Media releases
Westpac partners with government to help customers save on energy costs
4 April 2025
Westpac has become the first major Australian bank to join the Australian Government’s trial of the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) for existing homes.
The NatHERS initiative offers home energy ratings to help Australian households better understand their home’s energy performance, identify cost-effective upgrades to improve comfort and reduce energy bills.
From this week, select Westpac customers applying to refinance or top up their mortgage may be invited to take part in the trial. Trial participants will receive a free home energy rating certificate from an expert assessor to identify where energy efficiencies can be made, and inform home improvement plans for energy savings and increased comfort.
“Westpac has been an advocate for the expansion of the NatHERs scheme to include existing homes and we’re proud to be the first major Australian bank to participate,” said James Hutton, Westpac Managing Director of Mortgages.
"Our partnership will expand the reach of the program to more Australians seeking to make sustainable choices.
“This trial will give some of our customers the opportunity to be among the first homeowners in Australia to receive a trial NatHERS assessment for an existing home, and assess where energy efficiency improvements could be made to save on power costs.
"This collaboration will not only help to improve energy efficiency, it will also help our customers understand how they can reduce household energy bills," said Mr Hutton.
Introduced in 1993 for new homes and major renovations, the trial is part of the Australian Government’s commitment to expanding NatHERS to existing homes.
Westpac is commencing the trial in collaboration with the Australian Government, the CSIRO and property valuer Opteon. Customer trials will involve gathering insights for a smoother rollout of energy ratings across existing housing by government and industry, once the expanded scheme launches from mid-2025.
For more information regarding the trial, please visit www.nathers.gov.au/trials.
ENDS
About the NatHERS trial for existing homes
Home energy ratings delivered as part of the NatHERS trial are for trial purposes only.
The trial certificate customers receive will include:
- a NatHERS Star Rating (out of 10)
- a Home Energy Rating (out of 100)
- a breakdown of the energy used by household appliances
- estimates of the home’s annual energy use and greenhouse gas emissions
- the home’s renewable energy profile (if relevant).
The trial certificate cannot be used for compliance or regulatory purposes and there is no requirement to disclose trial ratings.
Trial home energy ratings may differ from ratings delivered following the launch of NatHERS for existing homes. As the trials are testing data collector and assessor training, as well as software and technical settings, the ratings are subject to change.
Trial certificates will not automatically be converted to official certificates. Once the scheme launches, households will be able to seek official ratings which will incur a cost. Trial partners are considering how to best streamline this process for trial households. Banks will not use trial data or outputs to inform individual risk or credit decisions for trial households.
Media Contact: