The Australian energy market is in a state of flux. The imperative to transition to decarbonised, sustainable modes of life are policy goals which present a set of challenges both for energy suppliers and the energy market, but also have a significant impact on how householders manage their everyday domestic practices. In this presentation, we want to bring attention to a group of energy consumers that do not often feature in discussions of energy efficiency and sustainability. These are culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) international students who live in private rental accommodation. It is well known that rental property housing stock is of a lower quality than that of owner-occupier properties and this presents multiple challenges for rental tenants. Our research project aims to document energy practices over a summer and winter period across three climatic zones while considering appliances, building fabric, internal and external temperatures, level of comfort, and impacts on health and well-being. Our project is inter-disciplinary, bringing together researchers from the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre at the University of Wollongong and social science researchers from Queensland University of Technology. In this presentation, we discuss how we aim to collect different types of quantitative and qualitative data, produce NatHERS star ratings, support mandatory energy efficiency standards for rental properties in Australia, and advocate for program support for CALD international students.