Our history
Sustainability Victoria (SV) was established in 2005 to address long-term climate change for the Victorian Government. But you may not know that our story began as far back as the nineties, or you may not be familiar with some of the amazing work so many people across Victoria have been a part of. This timeline of our history will help you understand who SV are, and what SV does.
The Sustainable Energy Authority Victoria is established by the Victorian Government to provide information and advice on the efficient use of energy, and the benefits to all sectors of the community.
Detox Your Home, a free and convenient service for householders to safely dispose of chemicals launches. The program hosts collection events in partnership with councils around Victoria.
EcoRecycle Victoria is established by the Victorian Government with responsibility for the strategic planning for waste management recycling, resource recovery and the sustainable use of resources.
The first Premier’s Sustainability Awards is held in 2002. The awards recognise and celebrate Victorians who are leading the way to a sustainable future, supported and endorsed by the Premier of Victoria, and Minister for the Environment.
The Sustainability Fund is established by the Victorian Government and is funded by the Landfill Levy. The fund supports government initiatives in recycling and climate change programs.
Sustainability Victoria is established under the Sustainability Victoria Act 2005, merging The Sustainable Energy Authority and EcoRecycle Victoria. Sustainability Victoria is a statutory agency of the Victorian Government with the responsibility of addressing climate change.
FirstRate5, a software tool accredited by the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS), launches. This tool allows builders and designers to generate energy ratings for homes, calculating heating and cooling requirements. It remains Australia’s number 1 energy ratings tool in 2024.
Black Balloons public awareness campaign launches. Each balloon featured in the on-screen campaign was the equivalent of 50g of greenhouse gas.
The ‘Change the Globe’ campaign is delivered, which puts 500k low-energy globes into homes. This climate change initiative replaced traditional globes with low-energy globes for free.
We helped fund one of Australia’s first environmental reality TV shows. Carbon Cops aired on the ABC and was watched by 2.3 million viewers in the first two episodes alone. The series followed six families as they worked to cut household emissions by 50%.
207 events, including 11 major events, are certified under SV’s Waste Wise program which supports organisers to divert waste from landfill. This includes the Big Day Out, FINA World Swimming Championships, Caulfield Cup, and Rip Curl Pro.
ResourceSmart Schools (RSS) launches and quickly becomes an award-winning sustainability program. By 2024, RSS has assisted more than 1,500 Victorian schools to embed sustainability.
Working with the Australian Industry Group, we published the first large-scale survey on sustainable practices in Australian businesses. The study surveyed more than 800 companies and revealed most were concerned about lowering emissions, but only 10 per cent knew how to manage risks associated with climate change.
As part of the Right Advice at the Right Place program, more than 300 electrical and home maker stores added energy ratings to appliances. This later changed into the Smarter Choice program.
By 2010, more than 13k appliance and solar rebates are delivered to low-income households to install energy-efficient appliances and solar. The Solar Homes program continues to this day, managed by Solar Victoria.
Australia’s first community owned wind park opens in Hepburn, Victoria, generating enough clean energy for more than 2,000 homes in the region. It still operates today.
The Victorian Government commits $20m to recycling and organics infrastructure through the Conserve, Invest and Save policy. This is the start of a program of grant investment that we broker and facilitate to the present day.
The breakthrough draft of the Statewide Waste and Resource Recovery Infrastructure Plan – a 30-year roadmap to improve Victoria’s waste and recycling infrastructure – is released. This framework delivers annual programs right up to the present day.
The Get it Right on Bin Night campaign launches to increase household recycling rates in metro Melbourne. This marks the beginning of more than 10 years of behaviour change campaigns with local councils and the community.
We join the leadership of Tyre Stewardship Australia, a product stewardship council which oversees the recovery and disposal of used tyres. This period also sees us take a product stewardship role in television recovery.
Our draft State-Wide Waste and Resource Recovery Infrastructure Plan is officially endorsed and launched by the state government. This new 30-year plan ensures that longer-term planning for waste and recycling infrastructure is delivered in the same way as other essential infrastructure.
The Paris Agreement (2015) accelerates the Victorian Government’s policy and action on Climate Change and elevates our leadership role. Victoria is one of the first jurisdictions in the world to legislate a net-zero carbon emissions target.
The Markets Acceleration program launches with the goal of developing new uses for recycled materials. This program has funded innovative new products such as recycled railway sleepers and soft plastic/glass asphalt – materials that will ultimately be used in Victoria’s Big Build.
Community Power Hubs are established in Ballarat, Bendigo and the Latrobe Valley. These hubs bring communities together to develop locally owned and shared renewable energy projects. By 2021, there will be hubs in each region, completing 42 community clean energy projects.
