Abstract
Over the last decade, society’s aspirations towards affordable urban water have been overtaken by other objectives – economic efficiency, financial sustainability, and environmental conservation. This chapter provides an overview of how social equity can be built into water pricing principles, processes, and outcomes. Examples are given, and analyses are made of water affordability in Australian capital cities from 1995/96 to 2011/12 and compared with the values of water concessions given to disadvantaged people by state governments. We conclude that social equity and affordability factors can be successfully integrated into the price structure of urban water and doing so has particular advantages.
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Appendix: State-by-State Water Concession Policies in Australian Cities, 2011/12
Appendix: State-by-State Water Concession Policies in Australian Cities, 2011/12
Cities | Eligibility | Concession | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
Canberra (ACT) | Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card holder | 68 % discount in water and sewerage supply charge | |
Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card holder | 68 % discount in water and sewerage supply charge | ||
Health Care Card holder | Rebate on water charges only | ||
Sydney (NSW) | Owner-occupiers with Pensioner Concession Card, Dept of Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card, Veterans’ Affairs Blue Card – Pensioner Concession, or receiving DVA intermediate rate pension | Water: 100 % discount on the standard quarterly service charge to maximum of $36.22. Reduction of 33 % on water use charges to a maximum of 100 kL a year (for resident pensioners who have a water service only) | |
Sewerage: 83 % discount on the standard quarterly service charge | |||
Melbourne (Victoria) | Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card, Centrelink Health Care Card, DVA Concession Card, DVA Gold Card | 50 % discount on water and sewerage charges up to max of $270.20 per year | |
Water only: 50 % discount on water charges up to max of $138.50 per year | |||
Adelaide (South Australia) | Owner-occupier or tenants with Pensioner Concession Card; Seniors Card; DVA Gold Card; full-time student; Centrelink benefit or allowance receiver; low income earner | 25 % discount on water charges over a year subject to minimum and maximum amounts | |
Water concession: | |||
Owner occupier: min $155, max $265 | |||
Tenant: min $90, max $200 | |||
Sewerage concession: max $110 per year | |||
Brisbane (Queensland) | Owner-occupier or life tenant with Pensioner Concession Card or DVA Gold Card | Subsidy up to a max of $120 off the cost of water charges per year from Queensland Council. | |
Brisbane City Council provided Pension remission up to 40 % discount of net charges in total bill to max $476 per year. | |||
Perth (Western Australia) | Pensioner Concession Card, state concession card | Rebate of up to 50 % of annual service charges and 50 % of water usage charge up to 150 kL per year. | |
WA Seniors Card | Rebate of up to 25 % (capped) of annual service charges | ||
Both WA Seniors and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card | Rebate of up to 50 % on annual service charges, or may be eligible to defer those charges | ||
Darwin (Northern Territory) | Centrelink Pensioner Card; DVA Gold Card; DVA Concession Card; Centrelink carer allowance receiver; non-pensioner aged war service veteran; low income superannuants; senior citizens | Daily water concession: water fixed charge = $0.407 per day; water usage charge = $0.725 per kL, sewerage fixed charge = $0.754 per day. |
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Chan, N.W.W. (2015). Integrating Social Aspects into Urban Water Pricing: Australian and International Perspectives. In: Grafton, Q., Daniell, K., Nauges, C., Rinaudo, JD., Chan, N. (eds) Understanding and Managing Urban Water in Transition. Global Issues in Water Policy, vol 15. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9801-3_15
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