Consumer advocates
and community workers will meet in Wagga Wagga on Tuesday 23 October to discuss
ways to keep low-income households connected to electricity and water.
The one-day
workshop, Electricity and Water: helping your clients stay
connected, is presented by
the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the Energy + Water Consumers’
Advocacy Program (EWCAP).
EWCAP’s senior
policy officer, Carolyn Hodge, said the workshop will help community-sector
workers keep their clients connected to the essential services of energy and
water.
‘Over 18,000
households were disconnected from electricity in NSW in the past financial
year,’ Ms Hodge said.
‘This workshop can
help prevent further disconnections by giving community workers vital
information about available electricity and water rebates.’
Ms Hodge noted that
some government-funded rebates are not applied automatically.
‘For example, the
NSW Government funds the Low Income Household Rebate (LIHR) but this is not automatically
paid to eligible households. People need to apply for this rebate through their
electricity retailer,’ Ms Hodge said.
Electricity and Water: helping your clients stay
connected will also provide
information about emergency assistance vouchers, the Family Energy Rebate, and
rebates for people with specific medical conditions.
Places are still
available for this workshop. To register, visit the PIAC training page or phone Oliver Derum, EWCAP Policy Officer, on (02) 8898
6518.
MEDIA CONTACT: PIAC Senior Media and Communications
Adviser, Dominic O’Grady: 0478 739 280
Photo: Flickr