Eight utilities’ hidden leak policies
A selection, each summarised from the utility’s own page as at October 2026. Every policy has more conditions than fit here; read the full page before you apply.
Sydney Water: hidden leak allowance
- A goodwill credit of 50% of the water usage charge, for the quarter the leak affected most.
- The leak must be repaired by a licensed plumber or qualified technician, and you couldn’t see or hear it.
- Tell Sydney Water within a year of the repair. One allowance per property every 5 years.
Hunter Water: undetected leak rebate
- A goodwill gesture of up to 50% of the increase in water usage, for one billing period.
- Repaired by a licensed plumber; the application is due within 30 days of the bill’s due date.
- Not available if a rebate was granted to the owners in the last five years.
South East Water: high usage review
- A review of the account under its Guideline for Unexplained High Usage and Undetected Leak Enquiries.
- The leak repaired within 2 weeks of finding it; the request made within 90 days of a high-usage notice or the bill’s due date.
- No review at the property in the past 5 years. It says it will reply with the outcome within 10 business days.
Unitywater: concealed leak allowance
- 70% of the excess water usage charges for residential customers (100% for pensioners), and 100% of excess sewerage usage charges.
- Repaired within the past 12 months, with the plumber’s invoice, or a statutory declaration if a licensed plumber didn’t do the repair.
- Once per property, per ownership, over at most 2 billing quarters.
Water Corporation: leak allowance
- Up to 50% of the estimated water lost, case by case. It doesn’t cover repair costs.
- The bill’s water use charge over $250, or water use over 150kL; repaired within 60 days of detection; the form within 6 months of the repair.
- An outcome within 20 business days, credited on the next bill.
SA Water: leakage allowance
- A one-time allowance covering up to 50% of the water lost, if the leak raised your bill.
- Applied for with SA Water’s leakage allowance form.
TasWater: concealed leak rebate
- If the leak was concealed, a rebate may be given of up to 50% of the water usage above your average bill.
- Written evidence of repair by a licensed plumber, with its Concealed Water Leak Remission Form.
- One rebate per property for the duration of the ownership.
Icon Water: undetected leak adjustment
- A one-off adjustment based on the increase over the same period the year before, up to a maximum of $2,500; any remaining increase is charged at the Tier 1 tariff.
- Repaired by a licensed plumber; applied for within four months of the billing period; up to two billing periods.
- Not available if the current owners have had one before.
What the applications have in common
Read side by side, the policies ask for similar evidence. Hunter Water wants a statement or invoice from your licensed plumber giving the plumber’s licence number, the dates the leak was found and repaired, the meter reading at the repair, where the leak was, how it was found and where the water was going. Icon Water asks for much the same: the dates, how the leak was detected, its nature and location, and where the water was escaping to.
Sydney Water adds the meter’s serial number and a photo of the meter reading after the repair, and Water Corporation asks for your current meter reading, or the reading after the repairs. So it helps to note the meter reading on the day the plumber finishes.
Most limit how often an allowance can be given: once in five years at Sydney Water, Hunter Water and South East Water, and once per ownership at Unitywater and TasWater. Several describe their allowance as goodwill rather than an entitlement: Sydney Water calls it a goodwill credit, and Hunter Water a goodwill gesture beyond its contractual obligations.
Unitywater’s own worked example
Unitywater publishes this example of how its allowance is calculated. It looks at your average daily use over the 12 months before the leak to work out the excess.
- Normal water usage charge: $200.
- With the concealed leak: $600.
- The excess: $600 minus $200 is $400.
- The allowance: 70% of $400 is $280, plus any excess sewerage usage charges.
The Queensland bulk water remission
In South East Queensland there is a second layer. Under the South East Queensland Bulk Water Concealed Leak Remission Scheme, Seqwater contributes 100% of the excess bulk water charge for eligible pensioners and 70% for other eligible customers. This is in addition to the remission from the five water service providers in the region.
You must first be eligible for a concealed leak remission from your own provider, and you apply through that provider. The Queensland Government’s page lists the five: City of Gold Coast, City of Logan, Redland City Council, Urban Utilities and Unitywater.
When the bill is still hard to pay
An allowance is only part of the cost of a leak: Water Corporation and Unitywater both say theirs doesn’t pay for the plumber. Unitywater and Water Corporation, for example, also publish separate support for customers who can’t pay a bill.
Unitywater lists short-term payment plans, 7-day extensions, its Smoothpay option for smaller and more frequent payments, a Pensioner Water Subsidy of up to $120 a year for eligible pensioners, and long-term support plans.
Water Corporation publishes a financial hardship policy for residential customers. It says customers who engage with it are protected from further overdue-debt action such as supply restriction or referral to mercantile agents, and it points to the Hardship Utility Grant Scheme, a Western Australian Government scheme for utility customers in financial hardship.
Every utility’s arrangements differ. Look for “financial hardship” or “trouble paying” on your own utility’s website.