New buildings in Australia's largest city will be required to be fully electrified following a successful council motion outlawing the installation of gas appliances.
The new planning controls were given final endorsement by the City of Sydney Council yesterday.
The council had restricted indoor gas appliances, like stoves and heaters, in new homes earlier this year.
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But the updated controls, which come into effect on January 1, 2027, will include all outdoor gas appliances as well, and apply to not just houses and apartments, but also medium and large commercial buildings, hotels and serviced apartments.
Industrial and existing buildings will be exempt from the new mandate, while kitchens in mixed-use developments impacted by the rules will be allowed to use gas, as long as they have the capacity to be fully electrified in the future.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said that the reforms would not only improve residents' health – gas stoves, for example, have been found to be responsible for 12 per cent of Australian childhood asthma cases – but also save them money.
"Relying on gas is bad for the planet, bad for our finances and bad for our health," she said.
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"Creating more energy-efficient, healthier buildings which will meet future energy standards and avoid expensive retrofitting is an obvious next step…
"The reality is gas is an expensive commodity that is forecast to go up in price.
"These measures will spare households from being locked into increasingly expensive and outdated gas contracts."
The council received dozens of submissions about the reforms, which it said were mostly supportive.
"The move has been met with broad approval from a diverse variety of stakeholders," Moore said.
"Industry bodies from Ausgrid to the Property Council have endorsed the move, reflecting a broad community consensus on the need to end our reliance on gas."
The ban is far from the first of its kind in Australia – Victoria and the ACT outlawed gas connections in new homes in 2024, while fellow councils in Sydney, including Waverley and Parramatta, have also made similar moves.
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