Western Australia is the growth story of the NETCC Annual Report 2025. The number of NETCC Approved Sellers based in WA rose by more than 420% year on year, the largest increase of any state, and the report credits one thing for it: the WA Residential Battery Program. I have read the full report, published in June 2026 by the Clean Energy Council as Code Administrator, and pulled out what the data means for anyone in WA buying a battery, solar system, or EV charger. The short version is that consumer protection in this state just scaled up dramatically, and the same report tells you exactly where sellers most often fall short.
TL;DR
- WA recorded the largest NETCC Approved Seller growth of any state in 2025: more than 420% year on year, against 42% for South Australia's program-driven rise.
- The trigger was the WA Residential Battery Program, launched in June 2025, which requires consumers to engage a NETCC Approved Seller to access the incentive.
- Nationally, complaint cases more than doubled (206 to 445). 77 breaches were upheld, 140 formal warnings were issued, four businesses were expelled and one was suspended.
- The single most failed code requirement, missed by 67% of applicant businesses, was the site-specific design and performance estimate that must accompany a battery quote.
- Quote pricing must hold for at least 10 business days under the code. Almost half of applicants got that wrong.
What the NETCC is
and why it suddenly matters in WA
The New Energy Tech Consumer Code (NETCC) is a voluntary consumer protection code covering rooftop solar, battery storage, EV chargers and home energy management systems. It launched in February 2023, is administered by the Clean Energy Council, and is authorised under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), with re-authorisation in progress and a final ACCC decision expected in 2026. Businesses that pass its assessment become Approved Sellers and commit to obligations on advertising, quoting, contracts, finance disclosure, installation and complaint handling that sit on top of the Australian Consumer Law.
By the end of 2025, there were 2,020 Approved Sellers nationally, up from 1,687.
For most of the code’s life, WA barely featured. The report’s state breakdown shows that WA-headquartered businesses accounted for roughly 3% of Approved Sellers at the end of 2024, or around 50 companies. Then the WA Residential Battery Program arrived in June 2025, and with it a condition: under the program rules in place during 2025, the business you engage must be a NETCC Approved Seller for you to access the incentive. Scheme requirements can change, so check the program’s official guidance before you commit, but the effect on the market was immediate.
Why this matters to you as a buyer
A growing seller network is generally positive; more competition tends to improve pricing and service. But it also means more sellers who are new to the code, less experienced with its requirements, and more likely to have gaps in their quoting or advertising practices. That’s exactly why understanding the compliance data is worthwhile before you sign anything.
Approved sellers by state
2024 (1,687 total) vs 2025 (2,020 total) — state counts chart-derived âš
Program-driven state growth, year-on-year
WA Residential Battery Program (Jun 2025) vs SA Powering Business Grant (Jul 2025)
Where applicants failed the code, 2025
Share of 726 new applications needing correction, by clause
Compliance activity, 2024 vs 2025
National figures. 83 of 329 closed cases led to compliance action in 2025.
Complaints by region, 2025
445 total cases. WA sits within the 18% non-east-coast share.
What the data means for WA battery buyers
Four-point checklist
- Site-specific design + performance estimate with every quote (cl.17a). Most-failed requirement — 67% of applicants missed it.
- Price held for ≥10 business days (cl.10). Nearly half of applicants got this wrong. "Sign today" pressure is a red flag.
- Rebate claims must match program advice (cl.3a — names the WA Residential Battery Scheme). 44% of applications needed website fixes.
- Verify your seller at newenergytech.org.au. Register users grew from 3,776 to 5,799 in 2025.
The numbers behind the 420%
The report states WA Approved Seller numbers rose by more than 420% year on year. Its state chart puts WA at roughly 11% of the 2,020 national total by the end of 2025, which works out to around 220 WA-based businesses. From about 50 to about 220 in a single year.
For context, South Australia’s Powering Business Grant (July 2025) produced a 42% rise in that state. WA’s growth was roughly ten times that. Queensland’s renter-focused program was only announced in December 2025, so its effect will show up in next year’s data.
Two readings of this are available, and I think both are true. The generous one: more than 170 WA businesses voluntarily submitted to a code assessment, improved their customer-facing documents, and accepted ongoing audit and complaint jurisdiction. That lifts the floor for everyone. The sceptical one: most of them did it because the rebate gate left no commercial choice, and a credential acquired under duress is only as good as the enforcement behind it. Which brings us to the enforcement data. Full report ›
What the compliance data says
to check before you sign
The approvals process is revealing. Of 726 new applications in 2025, 97% needed corrections before they could meet the code’s standards, and the overall approval rate was 84%. These are businesses already operating in the market, selling to households today. The gap between how they were operating and what the code requires is the useful information in this report, because it tells you where to look on your own quote.
