--- title: "Home Energy Ratings: What Australia Measures" url: https://australianproperty.network/analysis/legislation-policy/sustainability-environmental-policies-in-property/home-energy-ratings-what-australia-measures/ date: 2026-10-01 modified: 2026-10-01 lang: en author: "APN National" description: "The 7-star standard started state by state between October 2023 and May 2025. The only long series for homes sold is the ACT's, where a considerable part of the rise in ratings likely came from new builds." categories: - "Sustainability & Environmental Policies in Property" tags: - "21360" - "Energy Efficiency" - "NatHERS" image: https://australianproperty.network/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Home-energy-ratings-October-2026.webp word_count: 1814 --- # Home Energy Ratings: What Australia Measures Australia sets energy standards for new homes, but it publishes no national figures on how existing homes perform. The 2022 building code’s 7-star standard came into force state by state between October 2023 and May 2025; Tasmania did not adopt it, and the Northern Territory applies a 5-star requirement to houses. The one long series for homes actually sold comes from the ACT, which has required an energy rating in every sale advertisement for more than 25 years. There, the average rating of houses sold rose from 2.10 to 3.52 stars out of 6 over two decades, and a review for the ACT Government found that a considerable part of that rise likely reflected new builds: with new homes taken out, the average for houses over the decade to 2022 was roughly flat. **Data anchors** · Node reading for Sustainability & Environmental Policies (21360): NIL RETURN. This article rests on the source data alone · ACT average rating of houses sold: **2.10** stars in 2001–02, **3.52** in 2021–22 (out of 6) · NCC 2022 energy provisions adopted between **October 2023** and **May 2025**; not adopted by Tasmania · national series of home energy ratings: **NIL RETURN**. The ACT figures come from a 2023 review of the territory’s disclosure scheme and end in 2021–22. #### Two kinds of rating Two different ratings are in use. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) rates the design of a home, and the building code’s 7-star standard is expressed in NatHERS stars. The ACT’s energy efficiency rating (EER), required when a home is sold or leased, is on a scale of 0 to 6 stars and covers existing homes. The two scales are not interchangeable, and no figure in this article converts one into the other. Who sets these rules is covered in [Who Sets the Sustainability Rules for a New Home](https://australianproperty.network/analysis/legislation-policy/sustainability-environmental-policies-in-property/who-sets-the-sustainability-rules-for-a-new-home/). #### The 7-star standard, state by state The 2022 edition of the National Construction Code raised the energy standard for new homes to 7 NatHERS stars and added a whole-of-home energy requirement. The code itself was adopted on 1 May 2023, but each state and territory set its own start date for the energy provisions. | Jurisdiction | Houses | Apartments | | ------------ | ------ | ---------- | | NSW | 1 October 2023, through enhanced BASIX | 1 October 2023, through enhanced BASIX | | Victoria | 1 May 2024 | 1 May 2024 | | Queensland | 1 May 2024, through the Queensland Development Code | 1 May 2024 | | WA | 1 May 2025 | 1 May 2025 | | SA | 1 October 2024 | 1 October 2024 | | Tasmania | Not adopted | Not adopted | | ACT | 15 January 2024 | 15 January 2024 | | NT | 5-star requirements only, from 1 October 2023 | Not adopted | Adoption of the NCC 2022 residential energy efficiency provisions (7 stars and the whole-of-home energy requirement). Source: Australian Building Codes Board, NCC 2022 state and territory adoption dates, correct as at 22 September 2023; Queensland from the Queensland Government; wording shortened. NSW applies the standard through its own planning tool, BASIX, and Queensland through the Queensland Development Code. Tasmania did not adopt the 2022 energy provisions, and the Northern Territory applies a 5-star requirement to houses only. The 2025 edition of the code kept the residential standards adopted in 2022; its adoption dates, which run to 2027, are set out in [The Building Code for New Homes: Editions, Adoption and the Pause to 2029](https://australianproperty.network/analysis/legislation-policy/planning-regulations/urban-density-design-built-form-regulation-analysis/the-building-code-for-new-homes-editions-adoption-and-the-pause-to-2029/). Between October 2023 and May 2025 the six adopting jurisdictions started on different dates, and Tasmania and the Northern Territory still apply lower requirements, so the energy standard for a new home depends on where it is built. #### What the national rating records show, and do not release CSIRO brings together NatHERS certificate