Media release
19 February 2010
The Government today announced a series
of changes to the administration of the
environmental programs to boost safety and
improve environmental performance.
These changes are aimed
at boosting safety for households and safety
for the workers whose employment is funded
by these important environmental programs.
The changes announced
by the Government today include:
The establishment of
a new household Renewable Energy Bonus Scheme
to replace the Home Insulation Program and
the Solar Hot Water Rebate.
Significant changes to the Green Loans scheme
to boost the effectiveness and sustainability
of the scheme.
The changes announced today will ensure
the Government continues to help householders
and business contribute to Australia’s efforts
to transition to a low carbon economy.
The changes announced
today put householders back in charge of
the environmental products installed in
their home.
These changes will benefit
good green businesses and are bad for the
shonky operators who have begun exploiting
this market.
A new household Renewable
Energy Bonus scheme
A new household Renewable Energy Bonus Scheme
will assist households save money on power
bills and reduce their carbon emissions.
This new Scheme will
replace the Home Insulation Program and
the Solar Hot Water Rebate Program both
of which have been discontinued as of close
of business today.
The Government’s focus
is on the safety of households and tradespeople
who will both benefit from the operation
of this new scheme.
Under the household
Renewable Energy Bonus scheme households
will be able to receive a rebate for the
installation of ceiling insulation or a
solar hot water system or a heat pump.
$1000 rebates will be
available for ceiling installation and solar
hot water systems and $600 rebates for heat
pumps systems.
The new rebate for solar
hot water systems and heat pumps will be
available for systems installed after today.
This scheme will institute
several key changes to the delivery of ceiling
insulation including:
Householders – rather
than installers - will claim the $1000 rebate
directly through the Medicare system.
Introducing a new registration
scheme requiring all installers to reregister,
pay a cash bond, show evidence of meeting
the training and skills requirements and
provide certified quality assurance and
occupational health and safety plans.
Introducing a strengthened
compliance regime in concert with State
and Territory occupational health and safety
and fair trading authorities.
It is intended that
the insulation component of the Renewable
Energy Bonus scheme will come into operation
by 1 June.
The Government’s objective
remains to see insulation installed in up
to 1.9 million homes, including those already
installed under the discontinued Home Insulation
Program, to be completed by 2011.
The Government will
also be commissioning an external assessment
of the proposed implementation arrangements
for the household Renewable Energy Bonus
scheme and will continue to provide oversight
to the scheme during its operation.
This assessment will
consider whether the arrangements and planned
timelines proposed for the scheme’s implementation
are sufficient to meet the Government’s
expectations of safety.
In relation the discontinuation
of the Home Insulation Program, installers
will have seven days to claim outstanding
rebates for work completed prior to close
of business today.
The Government is prepared
to consider appropriate transitional arrangements
for legitimate industry participants and
a hotline will be available.
The Government attaches
particular priority on the impact of this
announcement on workers. Workers will have
immediate access to assistance under the
Government's Compact for Retrenched Workers,
meaning they will get immediate access to
high level support, including access to
retraining support and help in finding another
job as quickly as possible. A hotline will
be available for them too.
The Government will
continue to roll out an existing electrical
safety inspection program of all homes that
have had foil insulation installed under
the Program.
The Government will
also be prepared to check as many houses
as necessary which have insulation installed
under the Home Insulation Program.
The Government will
also establish a new Home Insulation Program
Review Office to handle all complaints and
inquiries and immediately address risks
created by unscrupulous operators and will
appoint an independent reviewer to conduct
a review of the Home Insulation Program
design, implementation and delivery.
Significant Changes
to Green Loans Program
The Government will help over an additional
600,000 Australian households tackle climate
change through a re-designed and extended
Green Loans program.
That is on top of the
360,000 assessments already available under
the program, of which more than 270,000
have already been booked nationwide.
The re-design of the
program will include:
the discontinuation
of the less popular loans component next
month to provide for the significant boost
to assessment availability;
a new cap of 5000 assessors, allowing up
to an extra 1200 trained assessors to contract
with the Department of Environment, Water,
Heritage and the Arts;
a weekly cap of 15,000 assessment bookings
and a daily and weekly cap per assessor
of three and five respectively to ensure
greater quality and a more even distribution
of work for assessors right around the nation;
changed booking arrangements allowing only
individual assessors to make bookings.
These new arrangements will apply to the
end of 2010.
A new Green Start program
The Green Start program will now commence
from 1 January 2011.
This Program will remain
directed at helping low income households
and those most at need improve their energy
and water efficiency and help tackle climate
change.
The Program will also
include a web-based assessment tool for
all households.
This Program will include
in-home sustainability assessments, providing
an ongoing pipeline of work for home sustainability
assessors following the Green Loans program.
Details of the program
will be finalised in the coming months.