Ask for the site-specific design and performance estimate
Clause 17a was the most commonly failed requirement, with 67% of applicant businesses needing support to meet it. It obliges a seller to provide a site-specific installation design and a performance estimate with the quote (or as a defined contract deliverable with cooling-off protection). The report notes the weak spot is battery quotes specifically: sellers understand solar site design, but many do not carry the same rigour across to storage.
Given WA’s battery program is what drove the state’s growth, this is the requirement that matters most here. A compliant battery quote should show you where the equipment will be installed and what the system is estimated to deliver for your site. Not a brochure figure. If a quote arrives without it, the seller has missed the single most failed obligation in the code, and you should ask for it before going further.
Price validity: 10 business days minimum
Any quote from an Approved Seller must state the deposit, the total price including taxes, and a pricing validity period of at least 10 business days. Almost 50% of applicants had not met the validity requirement when first assessed.
The practical use of this rule is simple. A seller telling you a price expires tonight, or that the rebate requires you to sign today, is describing conduct the code does not permit from its members. Treat urgency framing as information about the seller.
Treat rebate claims in advertising with care
The code’s guidance on advertising (clause 3a) names the WA scheme directly: promotional material referencing programs such as the WA Residential Battery Scheme must be accurate and consistent with the current advice of the program operator. The Administrator also flagged a newer problem. In 2025, 44% of applications needed their websites or promotional material corrected, and AI-generated content was a contributing factor, producing copy about incentives and tax treatment that was vague, overcomplicated or wrong.
Misleading advertising was also among the most breached sections following complaint investigations, alongside compliance with the code, installation and safety obligations, and finance disclosure. If an ad’s rebate claim seems generous compared with the program’s own published material, the program’s material wins.
Finance disclosure tightened mid-year
From June 2025, Buy Now Pay Later providers were brought under the National Credit Act and the National Credit Code. The NETCC’s finance delegate received zero applications for unregulated credit arrangements in 2025 as a result. For a buyer, the relevant obligation is clause 10: a quote must disclose payment and finance terms clearly, at the right time. If the finance arrangement on your quote is hard to parse, that is itself a code issue.
When something goes wrong
Complaint cases more than doubled in 2025, from 206 to 445. The Administrator closed 329 of them: 83 led to compliance action, resulting in 140 Support to Comply notices, 77 upheld breaches, and 168 remedial actions. One seller was suspended and four were expelled, including one case involving misuse of a government rebate and loan scheme. The code has teeth, although the report is candid that volume is rising faster than closures, with 116 cases carried into 2026.
WA’s complaint volume remains modest. Victoria accounted for 53% of national complaints, broadly in line with its share of sellers, while all states outside Victoria, NSW and Queensland together contributed about 18%. WA’s enlarged seller base is young, though. If the eastern-states pattern holds, complaint volume follows seller volume, so the 2026 report will be the one that shows whether WA’s new cohort holds the standard.
The pathway, if you need it: raise the issue with the seller first, since the code obliges them to operate a compliant complaints process. If that fails, the Code Administrator investigates conduct covered by the code. Matters outside its jurisdiction are referred for advice, typically to Consumer Protection WA or a dispute resolution body, and the Administrator issued 274 such referrals nationally in 2025. You are never without a pathway; the code’s design is that something always catches the matter.
The takeaway for a WA buyer. The Approved Seller credential is now effectively the entry ticket to the state’s battery incentive; more than 220 WA businesses hold it, and the report’s own data tells you the three things to verify on any quote: a site-specific design and performance estimate, a price held for at least 10 business days, and rebate claims that match the program operator’s published advice. Check the seller on the NETCC’s Find an Approved Seller register before you sign anything. Use of that register nearly doubled in 2025, suggesting consumers are already learning to do exactly that.
Editor’s note: PSW Energy is a NETCC Approved Seller, with certification renewed through to May 2027, and has held the credential since the code’s commencement. If you are weighing up a battery under the WA Residential Battery Program, our team quotes to the code’s documentation standard described above: request a battery quote. Source: NETCC Annual Report 2025, Clean Energy Council as Code Administrator.
Check the Approved Seller register
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