From 1 January 2025, South Australian Companion Card customers can request a free Master Locksmiths Access Key (MLAK).
MLAKs give people with special needs access to dedicated public facilities 24 hours a day, such as accessible toilets and Changing Places facilities.
Find out more about MLAKs or about Changing Places facilities.
A Companion Card is for people with significant and permanent disability. When a cardholder buys a ticket at participating venues and activities in South Australia, their companion or carer will be given free entry.
The Companion Card is not issued to every person who has a disability. The SA Government website provides guidance about the eligibility of different disabilities.
For more information about the Companion Card, including eligibility criteria and how to apply, visit the sa.gov Companion Card web page.
With a free Australia Post Concession account, you'll pay just 60c per stamp, instead of $1.50. You can buy up to 50 stamps per year, in booklets of 5 for $3.
You'll even get a free booklet of 5 concession stamps to get you started.
Are you eligible?
The following Australian Federal Government concession cards are accepted as proof of eligibility for an Australia Post Concession account.
- Pensioner Concession Card
- Health Care Card (all types)
- Commonwealth Seniors Health Card
- Department of Veterans' Affairs Card
- Veterans' Repatriation Health Card
How to apply
Take your completed application form (also available in-store) to a Post Office, along with your valid Federal Government concession card.
Once approved, you'll receive your Australia Post Concession Account card in the mail within 14 days, along with your free booklet of 5 stamps.
Show your card at any Post Office to buy more concession stamps. You can buy up to 50 stamps per year, in booklets of 5.
The Cost of Living Concession (COLC) helps people on low or fixed incomes with their general living expenses - e.g. council rates, energy and medical bills.
You don't need to reapply if you received a COLC payment before and your living and income circumstances haven't changed.
This concession is paid between August and December each year by electronic funds transfer (EFT).
You must apply by 31 December to receive the COLC for that financial year.
The concession can only be paid to one person per household.
Assessment is based on your circumstances on 1st July of the relevant financial year.
You can find further information about the Cost of Living Concession including eligibility criteria, rates, and how to apply on the SA Government website.
The Emergency Electricity Payment Scheme (EEPS) provides an emergency payment to help electricity customers in financial hardship.
This is available once every 2 years, paid as a credit directly onto the electricity account.
You can get this if:
- you have an electricity debt
- you're at risk of your electricity being disconnected, or it has already been disconnected.
Contact a financial counsellor to apply for EEPS. They will assess your financial situation before lodging an application on your behalf.
To contact a financial counsellor, please contact the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 (Mon to Thurs: 9.30am–8pm and Friday: 9.30am-4.30pm) to book an appointment with a financial counsellor. Financial counselling is a free, confidential and independent service. You can also chat with a financial counsellor for free via the live chat feature on the National Debt Helpline website.
South Australian residents may be eligible to receive a remission on the Emergency Services Levy (ESL) (fixed property) for their principal place of residence.
You might already be receiving the ESL (fixed property) remission if you are a pensioner and receive a concession on your water rates.
Residential park residents are not eligible for an ESL (fixed property) remission, as this charge is not normally passed on by residential park operators.
You can find further information about the Emergency Services Levy Remission including eligibility criteria, rates, and how to apply on the SA Government website.
Help to pay your electricity bill at your principal place of residence is available to eligible South Australians on low or fixed incomes.
The concession is calculated as a flat rate per day and is indexed each financial year. It covers energy payments, including fuels used to generate energy (eg. LPG bottled gas and petrol).
People living in a residential park can apply for a combined concession for energy, water and sewerage - Residential Park Concessions
You can find further information about Energy Bill Concessions including eligibility criteria, rates, and how to apply on the SA Government website.
Funeral AssistanceSA helps people who have experienced the death of a South Australian family member or friend to cover the costs of a funeral.
The funeral provided is normally a cremation service, except in certain cultural and religious circumstances.
Make sure you have notified Centrelink about the death. You might need to provide proof.
The income, assets and liabilities of the deceased and their immediate relatives - spouse, parents, and adult children - are taken into account when assessing eligibility for assistance.
You must have exhausted all other options to raise funds or obtain credit.
