NatHERS is administered by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (the NatHERS Administrator) on behalf of all state and territory governments.
The NatHERS Administrator is responsible for delivering and developing the scheme, including:
- scheme management, setting new protocols and procedures
- software accreditation
- communications, with industry, government and consumers
- approving assessor accreditation service providers.
Governance framework
NatHERS is delivered under the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council (ECMC). ECMC is a forum in which the Commonwealth, Australian states and territories, and New Zealand work together on priority issues of national significance and key reforms in the energy and climate change sectors.
ECMC has assigned the Energy Efficiency Working Group (EEWG) responsibility for the adoption of energy efficiency and performance measures across all sectors of the economy, including implementing NatHERS. EEWG is supported by the NatHERS Steering Committee, which provides technical advice about NatHERS and makes operational decisions necessary to deliver EEWG’s strategic decisions.
EEWG and the NatHERS Steering Committee consist of representatives from the Commonwealth, state and territory governments.
Advisory groups
Expert bodies provide stakeholder and industry advice to the NatHERS Administrator on technical matters relating to the scheme.
These expert bodies include the NatHERS Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and the NatHERS Stakeholder Consultative Group (SCG). Members represent:
- the building industry
- architects and designers
- appliance manufacturers and suppliers
- other stakeholder and community groups.
Managing NatHERS for new homes assessors
Third-party assessor accrediting organisations (AAOs) are responsible for the accreditation and management of NatHERS for new homes assessors. Three AAOs are currently approved by the NatHERS Administrator.
The AAO Protocol outlines requirements for the approval and operation of AAOs, who are responsible for:
- ensuring accredited assessors meet minimum qualification requirements and adhere to a code of conduct
- quality assurance checks and action where errors are found
- technical support for accredited assessors and monitoring of continuing professional development
- providing avenues for complaints about assessors and relevant reports to the NatHERS Administrator.
Managing NatHERS for existing homes assessors
The NatHERS Administrator currently accredits and oversees NatHERS for existing homes assessors but will be procuring a third-party provider to deliver assessor services in the future. The NatHERS Administrator has published policies that outline the requirements for:
- ensuring accredited assessors meet minimum qualification requirements and adhere to a code of conduct
- performance management of assessors
- complaints about assessors.