Government Relations
ICANZ seeks better state and federal government regulation to improve the energy efficiency of commercial and residential buildings.
Its activities include submissions and representations to government in the development of policy and regulatory change.
Federal and state governments have all voiced a strong commitment to the ethos of sustainability and despite many years of industry promotion, market forces have failed to greatly improve the energy efficiency of buildings or address the growing energy demand. Australian buildings are the least efficient in the OECD (Organsiation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries.
One of the key challenges for policy developers is how to meet increasing energy demands. A recently released study by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Environmental Issues: People’s Views and Practices (No. 4602.0, 29 Nov. 2005), found that only about half of Australian homes are insulated, and that 20 per cent of people do not even know if they have insulation installed. The study also found that air-conditioning installations in Australian homes have increased from 33 per cent in 1994 to 60 per cent in 2005 with the trend continuing.
ICANZ believes governments must raise awareness in the community of the benefits of improving energy efficiency in the home and the important role of insulation.
Better energy regulations to improve our energy efficiency will significantly reduce the energy wasted through poorly insulated buildings, improve Australia's economic performance and competitiveness, and improve Australia's environmental performance in reducng our GHG emissions.
These pages provide an outline of ICANZ activities and some information in relation to the progress and policy initiatives of each state jurisdiction.
For comprehensive information on state government progress in this area, please visit the relevant websites. Links are provided throughout the text for this purpose.