All levels of government have significant property holdings, with state and territory governments having particularly large assets. Governments own and occupy over 25 per cent of the commercial building stock in Australia, including schools and hospitals, and run energy-intensive facilities such as water supply and treatment facilities. Consequently, governments use a huge amount of energy. Better energy management can reduce energy use in facilities by 50 per cent or more, with very significant impacts on both governments’ budgets and policy goals.This document, released December 2021, provides guidance for federal, state and local governments on how to manage energy use in their own operations.
The guide encourages governments to implement and scale up centralised, whole-of-government energy management programs as a critical first step towards decarbonisation.
