The Commonwealth of Australia as represented by the Department of Industry (the Commonwealth) has developed Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) climate files 2012 compiled from Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) raw climate data and then used to complete a typical year for every NatHERS climate zone in Australia.

The climate files are used by the Commonwealth for regulatory purposes for most new residential building approvals in Australia. These latest files will be included in future versions of NatHERS accredited software as determined by the NatHERS Administrator. NatHERS assessors cannot currently use these files for regulatory purposes, they are provided for research purposes only.

The files may not be suitable for other uses other than residential building ratings and users need to make their own decision on whether they are suitable for the intended purpose or not.

The files are provided in a number of formats that may be used in different software. The data that the files are compiled from is not available and will not be provided even if requested. Raw climate data can be purchased from BOM. Only the representative meteorological year information is available and no support on how to use these files will be provided.

Please note: The data files are publicly-funded data provided by the Commonwealth and no person or entity may charge for its supply or use. While the Commonwealth has exercised reasonable care and skill in the preparation and collation of the data files, the data is supplied on an 'as is' basis, without warranty of any kind. The Commonwealth accepts no liability for any direct, indirect, special or consequential damages, loss, damage or cost arising from and relating to, any use of the data and/or the information associated with it. Both the climate files and the full terms and conditions governing the use of the data can be found at the links below.

NatHERS end user licensing agreement (PDF 304 KB)