Smart meters are the current technology for recording your electricity use. They are replacing older meters, some of which are decades old, and are not designed to work with new technology.

Smart meters record your electricity use throughout the day and send your readings to your electricity retailer, meaning no more manual meter reads. They are also a step towards getting new technologies like solar panels and batteries, and give you more options to manage your costs.

A smart meter is a small box with a digital screen, usually mounted in your meter box on the outside of your property. Older meters use spinning dials to record your electricity usage. you can also contact your electricity retailer to find out if you have a smart meter.

Your electricity retailer is the business you buy electricity from. They send you your bill and will be your first point of contact about getting a smart meter installed. Electricity retailers are also known as energy retailers. You can find the name and contact details of your electricity retailer on your electricity bill.

Smart meters record your electricity use every 30 minutes. They typically send this information to your electricity retailer once or twice a day.

No, the national rollout only includes electricity meters. Your existing gas and water meters will keep working the same way and will continue to be read manually by a meter reader if needed.

Like other digital devices, smart meters are becoming more capable. In the future this may include being able to provide a data stream about your energy use in real time, making it easier to track your usage and find ways to save on bills. Real-time data could also help you maximise the benefits of solar panels, home batteries and electric vehicles.

The aim is for all homes and small businesses – including apartments and other shared buildings – to have a smart meter by 2030. This rollout covers New South Wales, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, and South Australia. In Victoria and Tasmania, smart meter rollouts are already finished or close to complete.

The aim of the national rollout is for everyone to have a smart meter by 2030. You can contact your electricity retailer for more information about how installations are being scheduled in your area.

If you would like a smart meter before the national rollout reaches your area, you can ask your electricity retailer about upgrading early. It is important to know that if you request an early installation, your electricity retailer may charge an upfront fee. Upfront fees may also apply if your property is newly built and being connected to electricity for the first time.

Rental properties are also getting smart meters as part of the national rollout. If the electricity account is in your name, your electricity retailer will contact you to arrange the installation – not the homeowner.

In apartments and townhouses, all the meters are usually grouped together in one place – like a shared meter room or switchboard. If you share an electricity connection with your neighbours, smart meters should, where possible, be installed in groups to make the process easier for everyone.

No. If you live in an embedded network (such as a caravan park or retirement village), replacement meters do not have to be smart meters. If you would like to upgrade to a smart meter, you can ask your electricity retailer about your options, including whether any costs apply.

If you’re not sure, the easiest way is to ask the company that bills you for your electricity. You can also contact the manager of your apartment or residential complex, retirement village or residential park. For more information on embedded networks, visit the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) website.

The national rollout covers regional and remote communities as well as metropolitan areas. The goal is for every household and small business to have a smart meter by 2030.

When the smart meter is installed, the installer will connect it to a secure wireless network. If they identify signal issues, they can boost the strength of the connection on the day. Your electricity retailer will let you know if they need to make an alternative arrangement to read your smart meter. The smart meter doesn’t use your home Wi-Fi. It sends data through a separate, secure wireless network.

Information about the national rollout, including a fact sheet, is available in:

• Mandarin - 普通话
• Arabic - العربية
• Vietnamese - Tiếng Việt
• Cantonese - 廣東話
• Korean - 한국어
• Greek - Ελληνικά
• Italian - Italiano
• Spanish - Español

You can find these translated resources here: [insert relevant link]. Electricity retailers and government services in Australia also provide language support. The easiest way is to use the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National). This is a free government service that connects you with an interpreter over the phone.

To user the Translating and Interpreting Service:

1. call TIS National on 131 450
2. tell the operator your language
3. ask to be connected to your electricity retailer
4. speak with your electricity retailer about smart meters with the help of the interpreter.

No. Large business and industrial customers are already required to have smart meters with specific functionality.

The national rollout is a program to install smart meters in all homes and small businesses by 2030. In the past, smart meters were installed when:

• you got a new electricity connection
• your old meter stopped working
• you requested one to support new technology like solar panels, batteries, or electric vehicles.

To support Australia's energy future, including the shift to these new technologies, a faster and more coordinated approach was needed. Under the national rollout, all old meters will be replaced with new smart meters in a planned way, according to a schedule for each network area.

The national rollout is guided by rules set by the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) under the Accelerating smart meter deployment project. The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) provides guidance to electricity retailers on the rules they must follow when rolling out smart meters to their customers, and monitors them to make sure they are following those rules.

Smart meters record your electricity use throughout the day and send readings to your electricity retailer, meaning no more manual meter reads.

They are also a step towards getting new technologies like solar panels and batteries, and can provide more options for you to manage your costs.

Smart meters also open up new opportunities, including:

• installing new technology such as solar panels and batteries in your home or small business
• understanding your electricity use through the apps and online portals offered by many electricity retailers (these can show when you use the most electricity, which can help find ways to save on bills)
• more choice in electricity plans, such as time-of-use plans, which can offer cheaper rates for people using electricity at off-peak times
• a more efficient, effective energy system with fewer costly new poles and wires, bringing down costs to all consumers in the future.

Smart meters provide data that helps everyone – from individual households to electricity retailers – make better decisions and operate more efficiently, reliably, and with lower costs and emissions.

Information and tools enabled by smart meters can help households and small businesses better understand and manage how much electricity they use at different times of the day. By reducing pressure on the grid during peak times, smart meters help avoid the need for expensive new infrastructure, keeping costs and emissions down for everyone.

Smart meters can make it faster and easier to get your power connected. For example, instead of waiting for someone to visit your property to turn the power on, your electricity retailer can do it remotely. This is particularly helpful if you're moving into a new home or need your power reconnected.

Smart meter data also gives electricity networks more visibility of how electricity is moving around the grid. This includes helping them to identify the location and cause of outages, contributing to a more reliable electricity supply for everyone.

Insights from smart meters also help networks better plan the future of the grid. The data shows where demand is growing, helping networks plan upgrades and connect more renewable technologies like rooftop solar, batteries, and electric vehicle chargers.

The key changes to the National Electricity Rules and National Energy Retail Rules are:

• from December 2025, older meters will be proactively upgraded to smart meters as part of planned replacement programs in each network area
• customers no longer have the option to refuse the installation of a new meter
• new consumer safeguards have been introduced, including:
  • no upfront fees at the time of installation
  • new protections that, for the first two years after they installed the meter, your electricity retailer cannot change certain parts of your plan because you got a smart meter without your permission. For more information on this, see the Installation section on the Notification and installation frequently asked questions page.

For most people, the upgrade will be a simple swap. An installer will replace the old meter in your meter box with a new smart meter, which usually takes about an hour.

There’s no upfront cost to you where the smart meter is installed as part of the national rollout. This means your electricity company cannot ask you to pay any extra fees or charges for the smart meter at the time it is installed.

For information about what happens if your installer finds issues with your metering board or wiring that needs to be fixed before a smart meter can be installed, including who is responsible and potential costs, see the following frequently asked questions.

The cost of the upgrade is part of your regular electricity bills if you own or rent your property – similar to poles and wires, and existing meters. Your electricity retailer will be able to provide further information about smart meter costs.

Electricity retailers cannot charge you an upfront fee when a smart meter is installed as part of the national rollout. Instead, they recover the costs over time. This can vary between electricity retailers. It may appear as a specific metering service charge on your bill or be included in your overall electricity charges without being listed separately.

No, you don't own the current meter. Your electricity retailer contracts a metering coordinator business, who manages the meter and is responsible for looking after it and making sure it works properly. This will also be true for your new meter.