In late September 2022, ASBEC’s Sustainable Housing Task Group produced a policy paper to outline the benefits of a national framework for disclosure of energy performance at sale or lease.

Making homes more efficient presents a win‐win‐win opportunity. Efficiency cuts household energy costs and makes homes healthier and more comfortable to live in particularly in extreme weather events like heatwaves. It also offers low‐cost emissions reductions and reduces stress on the electricity network in peak periods, which in turn reduces the need for costly network infrastructure upgrades.

The performance gap between new and existing homes is growing ever larger. And given that low income and vulnerable households are more likely to live in older and less efficient housing, the poor quality of our existing housing stock has significant implications for worsening social equity, and our ability to protect vulnerable people from the impacts of climate change. There is an urgent need to turn our attention to the policy levers that will drive large scale improvements in our existing homes, leveraging private as well as public investment.

Australia has an established, nationally consistent disclosure scheme for commercial office and apartment common areas, but lacks one for detached houses and sole‐occupancy unit apartments – the majority of Australia’s housing stock. This means that most homeowners, prospective homebuyers and tenants lack easily comparable information about the energy performance, ongoing energy costs and comfort of their home.

A single energy performance rating and disclosure framework, consistently applied across jurisdictions, will reduce complexity and confusion for industry and provide clear, reliable and consistent information for consumers. National consistency will enhance credibility and encourage uptake, which in turn will raise public awareness of energy efficiency and increase the likelihood of investment in energy performance upgrades.

ASBEC’s Sustainable Housing Task Group proposes a series of priorities for an effective disclosure framework – read more here.