Improving the thermal performance of buildings – particularly through upgrades such as insulation – will play a key role in improving Australia’s energy performance: reducing emissions; reducing energy supply infrastructure stresses and costs; and saving money for businesses and consumers.

Insulation plays a fundamental role in reducing the energy consumption and peak energy demand of homes and commercial premises while also enhancing demand flexibility, and will be essential to accelerating the transition to net zero, futureproofing and enhancing the climate safety of Australian homes.

More than eight million Australian homes were built prior to mandatory minimum energy efficiency requirements, and a substantial portion of these homes lack basic measures to ensure thermal comfort and safety such as insulation. Many of these homes are occupied by Australia’s most vulnerable people, and the poor performance of these dwellings presents long-term risks to health, comfort and welfare of their inhabitants. A coordinated residential rehabilitation process is needed to address this issue.

The Affiliated Insulation Industry Coalition (AIIC) is a collective of insulation trade associations including the Australian Modern Building Alliance (AMBA), Insulation Australasia (IA), Insulation Council of Australia & New Zealand (ICANZ) and The Insulation Academy (TIA), each representing different product types and installation services. The collective activity of this group is informed by the 2021 Roadmap for quality control and safety in insulation installation, which was developed and signed by over 40 organisations.

The AIIC agree that the below suite of recommendations can raise and protect the living standards of Australians by making homes healthier and cheaper to run, while accelerating the transition to net zero, and enhancing their climate safety.

Recommendations in this document are intended to be practically implementable in the near to mid-term, and provide a solid foundation for increasing the safe installation of quality insulation product in Australian homes and businesses.