Following Sunday's multi-billion dollar social housing package which could see several hundred new homes built in the Bendigo region as part of a state-wide program of works, the government has also announced details of an almost $800 million fund to help residents cover the cost of their power bills and make their homes more energy efficient.

The announcements are part of the state budget to be announced next Tuesday, having been delayed for the duration of much of the pandemic as the state grappled with the impacts of COVID-19 upon the community.

More than $330 million will be spent helping convert old, inefficient and dirty heaters to more environmentally friendly technologies that are also cheaper to run.

Available to low-income households, the funding will also be used to help correct heat loss through poor quality window seals and doors as well as hot water units.

These are all welcome measures (and not all of them new), and will be well received by some of our state's most needy citizens, but the government's recognition of a much bigger problem cannot be allowed to pass without comment.

Most of us who have work from home for much of 2020 have incurred significantly higher energy bills as a result, and the current allowances available to taxpayers from the Australian government are woefully inadequate.

Working from home is something many Australians are facing up to in some way, shape or form for a lot longer yet, and it will likely become part of the brave new COVID-normal world for many of us, to some degree.

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Australians who work from home deserve to be better compensated for doing so.

This is something our state government needs to take to the national cabinet on behalf of all of us, not just because they can, but because it's something all Australians could benefit from.