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Parliamentary Questions


Question On Notice No. 5681 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 16 October 2019 by Mr A. Krsticevic

Question Directed to the: Minister for Child Protection; Women's Interests; Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence; Community Services
Parliament: 40 Session: 1


Question

I refer to the Hardship Utility Grant Scheme (HUGS), and ask:
(a) How much was spent on HUGS for the following years 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19;
(b) How many recipients received funding via:
(i) Water Corporation;
(ii) Synergy;
(iii) Horizon Power; and
(iv) Alinta Energy;
(c) What was the total spent each year on:
(i) Water Corporation bills;
(ii) Synergy bills;
(iii) Horizon Power bills; and
(iv) Alinta Energy bills; and
(d) For each year, how many recipients received more than one HUGS grant in the year?

Answered on 26 November 2019

a)  State Government expenditure on the Hardship Utility Grant Scheme (HUGS) is as follows:

Year

Total expenditure ($)

2013-14

9,266,347

2014-15

8,846,140

2015-16

8,241,661

2016-17

15,783,142

2017-18

21,231,813

2018-19

7,483,730

 

b)  The number of recipients who received HUGS funding, by utility provider, is as follows:

Utility

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

Water Corporation

1,057

1,468

1,262

1,401

3,179

1,554

Synergy

16,455

14,375

10,266

27,071

40,209

9,768

Horizon Power

1,910

1,572

1,602

1,334

1,209

486

Alinta Energy

5,415

5,540

6,444

8,570

9,008

1,617

 

c)  The total spend for HUGS, by utility provider, is as follows:

Utility

2013-14

($)

2014-15

($)

2015-16

($)

2016-17

($)

2017-18

($)

2018-19

($)

Water Corporation

331,201

488,877

501,714

547,842

1,195,710

772,368

Synergy

6,254,015

5,643,433

4,356,897

11,382,087

16,020,506

5,276,454

Horizon Power

1,190,650

976,509

1,060,621

834,395

791,916

360,425

Alinta Energy

1,461,389

1,668,150

2,190,086

2,811,115

2,778,132

764,076

 

d)  The Department of Communities’ HUGS Online System records applications, not individual recipients. It is not possible to provide data on the number of applicants who received more than one HUGS payment per year.