A new Deloitte Access Economics report backed by ACOSS finds that energy efficiency upgrades for low-income households will help people experiencing disadvantage, provide economic stimulus and benefit the environment.
Powering progress: Energy upgrades to low-income housing shows that retrofitting 1.2m households over the next seven years would produce an economic benefit of between 10 and 17 billion dollars.
ACOSS and the State and Territory Councils of Social Service have written a joint letter to energy & climate change ministers calling for thermal efficiency, electrical upgrades, better insulation, draft reduction, shades and solar panels for the homes.
“People on lower incomes are too cold in winter and too hot in summer,” says ACOSS CEO Cassandra Goldie. “We’ve got thousands of people turning up in hospitals every year because they’re living in ice boxes in winter and hot boxes in summer.
“The report demonstrates that an accelerated rollout of home energy upgrades to low-income homes
would combat energy hardship, improve the health of people on low incomes struggling to heat and cool their homes, alleviate strain on the healthcare system and drive sustainable economic growth as Australia shifts to a green economy,” says Cassandra.
Read the full report and listen to the ABC interview on AM.