Rental Energy Efficiency Standards in Australia: What Landlords Need to Know (2026)

Victoria and the ACT already have minimum standards

Minimum energy efficiency standards for rental properties are no longer hypothetical in Australia. According to the Energy Efficiency Council, Australia's peak body for energy efficiency and electrification, Victoria and the ACT already have minimum standards requiring energy-efficient electric features in rental homes — measures such as insulation and efficient appliances. That is set out in the Council's Efficient, Electric Homes: Market Acceleration Plan (November 2025) as established policy, not as a proposal.

The logic behind those standards is straightforward. Renters generally cannot choose the insulation, the hot water system or the heater in the home they live in, but they pay the running costs of all three. A poorly performing rental transfers a permanent cost onto the tenant while the decision to fix it sits with the owner. Minimum standards close that gap by setting a floor on what a rental property has to provide.

For landlords in Victoria and the ACT, this is already part of owning an investment property. For landlords everywhere else, it is the clearest available preview of where the market is heading.

More states are likely to follow

The Energy Efficiency Council is advocating for all states and territories to introduce rental standards similar to those already in place in Victoria and the ACT. When a national peak body puts a measure at the centre of its plan — and two jurisdictions have already shown it can be implemented — the realistic expectation is that other states follow rather than that the idea goes away.

What that means for a landlord in NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania or the Northern Territory is a planning question rather than a compliance question. You are not required to act today. But the upgrades likely to be required are the same ones that reduce vacancy, reduce tenant complaints about cold and damp, and improve the property's resale position — so the cost of doing them early is low and the cost of being caught in a compliance rush is high.

What this means practically for landlords

Rental standards focus on the measures that deliver the largest comfort and running-cost improvement per dollar. In practice, that means four things.

How a NatHERS assessment helps landlords

The hardest part of preparing a rental for tightening standards is not the work — it is knowing which work matters. Two properties on the same street can need completely different upgrades depending on orientation, glazing, construction type and what previous owners did.

A NatHERS existing-home assessment gives a landlord two things:

• A documented baseline. A star rating for the property as it stands today, produced by an accredited assessor using nationally consistent modelling — the same basis any future disclosure requirement would use.
• A ranked upgrade list. Modelled scenarios showing what each measure does to the rating, so you spend on the improvements that actually move the property rather than the ones a salesperson recommends.

For a typical investment property that is a few hundred dollars against upgrade decisions worth several thousand. See current pricing in our assessor cost guide by state.

Disclosure at sale — and at lease

Minimum standards are only half the story. The second thread is mandatory disclosure of a home's energy performance — telling prospective buyers and tenants what a property's rating is before they commit. The ACT has required disclosure at sale for years, and mandatory disclosure at both sale and lease is an active national policy priority that the Energy Efficiency Council is advocating for, not a single-state initiative. The NSW direction on energy ratings when selling a house sits inside that broader national picture.

The practical consequence for landlords is that ratings start to matter before they are legally required. Once a portion of listings in a market display a rating, listings without one look like they have something to hide. Tenants comparing two similar properties will use the number that is available.

That is the case for getting ahead: a rating obtained early is a marketing asset while it is optional, and a compliance document once it is not.

A sensible order of action

1. Get the property assessed so you know the baseline and the highest-value upgrades.
2. Do the cheap fabric work first — draught sealing, then ceiling insulation.
3. Replace hot water and heating with efficient electric equipment at end of life, not before.
4. Check whether state rebates and incentives cover any of it — some programs extend to rental properties.
5. Keep the certificate and invoices; they become your disclosure and compliance record.

Frequently Asked Questions