45 per year).
- 50-day RSI areas south of 26th: the eligible postcode list is published on wa.gov.au; you may need to provide a residential address as proof.
- The rebate begins from the calendar month after assessment - back-dating is limited to the EAP start date.
Documents to Have Ready
Required evidence per application_meta.evidence_required:
- Concession card in the EAP recipient's name - PCC, HCC, LIHCC, DVA Gold or DVA PCC.
- Proof of address in an eligible area - typically a recent utility bill, a driver's licence with the residential address, or a rental agreement showing the postcode.
- Confirmation of aircon installation - usually self-declared on the call. Synergy and Horizon do not require an installer invoice; ECES applicants may be asked for a one-line declaration in the portal.
- For 50-day RSI applicants south of 26th, the postcode-to-RSI mapping published on wa.gov.au is the reference - you do not need to bring climate data, but check your postcode is on the eligible list before applying.
Timeline & Renewal
For Synergy and Horizon customers the rebate is added to the bill within 1-2 billing cycles of registration. Once on, it accrues monthly indefinitely while the EAP, location and aircon gates remain true. For ECES it is included in the annual bank transfer.
The amount is reset each July - the 2025-26 amount of $71.80/month is up from approximately $68.34 in 2024-25 (a roughly 5% indexation). The rule does not have a fixed expiry date. Re-application is not needed across financial years if the underlying EAP stays current; a card lapse stops both the EAP and the aircon rebate at once.
Real Scenarios
Scenario 1: Salvador and Inês, Karratha couple on DSP and FTB-A
Salvador (43) is on DSP, his partner Inês (41) holds an FTB-A-linked HCC and they have two kids aged 6 and 9 in a 4-bed rental in Pegs Creek, Karratha (postcode 6714). Their Horizon monthly bill in summer reaches $480 because of constant aircon. They already receive the Horizon EAP at $342.85/yr daily credit. Salvador phones Horizon, confirms the aircon and the address; the $71.80/month aircon rebate is added from the next bill. Total annual support: $342.85 (EAP) + $861.60 (aircon, 12 months) = $1,204.45 across the financial year, plus the $360.51 first-child + $94.46 second-child rebates if their card lists the kids.
Scenario 2: Joaquim, retiree in Geraldton
Joaquim is 74, single, lives in a 3-bed house in Geraldton (postcode 6530) on the full Age Pension, holds a PCC and is a Horizon customer. Geraldton sits at roughly 28.7° south - south of the 26th parallel. He confirms with Horizon that Geraldton is not on the 50-day RSI list either. Outcome: he qualifies for the EAP ($342.85/yr) but not for the aircon rebate because the location gate fails. He still benefits from the Pensioner Rates Rebate and Cost-of-Living Rebate which are not location-restricted.
Scenario 3: Tiago, off-grid in Broome on ECES
Tiago is 60, holds a Health Care Card, lives off-grid in a remote stand-alone house outside Broome (postcode 6725) with a 9 kW solar system and battery, plus a diesel-backup aircon for the 40°C buildup days. Broome is well north of the 26th parallel. He receives the ECES EAP ($342.85/yr by bank transfer). When he applies through the RevenueWA portal he ticks the aircon flag and confirms the location. Outcome: his annual bank transfer becomes $342.85 + $861.60 = $1,204.45, paid as one deposit each year.
Common Mistakes
- Trying to claim the aircon rebate without an EAP. The EAP is a hard precondition. Cardless customers north of 26th do not qualify; cardholders south of 26th do not qualify either.
- Assuming Geraldton or Carnarvon are inside the zone. Geraldton (28.7°S) is south of the parallel; Carnarvon (24.9°S) is north. Check exact location, not the regional generalisation.
- Confusing this with a medical-aircon rebate. WA does not run a separate medical aircon scheme. If you are south of 26th and need aircon for thermoregulation, the federal Essential Medical Equipment Payment is the relevant pathway, not this rebate.
- Mining-town customers (BHP/Rio Tinto retail) trying to claim. The EAP gate fails because BHP/Rio Tinto are excluded retailers, which cascades to block this rebate too.
- Removing or replacing the aircon and not telling the retailer. Strictly the rebate is conditional on having installed aircon. Retailers do not actively police this, but a billing audit could result in clawback.
- ECES applicants forgetting the aircon flag in the RevenueWA portal. If you do not tick the aircon question, the $861.60 component is missed and added to the next year's annual transfer rather than back-paid.
Related Links
- WA Energy Assistance Payment - Horizon Power - the dominant gating EAP for this rebate, since most northern WA customers are on Horizon. Mandatory before this rebate can be claimed.
- WA Energy Assistance Payment - Synergy - applies to the small subset of northern WA Synergy customers (some Goldfields/Esperance edges).
- WA Energy Assistance Payment - ECES - relevant for off-grid northern WA households where the aircon rebate is paid as part of the annual ECES bank transfer.
- WA Dependent Child Rebate (ECES) - first child - $360.51/yr stacks with this aircon rebate for cardholder families in the eligible zone with kids on the card.
- WA Household Electricity Credit - the universal $150 federal credit applied automatically in October 2025. Independent test from this rebate but lands on the same account.
- WA Life Support Equipment Subsidy (CPAP) - separate medical-equipment energy subsidy for households with a specialist-authorised life-support device. Different test, different schedule, can co-exist.
How much is the Air Conditioning Rebate worth?
$71.80 per qualifying month, applied for the months your household is eligible. Maximum $861.60 per year if you qualify for all 12 months.
Where is the 26th parallel?
The 26th parallel south crosses WA roughly through Carnarvon, Mt Magnet and Newman. Anything north of that line - Karratha, Port Hedland, Broome, Kununurra and the Pilbara/Kimberley/Gascoyne - is automatically eligible. The 50-day RSI line adds some additional inland areas south of the 26th.
Do I need to receive the EAP first?
Yes. The Air Conditioning Rebate is gated on receiving any of the three EAPs (Synergy, Horizon or ECES). It is not a standalone product.
What kind of air conditioner counts?
Any installed air conditioner running off your eligible electricity account - reverse-cycle split, ducted system, window unit, evaporative cooler. The rebate is per household per month, not per unit.
Is there a separate medical aircon rebate?
WA does not run a separate medical-aircon rebate the way some other states do. If you live south of the 26th parallel and rely on aircon for thermoregulation, you fall outside this rule and need to pursue the federal Essential Medical Equipment Payment or NDIS energy support instead.
Does it stack with the EAP and dependent child rebates?
Yes. All three (EAP, aircon rebate, dependent child rebates) stack on the same eligible Synergy, Horizon or ECES account.
Find every Australian government benefit you're entitled to
Benefit Check uses the same rule engine behind this page to scan all 272 federal and state benefits. Answer a short questionnaire and get your full eligibility list with calculated amounts.