Households to get help becoming energy efficient

The government will also be boosting Australia's renewable hydrogen sector, by investing $2 billion for the new Hydrogen Headstart revenue accelerator program.

The government touts the investments as part of a plan to turn Australia into a "renewable energy superpower".

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the country's "biggest opportunity for growth and prosperity is the global shift to clean energy".

Dr Chalmers said hydrogen power will allow Wollongong, Gladstone and Whyalla "to make and export everything from renewable energy to green steel".

"Seizing these kinds of industrial and economic opportunities will be the biggest driver and determinant of our future prosperity," he said.

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Some of the funding will go to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the department of energy and climate change to support the program.

Under the Household Energy Upgrades Fund, $1 billion will go towards the independent Clean Energy Finance Corporation, which will partner with lenders to provide households with "low-cost finance and mortgages" for upgrades such as double glazing, solar panels, electrification of homes and other energy saving measures.

The other $300 million from the fund will go towards helping around 60,000 social homes become more efficient.

The package comes, in part, from an electrification deal with the Greens last December to back the government's energy price cap bill, designed to lower power prices.

It is now included in the $14.6 billion cost-of-living relief package, which includes $3 billion in commonwealth-state jointly funded energy bill relief. About 5.5 million households will receive up to $500 depending on where they live.

The first measure of Labor's electrification package was announced in April and includes a commitment to provide $310 million in tax relief to small- and medium-sized businesses that want to invest in energy efficiency upgrades.

The energy upgrades fund will also include a $24.4 million commitment to expand the pre-budget announced Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme rating system, which will help families understand what upgrades will make their houses more energy efficient.

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According to the government, upgrading the average home from a one-star rating to a three-star rating can cut down energy consumption by 30 per cent and help slash household power bills.

In a separate initiative, the ACT sustainable household scheme will receive a $7.5 million boost. The zero-interest loans program helps homes switch from gas to electricity.

Meanwhile, a National Net Zero Authority is being established to help vulnerable communities decarbonise. The budget papers reveal the statutory body will cost $83 million over four years.

On the revenue side, Labor wants to use revenue from proposed changes to the petroleum resources rent tax, which would net the government $2.4 billion over four years, including by limiting deductions for offshore liquefied natural gas projects, to help fund its cost-of-living relief package.

It will need the support from the Coalition or Greens to get the proposed gas tax change through parliament.