Pensioner Rate Concession and Subsidy

To qualify for Council's Pensioner Rate Concession, the property owner must also qualify for the Queensland Government Pensioner Rate Subsidy (refer to Queensland Government Pensioner Rate Subsidy section below).

The four categories of pensioner concessions and concession amounts are:

• Sole title - maximum level of pension - $326.60 per annum maximum
• Sole title - not maximum level of pension - $163.60 per annum maximum
• Joint title - maximum level of pension - $255.60 per annum maximum
• Joint title - not maximum level of pension - $93.40 per annum maximum

A concession of rates and charges shall be allowed to approved pensioners who have applied for the concession on or before 30 June or 31 December each year.

All holders of a current Queensland Pension Concession card or a Department of Veteran Affairs gold card are entitled to a state subsidy on Council rates and charges on their principal place of residence. Note: seniors card holders are not eligible.

The Queensland Government offers a 20% subsidy capped at $200 per annum for rates and charges (excludes State Emergency and Management Levy (SEML)). 

The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services offers a 20% subsidy based on the SEML for an eligible pensioners principal place of residence. The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services 20% subsidy is added to the State Rate Subsidy of $200 and you will see the total amount on your rate notice in the 'State Government' line.

Upon proof of eligibility the entitlement to a state subsidy will commence from either the:

• card start date shown on the pensioner concession card
• date of occupation of their principal place of residence, or
• start of the current rating period.

Whichever is the later.

For eligibility criteria please refer to the guidelines on page 2 of the pensioner rates rebate application form below.

To make an application for a Pensioner Rate Concession, please complete the:

• Pensioner rate concession online form or
• Pensioner rates rebate application form (DOCX, 234KB or PDF, 246KB).

 Please read the guidelines on page 2 of the form before submitting to Council.

Valid concession cards include either:

• Queensland pensioner concessions card issued by Centrelink or the Department of Veteran Affairs
• Veterans' Affairs repatriation health gold card issued by the Department of Veteran Affairs.

Please send the form to Council with a copy of your pension card attached by:

• post: 
  Sunshine Coast Council
  Locked Bag 72
  Sunshine Coast Mail Centre  QLD  4560
• email:
  scan and email to: mail@sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au.

Please note: Upon receipt, your application form will be sent to the rates department for processing. Any Pension Concession/Subsidy approved will show as a credit on your next rates notice. If more information is needed you will be contacted by Council.

If you are unable to finalise the account by the due date, you may apply to set up a payment plan to pay your rates by instalments.

For full details of Council's pensioner concession policy, see section 2.3 of Council's 2025-26 Revenue Statement (HTML / PDF, 6.6MB).