Sustainability grants and rebates

Grants and rebates can help you to reduce the upfront expense of installing energy and water saving measures in your home. Reducing energy and water consumption can also reduce the future running costs of your home or business.

Federal and State Governments offer a range of rebates and other assistance to help you to live greener.

Australian Government initiatives

  • The Australian Government’s Energy.gov.au website offers the ability to search for rebates, grants or support according to location or type of rebate.
  • The Australian Government’s Clean Energy Regulator is the Government body responsible for administering legislation that will reduce carbon emissions and increase the use of clean energy. The Small-Scale Renewable Energy Scheme creates a financial incentive for households and small businesses to install eligible small-scale renewable energy systems such as solar panel systems, small-scale wind systems, small-scale hydro systems, solar water heaters and air source heat pumps. The rebate is determined by the number of Small-Scale Technology Certificates an installation attracts.

Victorian Government initiatives

The state government has several programs that benefit households and businesses while contributing to targets for renewable energy generation and greenhouse emissions reduction. 

Sustainability Victoria regularly provides opportunities for grants and funding. They use their LinkedIn page to announce upcoming opportunities, or you can register for their grants and funding alerts via their website. 

Key rebate programs are outlined below:

  • The Victorian Energy Upgrades program  provides access to discounted energy saving products and services, enabling householders and small businesses to save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The website has information (and a short video) about eligible products and services, and how accredited providers operate to ensure that works undertaken within the program contribute to state government targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions  
  • The Small Business Energy Saver Program  is being delivered at the regional level through the Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance, to complement the Victorian Energy Upgrades program. It supports small businesses to improve energy efficiency and reduce operating costs, through providing discounts for purchase and installation of equipment. To be eligible, a business must be operating from a commercial premise (non-residential), and have between 1 and 19 full time equivalent employees. The program is not available to agricultural primary producers). You can register your interest in participating in the program on their website.
  • The Solar Homes program run by Solar Victoria, provides households and businesses rebates for installation of solar panels, subject to certain conditions. There are rebates for solar panels (PV), solar hot water and solar batteries, and also for reverse cycle heating and cooling systems.  

Regional programs

MASH (More Australian Solar Homes)

MASH is a non-for-profit community solar bulk-buy program that offers high quality systems and consolidates the collective buying power of residents to negotiate discounted prices for the purchase and installation of high quality roof top solar systems. It is managed by the Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance, and operates in central and northern Victoria.

In 2018, MASH received the Community Environment Award from Environment Victoria in recognition of the program facilitating solar panel installations for over 1,000 homes in central Victoria.    

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