Aircon rebates
in Victoria

What the VEU pays in 2026

The VEU is not a cash rebate. Installing an approved high-efficiency reverse-cycle system generates energy certificates (VEECs), and an accredited provider sells those and takes the value off your quote up front. Certificate prices float, so the discount varies, but the government publishes indicative figures, and the single biggest factor is what you are replacing. Decommissioning old gas or electric-resistance heating is where the real money is.

Official indicative figures from energy.vic.gov.au (updated August 2026). Your exact discount appears on the written quote. You'll see "up to $8,000 off" in ads, that figure comes from the business table, not the household one.

Where the money comes from: VEECs, explained

Understanding the mechanism explains every oddity of the scheme, including why nobody can quote you an exact discount over the phone. It works like this:

1. Your upgrade is assessed for how much greenhouse gas it will save over the system's life. Replacing a ducted gas heater with efficient reverse-cycle saves a lot; adding a split where nothing is removed saves a little. That is why the discount table above swings from $70 to $5,530.
2. Each tonne of expected savings creates one Victorian Energy Efficiency Certificate (VEEC). A big gas-replacement job can generate dozens of them, and only accredited providers are allowed to create them.
3. The provider sells those VEECs to energy retailers, who are legally required to buy a set number every year. The price floats on an open market, moving week to week like a share price.
4. The provider passes the certificate value back to you as the upfront discount on your quote, minus their admin costs and margin. Floating certificate price plus varying margins is exactly why two providers can offer different discounts on the same unit in the same week, and why getting multiple quotes is worth real money here.

The co-payment: what you must pay yourself

The discount can never take a quote to zero. By law you pay a minimum co-payment: $200 per small split (under 10kW), and $1,000 per ducted or multi-split system, rising to $3,000 for ducted and large multi-split systems from 30 September 2026. Providers are not allowed to refund it in any form, so treat a "free ducted aircon" offer as the red flag it is.

Who qualifies

• Every Victorian household, owner-occupied or rented (landlord and tenant plan it together)
• The new unit is VEU-approved, high-efficiency, heats and cools, with a 5+ year warranty
• If replacing, the old system must be more than 2 years old
• One ducted system per home; up to 5 splits (3 if nothing is decommissioned)
• Doing it yourself or through a non-accredited installer, only accredited providers can apply the discount

How to claim it

1. Get quotes through a VEU accredited provider, or an installer partnered with one. The discount should appear as a line item on the quote.
2. Confirm the model is on the VEU approved list and ask what you'd get with and without decommissioning your old heater.
3. They install the new system, decommission the old one, and handle all certificate paperwork. You pay the quoted price minus the discount, never less than the co-payment.