NatHERS News - 28 November

Home energy rating assessor training in 2026

No-cost training will soon be available to current assessors who want to become accredited to conduct NatHERS for existing homes assessments. The training supports a smooth industry transition to existing home ratings, with demand expected to grow from Stage 2 of the NatHERS roll out in mid-2026.

An Expression of Interest (EOI) process will open in December before enrolments and training commence in January 2026.

Places are limited and expressions of interest are only invited from current assessors from the following programs:

• ACT Energy Efficiency Rating
• NatHERS for new homes
• Residential Efficiency Scorecard. 

More information on the training, including timing, eligibility and the EOI will be provided in a NatHERS for existing homes information session for interested assessors on Tuesday 9 December 2025.

Register for the session here.

Have your say on new Assessor pathways

Consultation has opened on two new training and assessor accreditation pathways for existing homes assessments.

The new pathways have been designed to help accelerate the expansion of the workforce and support an expected increase in demand for existing homes assessments over time, while maintaining the reliability of the ratings and assessments. 

Pathways proposed: 

• a training and accreditation pathway for data collectors. Accredited data collectors would visit homes to collect information and evidence, which is then used by accredited assessors to rate homes and provide upgrade guidance.
• a company accreditation pathway, enabling businesses to manage training, professional development and accreditation of data collectors and/or assessors. 

The proposed additions build on the NatHERS for existing homes delivery model, agreed by Energy and Climate Change Ministers in March 2025. 

You are invited to read the consultation paper and send us your views to admin@nathers.gov.au by 19 December 2025.

Callout for RTOs to deliver assessor training from mid-2026

A tender request will be released in the coming weeks seeking responses from Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) interested in delivering NatHERS for existing homes assessor training from mid-2026.

Successful RTOs would need to establish and begin delivering training to prospective assessors during 2026, as demand for existing homes assessors and ratings builds in Stage 2 of the NatHERS roll out. 

To prepare, RTOs can: 

• review current NatHERS training practices and information on the expansion of NatHERS to existing homes to better understand the requirements. See ‘Training Information’ drop down sections on the NatHERS Assessor Toolkit and NatHERS expansion updates for more information.
• set up a login on the AusTender site (if not already registered)
• follow the Annual Procurement Plan for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) for updates .
• find guidance for a tender response here: Building your best response | Selling to Government.

Note: information about this procurement is subject to change and does not represent a solicitation or constitute a request for proposal.

New videos go live about rating existing homes 

Two consumer-focused videos have recently been published on the NatHERS YouTube channel explaining the basics of rating an existing home and the upgrades homeowners can make when armed with the right information.   

The videos feature an experienced energy assessor sharing his insights on the benefits of a rating, and the best upgrades to improve comfort and reduce bills. 

Software development EOI update

Three Expressions of Interest (EOIs) have now been received from software developers interested in creating a user interface for existing homes ratings.