29 September 2023

The Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC) welcomes the Senate Economics Reference Committee’s Inquiry into Australia’s Residential Electrification Efforts. Currently buildings account for over 50% of electricity use in Australia and almost a quarter of its emissions. Of this, residential buildings are responsible for almost half, with around 24% of overall electricity use and more than 10% of total carbon emissions.

Noting that urgent action on climate change is required, ASBEC strongly supports the phase out of fossil gas use and the rapid scale up of electrification of Australia’s residential and commercial buildings. We also note that this transition to a decarbonised built environment needs to be delivered in a just and equitable way.

ASBEC and its members call upon the Australian Government to adopt the following immediate priorities, which are supported by a broad coalition across the sector:

1. Introduce a national plan with ambitious but achievable timeframes to phase out fossil gas in existing buildings and appliances.
2. Any regulatory mechanism introduced to manage a national electrification program should consider a “least cost” approach and prioritise energy efficiency as a first step in the electrification process.
3. Provide national certainty that all new residential and commercial buildings will be fully electrified and operate on high-quality electric equipment by 2025 (e.g. via the Built Environment Sectoral Plan, Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings, the National Construction Code and other jurisdictional specific planning policy mechanisms).
4. Develop a strategy for quality deep retrofits for both existing residential and commercial buildings that prioritises low-income and vulnerable households.
5. Urgently grow skills and market readiness for electrification.

Read more here.