ACT government's Sustainable Household Scheme wins Future Cities award at Banksia National Sustainability Awards

It won a Banksia National Sustainability Award in the Future Cities category, the only government among the winners.

The Sustainable Household Scheme offers interest-free loans of up to $15,000 to improve household energy efficiency or assist with purchasing an electric vehicle.

More than 4000 applicants have been supported through the scheme since its launch in September, according to the ACT government.

A spokeswoman said it was helping households reduce their energy bills and contributing to emission-reduction targets, and also supporting Canberra businesses and creating local jobs.

"The scheme's top eight suppliers have premises in the ACT and are receiving more than $18 million worth of new business," she said.

"Based on the early success of the scheme, it has the potential to be one of the most successful examples of policy development and implementation that the ACT government has undertaken."

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Planet Protector Packaging was announced as the major award winner at a ceremony held at the Melbourne Convention and Entertainment Centre on Thursday evening.

The organisation received both the Agriculture and Regional Development Award and the Gold Banksia Award for a wool product used to pack temperature sensitive foods.

The Banksia Foundation is a not-for-profit recognising and encouraging sustainable business practices through awards.

Judge Jeffrey Robinson said the ACT government won due to the holistic nature of the program and the willingness to share the concept.

"A lot of folks want to electrify their homes, they want to decarbonise their households," Mr Robinson said.

"One of the things was that it was really comprehensive. It was solar, plus batteries, plus heat pumps, plus induction cooktops and also cars.

"It was really, how do you decarbonise your life?"

Mr Robinson said the consumer education which was provided around the loan system also stood out to judges.

"One of the challenges that folks find if they want to go and put in solar or batteries, is to get reliable technical advice," he said.

The fact that they vetted a number of the different organisations that had qualified as meeting the standards of the government, that provides a lot of assurance to people.

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"Over the last whatever years, there has been a bit of kind of, 'Oh, let government get out of the way and private industry will do everything'," he said.

"I think the pandemic has shown us that actually, government needs to step in.

"I think the ACT government has shown enormous leadership in, the sourcing green power, and that's great at one level, but also they've really helped people transition."

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