In October 2008, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to develop a National Strategy on Energy Efficiency (the Strategy) to accelerate energy efficiency efforts, streamline roles and responsibilities across levels of governments, and help households and businesses prepare for the introduction of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (the Scheme).

On 2 July 2009 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed a National Partnership Agreement on Energy Efficiency (NPA-EE). The NPA-EE established a cooperative approach to delivering and implementing energy efficiency measures across all Australian jurisdictions.

The primary commitment by the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments under the NPA-EE is to implement a ten-year National Strategy on Energy Efficiency (NSEE). The NSEE sets out thirty-seven measures to improve energy efficiency in Australia and allocates responsibility for each measure to Commonwealth, State and Territory governments, individually or collectively.

Under the NSEE, the Commonwealth, States and Territories are focussed on improving energy efficiency in the following four areas:1
• assisting households and businesses to transition to a low-carbon future;
• reducing impediments to the uptake of energy efficiency;
• making buildings more energy efficient; and
• Governments working in partnership and leading the way.
Highlights from the second year of the NSEE include:
 development of the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (GEMS) Scheme;
 endorsement of the National Green Lease Policy framework for Government buildings;
 positive public response to the LivingGreener.gov.au web portal with information found to be trustworthy, practical and easy to understand;
 inclusion of more stringent energy efficiency standards in the 2010 Building Code of Australia, with adoption by jurisdictions of the 6-star (or equivalent) standard for residential buildings underway; and
 a major revision of the Your Home Technical Manual for publication in 2012.