The Healthy Homes program launches. This is a successful 3-year study on the health benefits of improved warmth and energy efficiency to 1,000 homes. The results announced in 2022 showed that for every $1 saved in energy, more than $10 was saved in health.
We launch Know Your Recycling — a powerful communications campaign to educate and inform Victorian households on how to recycle correctly. This campaign runs through to 2021.
The Victorian Government launches Recycling Victoria — A New Economy, a 10-year $300m action plan for waste and recycling. For us, this leads to the development of SV2030: A Decade of Action in 2022, the most ambitious delivery plan in our history.
The Circular Economy Business Innovation Centre launches, which supports businesses to innovate in waste reduction, and stopping waste before it starts. This includes a dedicated website providing a hub for events, insights, seed funding and innovation.
Our Path to Half research provides first ever Australian perspective on the true cost of food waste. The report dives into food waste in Victoria and ways to prevent it, finding that Victoria spends an estimated $6 billion each year on 2.4 million tonnes of food that never makes it to the table.
The Circular Economy Recycling Modernisation Fund launches to support a critical overhaul of Victoria’s recycling infrastructure. We broker investments in the private sector in soft plastic recovery sites, PET plastic recycling plants and paper recovery plants.
7-Star Homes program launches and increases capability for energy-efficient homes. This 7-star standard becomes mandatory from 2024, with this program commended at the 2023 National Energy Efficiency Awards.
The Circular Economy Communities and Councils Funds are launched. We award grants to 115 grassroots circular economy projects in regions and communities across the state, harnessing 60,000 volunteer hours to unlock the potential of local solutions to reduce waste.
We establish our in-house sustainability think tank. ‘SVLab’ shapes sustainability policy through research, advisory services and strategic partnerships and upskills Victorian Government departments and agencies in futures thinking and foresight.
We open the $10 million Waste to Energy Bioenergy Fund, supporting Victoria to invest in the right technology at the right time. The fund supports 26 projects that recover organic waste and increase waste to energy infrastructure processing capacity in Victoria.
SV’s Small Business Energy Saver program wins ‘Best Energy Saving Program’ at the National Energy Efficiency Awards. The program provides financial support for up to 5,000 Victorian small businesses to make energy efficiency upgrades.
The first stage of Victoria’s Single Use Plastic Ban comes into effect. We play an important role testing the feasibility and engaging with the hospitality sector. Our Small Acts Big Impacts campaign helps Victorians prepare for the new four bin waste and recycling streams.
The recovery of organic materials and reduction in food waste reaches critical mass in Victoria after a 10-year transitional period led by us. This includes the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, the phased rollout of a food organics and garden organics (FOGO) bin across the state, investment in composting infrastructure.
SV unveils its inaugural State of Sustainability Report. This multi-year social research program benchmarks community attitudes and behaviours. For policy and decision makers, it provides the evidence base on supporting the community to address our most pressing sustainability challenges.
SV launches its investment facilitation service, brokering connections between potential investors in Victoria’s circular economy – including policy, regulatory, industry, and finance stakeholders. The pipeline of more than 100 active investment cases facilitated by SV is worth over $3.5 billion.
Visy unveils its new drum pulping technology, increasing Victoria’s capacity to recycle paper and cardboard by more than 40 per cent. We leverage $18 million in private investment from Visy to support this blue-ribbon infrastructure project – only a fraction of the $470 million in private investment we have brokered to future proof Victoria’s recycling system by 2024.
SV’s popular ResourceSmart Schools and Small Acts, Big Impact programs are licensed interstate. The success of these education and behaviour change initiatives designed and delivered by SV provides a blueprint for other state governments to replicate Victoria’s success.
We fund Australian Paper Recovery to accelerate an innovative chemical recycling method for soft plastics, moving from pilot phase to a $3.8 million plant capable of processing 1,800 tonnes annually. Projects funded by SV are set to uplift Victoria’s processing capacity for plastics by 71% from 2020 to 2025.
The Detox your Home program marks 30 years. The long-running household chemical collection service launched by our predecessor organisation has delivered thousands of local collection events across Victoria, enabling household chemicals to be safely processed for recycling or disposal.
The expanded Buy Circular Service supports Victorian councils to use more circular materials and products in landscaping and infrastructure. It builds on the success of the original Buy Recycled service, which engaged 9 in 10 Victorian councils through an online directory, resources and events.
At Australian Open 2025 we partner with Tennis Australia to deliver a reusable cup program. Reducing single-use plastic waste at an event attended by one million tennis fans normalises reuse in public settings and lays the groundwork for SV to advance circular economy at other major events.