data from three rating software tools and shows them in its Australian Housing Data dashboards. The data runs from May 2016 and is updated each month, and the dashboards break it down by state, climate zone, council area and postcode. They can be viewed but not downloaded: no data file, licence or published series of average ratings by state and year is offered. CSIRO itself cautions that the number of assessments submitted for new, existing and renovated homes varies with each state’s rules. A national series of home energy ratings is therefore NIL RETURN as published data. #### The ACT: the one long series for homes sold ##### Average energy rating of ACT homes sold, 2001–02 to 2021–22 - 0123456Apartments (class 2)Houses and townhouses (class 1)2001–022005–062009–102013–142017–182021–225.613.52 Average energy efficiency rating (0 to 6 stars) of ACT homes sold, by financial year, including new builds. APN chart based on data in the Review of the ACT Energy Efficiency Rating Disclosure Scheme (Common Capital for the ACT Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, 24 March 2023), Table 5, built from sale listings on Allhomes. | Financial year | Houses sold | Average rating, houses | Apartments sold | Average rating, apartments | | -------------- | ----------- | ---------------------- | --------------- | -------------------------- | | 2001–02 | 1,746 | 2.10 | 76 | 3.09 | | 2006–07 | 3,325 | 2.35 | 426 | 4.40 | | 2011–12 | 3,985 | 2.70 | 539 | 5.04 | | 2016–17 | 4,326 | 3.13 | 851 | 5.34 | | 2021–22 | 3,626 | 3.52 | 1,605 | 5.61 | Selected years. Source: Review of the ACT Energy Efficiency Rating Disclosure Scheme (Common Capital for the ACT Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, 24 March 2023), Table 5. Because the ACT has required a rating in every sale advertisement for more than 25 years, its sale listings hold information no other jurisdiction has. A review commissioned by the ACT Government and completed in March 2023 compiled those listings. The average rating of houses and townhouses sold rose from 2.10 stars in 2001–02 to 3.52 in 2021–22, and apartments from 3.09 to 5.61. Apartments rated higher than houses in every year. The review is careful about what that rise means. Its averages include new homes, which are built to rising minimum standards, and it concludes that a considerable part of the increase is likely to reflect those standards. When it removed new builds from the house figures for the ten years to 2022, the upward trend disappeared and the average stayed roughly flat. Houses sold more than once under the scheme improved by 0.4 of a star on average, from 2.5 to 2.9. Disclosure itself works unevenly. The review found a rating in around 98% of homes advertised for sale, but in only around 33% of rental listings. #### Ratings and sale prices in the ACT ##### ACT house sale prices by energy rating, against a 3-star house −8%−6%−4%−2%0%2%4%0 stars−6.4%1 star−5.2%2 stars−2.3%4 stars1.9%5 stars2.7%6 stars1.5% Estimated difference in sale price against an otherwise similar 3-star house, houses sold more than once between 2000 and 2022, excluding first sales, with suburb and year controls. APN chart based on results in the Review of the ACT Energy Efficiency Rating Disclosure Scheme (Common Capital for the ACT Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, 24 March 2023), section on regression analysis. The review also tested whether ratings are reflected in prices. Using houses sold more than once between 2000 and 2022, excluding each house’s first sale to leave out new builds, and comparing within suburbs and years, it estimated that 4-, 5- and 6-star houses sold for 1.9%, 2.7% and 1.5% more than 3-star houses, and 2-, 1- and 0-star houses for 2.3%, 5.2% and 6.4% less. The pattern is not a straight line: the 6-star estimate is below the 5-star one. It is also a measure of association in one territory’s market, from one study; it does not show that a rating causes a price difference, and it does not describe any other state. No other Australian jurisdiction publishes rated sales from which a comparable estimate could be made, so a national price effect of energy ratings is NIL RETURN. #### Disclosure beyond the ACT Energy ministers have released a national framework for disclosing home energy ratings. Version 1, released in July 2024, covered single dwellings, and Version 2 added apartments. A cost-benefit analysis released with it found a considerable net benefit in mandatory disclosure at sale or lease. The framework sets out how disclosure could work; it does not require it, and it has produced no data. Large companies now report on climate risk under the Corporations Act, phased in by size. Registered schemes, which include many property trusts, come in through their own asset threshold. | Group | Reporting periods | Who | | ----- | ----------------- | --- | | Group 1 | Periods starting 1 