2024 Gas Ban Information Hub
Last updated 08 November 2024
The Your Home Your Choice campaign
Master Plumbers is empowering consumers to make their own decisions about the Victorian Government’s forced transition away from gas, armed with information in a new factsheet that spells out all the facts, not just what the Government wants people to hear.
We invite plumbers across Victoria to share the Your Home Your Choice factsheet with your customers to get the conversation started. You can order free copies of the brochure from plumber.com.au/yourhomeyourchoice.
Below you will find all the media reports and press releases on this campaign as well as key announcements and information about the gas ban. Stay tuned for updates.
Your Home Your Choice Campaign – in the media
Important Resources and announcements
FAQs about the ban
These questions have been asked of us or we have asked ourselves regarding the ban.
No. You can keep gas for a kitchen renovation. The ban for connection to natural gas is currently restricted to planning permits lodged after 1st Jan 2024. Only construction that requires a building permit will be affected.
Existing and future homes that wish to use Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) are not restricted to do so, either via exchange cylinders or “insitu tanks”.
Homes will still be able to use liquefied petroleum gas, where the gas is stored in a large tank.
More than 300,000 homes in Victoria – mainly regional - currently use LPG for either in-home cooking, hot water and heating.
Only if you get a planning permit finalised and approved by January 1 2024. After that, you will not be able to install gas appliances.
(This would depend on whether this activity needs a planning permit, eg if the existing block is for residential housing then it may not require a planning permit. if you wanted to put in 3 units then it possibly would.)
Any new development lodged after 1st Jan 2024 will not have access to a natural gas connection or would it have a requirement to include a reticulated natural gas supply to the proposed development.
Absolutely not. Currently you are permitted to retain, replace or install any new gas appliances to your property.
No. This Victorian Govt policy is aimed at new residential construction only. There is nothing that suggests that any consumer cannot retain a gas BBQ in an existing property and nothing to suggest that you cannot own or operate a BBQ with an LPG bottle in a new property next year.
The State Governments Gas Substitution Roadmap has a number of key milestones, in 2022 the State Govt removed the existing requirement for new development to have mandatory access to natural gas.
The banning of natural gas for new planning permits was a surprising decision made by Government with no engagement from industry, neither was there any indication that the access to natural gas was causing the Gas Transition Roadmap to fall behind any 2030 targets.
Our Association acknowledges the need to move away from burning fossil fuels and to move further towards sustainable electrification of the Victorian energy sector.
We would contend however that to do so in a manner that potentially places further pressure on the existing electrical supply which is still predominantly produced by burning coal and natural gas isn’t necessarily the answer.
The Government is on record as supporting alternatives to natural gas such as hydrogen and bio-gas in a State that has a huge reliance on natural gas as an energy source, withdrawing the supply of natural gas to new and emerging properties could be seen as removing the clean gas alternatives for future consumers. Not the least of which is the potential for depriving consumers from cost-effective transition to full electrification.
Important Technical Resources and Media Articles
Articles Regarding the Future of Hydrogen in Vic
19/09/23: Future for hydrogen in Gippsland
