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.