January 2025 to 30 June 2026 | At least two of: revenue $500 million or more, gross assets $1 billion or more, 500 or more employees; or large emitters | | Group 2 | Periods starting 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 | At least two of: revenue $200 million, gross assets $500 million, 250 employees; registered emissions reporters; and registered schemes with assets of $5 billion or more | | Group 3 | Periods starting on or after 1 July 2027 | At least two of: revenue $50 million, gross assets $25 million, 100 employees, including registered schemes | Source: Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Regulatory Guide 280 (March 2025), Table 2; thresholds summarised. ASIC notes that climate-related financial disclosure is at present the only mandatory part of these reports. The rules contain no provision specific to property and require no building-level energy data. 3.52Average rating of ACT houses sold, 2021–22 (out of 6)98% / 33%ACT sale and rental listings disclosing a ratingOct 2023 – May 2025When the 7-star standard started, by jurisdictionNIL RETURNA published national series of home energy ratings #### What this does not show The ACT series ends in 2021–22 and covers one territory, on the ACT’s own 6-star scale. Its averages come from sale listings, so they describe homes that were sold, not the whole stock. The price estimate is an association, and the review itself notes that newer homes have other features that are hard to control for. The adoption dates say when a standard started, not how many homes have been built to it. Nothing here assesses whether any standard is warranted. **Methodology note.** Adoption dates are from the Australian Building Codes Board table of NCC 2022 state and territory adoption dates, correct as at 22 September 2023. The ACT figures are from the Review of the ACT Energy Efficiency Rating Disclosure Scheme (Common Capital, 24 March 2023): average EER and number of sales by financial year (Table 5), compiled from Allhomes sale listings and including new builds; the analysis excluding new builds; and the regression of house sale prices on EER, as reported in the review. The NatHERS description is from CSIRO’s Australian Housing Data site. Climate reporting groups are from ASIC Regulatory Guide 280, Table 2. Node reading for Sustainability & Environmental Policies (21360): NIL RETURN. This article rests on the source data alone. **Sources** ACT Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate *Review of the ACT Energy Efficiency Rating Disclosure Scheme (Common Capital, 24 March 2023)* [[https://www.planning.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/2537522/act-energy-efficiency-rating-disclosure-scheme-review.pdf](https://www.planning.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/2537522/act-energy-efficiency-rating-disclosure-scheme-review.pdf)], accessed 29 September 2026.- ACT Government *Energy efficiency rating requirements* [[https://www.planning.act.gov.au/professionals/regulation-and-responsibilities/responsibilities/energy-efficiency](https://www.planning.act.gov.au/professionals/regulation-and-responsibilities/responsibilities/energy-efficiency)], accessed 29 September 2026.- Australian Building Codes Board *NCC 2022 state and territory adoption dates* [[https://www.abcb.gov.au/ncc-2022-state-and-territory-adoption-dates](https://www.abcb.gov.au/ncc-2022-state-and-territory-adoption-dates)], accessed 29 September 2026.- Australian Government, energy.gov.au *Home Energy Ratings Disclosure Framework Version 2 released* [[https://www.energy.gov.au/news/home-energy-ratings-disclosure-framework-version-2-released](https://www.energy.gov.au/news/home-energy-ratings-disclosure-framework-version-2-released)], accessed 29 September 2026.- Australian Securities and Investments Commission *Regulatory Guide 280: Sustainability reporting (March 2025)* [[https://download.asic.gov.au/media/j4rhwyiz/rg280-published-31-march-2025.pdf](https://download.asic.gov.au/media/j4rhwyiz/rg280-published-31-march-2025.pdf)], accessed 29 September 2026.- CSIRO *Australian Housing Data: about the NatHERS dashboards* [[https://ahd.csiro.au/about/](https://ahd.csiro.au/about/)], accessed 29 September 2026.- Queensland Government *Energy equivalence building standards (star and whole of home ratings)* [[https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/building-property-development/building-construction/laws-codes-standards/sustainable-housing/energy-equivalence](https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/building-property-development/building-construction/laws-codes-standards/sustainable-housing/energy-equivalence)], accessed 30 September 2026. *Figures are quoted from the publishers named, with attribution. Charts drawn from them are APN’s and are not attributable to any publisher.* Findings are presented on the basis of data and evidence alone.