The funeral must not have been already arranged or, where a grant is sought after the event, the account must be modest and not yet fully paid.
What is covered
Funeral AssistanceSA offers two types of assistance.
Full contract funeral
This type of assistance is available if you have not contracted a private funeral director.
It provides a basic, dignified funeral, which includes:
- a weekday cremation service at a church or chapel approved by Funeral AssistanceSA, or a direct cremation if preferred
- a weekday burial (where culturally or religiously required)
- funeral director's fee
- crematorium fees
- cemetery fees
- a basic coffin
- hearse
- religious minister or celebrant's fee
- fees and charges for all legally required permits - not death certificate.
The deceased’s family or friends may pay for additional extras - eg flowers or a memorial book.
After-the-event assistance
A grant paid directly to the funeral director.
This type of assistance is available if you have already contracted a private funeral director and there is an existing debt. The funeral cost must be modest and you must have attempted to pay the debt.
If the funeral account has been paid in full, no assistance can be provided.
Other coverage for expenses
Funeral costs could already be covered another way, depending on the circumstances of the death.
If the deceased:
- Died in a motor vehicle accident, funeral expenses may be covered by Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance.
- Visit the CTP Insurance Regulator website or phone 1300 303 558 for more information.
- Was a victim of crime you can claim for funeral costs and a grief payment from the Commissioner for Victims' Rights. Visit the Commissioner for Victims' Rights website or phone 7322 7007 for more information.
- Has superannuation or a life insurance policy, the beneficiary may be required to repay the costs of the funeral.
You can find further information about FuneralAssistanceSA including eligibility criteria, rates, and how to apply on the SA Government website.
From 1 January 2025, more people will become eligible for low-cost glasses through GlassesSA.
The program will be extended to holders of certain Centrelink concession cards and their dependents.
GlassesSA helps South Australians obtain low-cost glasses or, for those with serious eye conditions, no-cost contact lenses.
Show your eligible Centrelink or Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) card to a participating optometrist.
You can find a list of participating optometrists here.
The optometrist will offer you a selection of basic frames and standard single vision, single vision grind, bi-focal, or multi-focal lenses to choose from.
Only optometrists authorised by GlassesSA, or their staff, can provide glasses and contact lenses through the program.
What is covered:
Glasses
You can get one new pair of glasses every three years, or when clinically necessary, if you're eligible.
GlassesSA will meet the co-payment for Aboriginal customers for standard glasses.
Use of your own frames
You can use your own frames and receive only lenses through GlassesSA. The GlassesSA contribution remains as per the fee schedule for the relevant prescribed item. Any other costs will be at the customer’s expense.
Contact lenses
Your contact lenses will be at no cost to you if you're prescribed them through GlassesSA.
You can get new contact lenses as often as they are certified as being clinically necessary by the optometrist, for one of the prescribed eye conditions.
Optometrists cannot offer to upgrade you to more expensive contact lenses, and the benefit under GlassesSA cannot be used as a discount against other contact lenses, products or services.
You can find further information about GlassesSA including eligibility criteria, rates, and how to apply on the SA Government website.
An electricity concession is available for eligible people with kidney disease who receive dialysis treatment at home.
People receiving at home dialysis treatment can receive $274.85 annually to contribute to the running cost of their equipment at home.
Any person undergoing dialysis treatment at home is eligible provided that the concession has been approved by a SA Health Practitioner.
The electricity concession complements existing concessions administered by the Government of South Australia and the Australian Government for the use of medical equipment at home.
How to apply
Applications for the electricity concession can be made through the renal unit where you receive treatment.
To apply for the concession you will need to fill out a Home Dialysis Concession Claim Form available from your renal unit.
The claim form will need to be completed by you and your SA Health Practitioner and returned to your renal unit for processing.
For further information, please speak to your SA Health Practitioner or refer to theHome Dialysis Electricity Concession brochure.
Benefits of home dialysis
If you currently have dialysis treatment in public hospital or dialysis centre, home dialysis is an alternative treatment option that can provide you with more independence and flexibility.
You will no longer have to plan activities around pre-determined appointments and can receive treatment in the comfort of your own home.