Rates assistance

Rates assistance is available for ratepayers in three ways.

  1. Pensioner Rates Concession – includes Victorian Government-provided concessions on rates and charges and on the fire levy, plus Hepburn Shire-provided rebates for pensioners who qualify under the Victorian Government’s Pensioner Rete Remission Scheme. 
  2. Rates Hardship Support
  3. Rates Payment Plans – allows ratepayers to break payments due into smaller amounts paid often. 

Apply for Pensioner Rate Concession

Concession amounts

The Victorian Government provides pensioners with a concession on rates and charges and an additional amount for the fire services levy.

Hepburn Shire Council also provides an additional rebate for pensioners who qualify under the State Government’s Pensioner Rate Remission scheme.

Who is eligible?

Holders of a current Pensioner Concession Card issued by Centrelink, or the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), or a DVA Repatriation Health Care Card specifying War Widow (WW) or Totally and Permanently Incapacitated (TPI) may be eligible.

To be eligible you will need to satisfy the following:
  • The rated property is your sole or principal place of residence.
  • The address you are seeking a concession for is the same as that on your pension card.
  • The occupant of the rated property is the person liable for the rates and charges.

To claim a pensioner concession:

Eligible pensioners who have previously applied will have the concession automatically deducted from their rates. This concession amount changes.   

To check the current amount and see more information regarding Victorian Government concessions, go to the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing website. 

Apply for Rates Hardship support

If you cannot pay your bills, debts or loan repayments when due, because these costs are greater than your income, you may be in financial hardship.

Council takes a flexible, fair and compassionate approach to ratepayers in financial hardship and will provide reasonable assistance, depending on your circumstances. All information of a personal or financial nature will be treated confidentially.

To apply for your rates to be deferred OR for rates OR interest on rates to be waived, please complete the Rates Hardship Form below.

Before applying, contact Council’s Finance Department on (03) 5348 2306 to discuss your situation and find out what financial assistance is available.

After your application has been received, it will be assessed by Financial Services staff, who may ask you to verify the information provided and/or provide further relevant information.

Options may include:

  • Arranging for you to make regular payments without interest penalties. This is done by creating a payment plan. See Apply to set up a Rates Payment Plan on this page.
  • Deferring your rates payments for a short period without further interest penalties.
  • Waiving interest penalties.

After your application has been assessed, a staff member will contact you to inform you of your application outcome.

For more information, phone Council on (03) 5348 2306 and ask to speak to the Coordinator, Financial Services.

View Council’s Revenue Collection and Financial Hardship Policy(PDF, 765KB)

Apply for Rates Hardship support 

Apply to set up a Rates Payment Plan

If you are in financial hardship and are unable to pay your rates, consider asking for a Rates Payment Plan. Don’t ignore your rates bill as interest is incurred if payments are late. As a result, your due amount will get bigger.

To apply for a Rates Payment Plan, follow these steps.

Step 1. Phone Council’s Finance Department on (03) 5348 2306 to discuss whether a payment plan is applicable. 

Step 2. If it is, apply for a Rates Payment Plan in writing, sent via email to shire@hepburn.vic.gov.au.

Step 3. Provide any further information and/or verify information as requested by Council’s Financial Services staff.

Staff will then try to set up a practical Rates Payment Plan for full payment of your rates in a realistic timeframe.

  

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