This guide is written from the Australian Energy Regulator’s Energy Made Easy guidance, the NSW Government’s Life Support Rebate page and the NSW Social Programs for Energy Code, read 14 October 2026.
Register as a life support customer
Energy Made Easy lists life support equipment as including:
- an oxygen concentrator
- a chronic positive airways pressure (CPAP) respirator
- a ventilator for life support
- any other equipment a doctor says is needed for life support
How: tell your energy retailer or your distributor as soon as possible. They send you a form for you and your doctor to complete. Return it to them.
What you get: they must not disconnect you for any reason, and must give you at least 4 days’ notice of a planned interruption.
Tell your retailer and distributor if your address or phone number changes.
Make a power-cut plan
Registration does not prevent unplanned outages. Energy Made Easy says to plan:
- where you will go, and how you will get there with your equipment
- how you will contact people; cordless phones need mains power
- who you will call, with a written list of your doctor, nearest hospital and a helper
- backup equipment, kept fully charged
- where you could get a temporary generator; ask your energy provider whether it can supply one
Queensland’s MASS asks every home oxygen client to have a Power Failure Emergency Plan (form MASS 48). See Victoria and Queensland funding.
NSW Life Support Rebate
The rebate helps households where someone uses approved energy-intensive life support equipment at home. A registered medical practitioner must confirm the need and complete the declaration on the application form; you send it to your electricity retailer. Service NSW can help on 13 77 88.
Rates in the Social Programs for Energy Code version 8.4, effective 24 August 2026:
| Equipment | Per day | About per year |
|---|---|---|
| PAP device (CPAP), 24-hour use | $0.7096 | $259 |
| PAP device (CPAP), under 24 hours | $0.3589 | $131 |
| Oxygen concentrator, 24-hour use | $3.1096 | $1,135 |
| Oxygen concentrator, under 24 hours | $1.8493 | $675 |
The rebate is paid per billing day for each approved device, so a household with both a CPAP and a concentrator gets both rates. Eligibility lasts four years from the application date, and you can reapply.
EnableNSW notes its Home Respiratory Program clients may be eligible: see EnableNSW.
Other states
Energy Made Easy is run by the Australian Energy Regulator. Rebates outside NSW are set by each state or territory; ask your retailer how registration and rebates work where you live.