Is 2026 the year home decarbonisation goes mainstream?

Analysis from Richard Griffiths, Cotality's Australia's Head of Sustainability Solutions

As we step into 2026, Australia’s journey toward home decarbonisation is poised for a pivotal leap forward.

The question is no longer whether mandatory disclosure of home energy ratings will become standard practice, but how quickly and effectively it will reshape the property landscape. With new national and state-level policies set to move from pilot to rollout, and PropTech innovations ready to scale, this year promises to be a defining one for energy efficiency in Australian homes. Expect 2026 to bring accelerated adoption, digital integration, and a surge of industry collaboration—delivering tangible benefits for homeowners, buyers, and the broader economy.

Here’s a snapshot of the progress we saw in 2025, and what to watch as the next phase of Australia’s home energy transformation unfolds.

2025: Momentum & Progress Across Policy and Industry

The past year saw a range of key government and industry milestones ticked off, transforming mandatory disclosure into a more concrete reality. The "Home Energy Ratings Disclosure Framework – Version 2"for existing homes, released in late 2024, set the stage for progress in 2025,providing the policy parameters for states and territories to develop their own schemes.

The subsequent NatHERS for existing homes trial was the central pillar of 2025. Helpfully, that trial looked at how the scheme could leverage an existing workforce – in this case, property valuers – to quickly add scale to the network of assessors. The trial gave invaluable insights into how ratings could be delivered in practice, including the need to strive for simplicity, standardisation, and integration with existing industry practices and workflows.

New South Wales (NSW) has picked up the baton at a state level and looks set to be the first state to bring in mandatory ratings. In 20225, amongst a wide array of policy research and analysis, its team also took a practical view in launching a Real Estate trial that is testing the essential role agents can play in customer engagement. Victoria, in a separate but relevant move, announced a measures-based minimum standard for rented homes. Widespread home energy ratings may well provide a means through which other states can follow suit –and develop minimum standards for homes – in the future.

Back at the national level, the Australian Government back edits ambition by releasing the Built Environment Sector Plan and committing additional funds for the mandatory disclosure roll-out, aligning with the new2035 emissions reduction target. Meanwhile, the PropTech association’s Energy Efficiency Features Standard offered a major step forward in industry practice, laying the groundwork for how energy efficiency data will be captured andshared across the real estate ecosystem.

The Commercial 'Why': Value and Financial Resilience

This intense period of policy and trial has been boosted by increasing evidence that energy-efficient, sustainable homes make financial sense. The benefits of reduced energy bills were already clear, but these were amplified earlier this year by Cotality’s ‘Watt’s it Worth?’ report. The analysis, based on a rigorous examination of nationwide property data, provided definitive evidence that energy efficiency genuinely adds value to homes.

Accordingly, we've seen a surge of engagement from financial institutions interested in Cotality’s Energy Efficiency portfolio assessment tool, recognising that a scalable, data-driven solution can greatl yassist with the banking sector needs to support an increasing interest in green finance products (e.g. green loans and mortgages) and their corporate climate-related financial disclosures.

2026 and Beyond: PropTech as the Digital Integrator

We’re confident that 2026 will be the year of acceleration, scale, and digital transformation. The commencement of "Stage 2" of policy development for NatHERS for Existing Homes from mid-2026 will transition the scheme from a limited trial to a system open to a much wider pool of accredited assessors and householders. This will mark the true inflection point toward a national rollout.

We expect this process to help trigger a wave of innovation to underpin the mandatory disclosure ecosystem

• Tech-driven (including AI-based) assessment options, in response to the CSIRO call for     the development of “user interface” tools
• End-to-end platforms that support the whole journey from assessment to home upgrade

Here at Cotality, we’re set to launch “Whole of Home” functionality for our Cotality Energy Efficiency portfolio assessment tool in early 2026, further aligning it with the mandatory disclosure framework andmaking it an even more useful tool for banks, councils and others across thevalue chain. More generally, we will continue to build energy efficiency deeply into Cotality’s core tools, datasets, and systems across valuations, realestate (e.g., RP Data), and insurance.

Based on what we’ve seen so far, we’re more convinced than ever that Cotality can play a vital role as the “oil in the machine” that makes mandatory disclosure, and the whole home upgrade journey possible. Our network,platforms, tools, and data expertise will be essential in creating a home energy efficiency ecosystem that is efficient, effective, tech-enabled and data-driven.

Focus on Progress, Not Perfection

In moving from trial to rollout, there’s a real risk of letting perfection be the enemy of progress. As we enter 2026, the focus on theend goal of creating scale as quickly as possible is imperative to success of themission to make Australia’s homes more climate-friendly and cheaper to run.

At Cotality, we are looking forward to the challenge. We’re in the fortunate position of already having a great foundation – from both our decades spent at the centre of the property ecosystem and the on-the-ground experience of our UK team in this space - that we can leverage to help turn a challenging policy goal into an everyday feature of Australian homes.

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