The names that didn’t make it
What happened to Australia’s insulation companies?
Not long ago the Yellow Pages were full of them, insulation companies in every city, a good number of them Australian cellulose makers. Today most of those names are gone. Not because the product failed, but because of one government grant.
I’m Peter Johnson. I’ve been in this trade since 1986 and I watched a lot of good operators disappear. Below is what I could actually verify on the public record, the makers whose ABNs are now cancelled, alongside the ones who came through. If you searched an old company or an old number and landed here, the last section is for you.
Still here. Still making it.
cellulose, in Tiaro, since 1986
The short story
A grant gave the industry a sugar hit, then a heart attack.
In 2009–10 the Federal Government’s Home Insulation Program offered free ceiling insulation to millions of homes. The number of insulation businesses jumped from roughly 200 to about 8,300 almost overnight, cheap imported stock flooded in, and then the whole scheme was halted in February 2010 and cancelled that April. The small, careful, local makers were left holding worthless stock. The multinational batt makers had the balance sheet to survive; most of the little Australian cellulose makers did not.
The deaths and fires that ended the scheme were tied to foil insulation and to untrained workers rushing batts in, never to cellulose, which was never banned and never found unsafe. The makers below weren’t bad operators. They were collateral damage of a policy. For the full background and the public sources behind these figures, read the history of cellulose insulation in Australia.
A detail most people don’t know
In Queensland, insulation wasn’t even a licensed trade.
On 1 September 2003, Queensland specifically excluded “preparation for, or installation of, insulation for acoustic or thermal control” from licensed building work (the QBSA Regulation 2003, carried through to today’s QBCC rules). In plain English: anyone could call themselves an insulation installer without a building licence.
That’s a big part of why the grant years went the way they did. When 8,000-odd brand-new operators piled in chasing free money, there was no licence standing between a homeowner and a bloke who bought a ute and a staple gun on the Friday. It’s also exactly why we put so much weight on training and safety standards in our own crews, and why we train every franchise operator properly.
The one everyone remembers
Cool or Cosy, national, with a plant at Yatala.
Before the grant, Cool or Cosy was everywhere, with head and branch offices around the country and a cellulose manufacturing plant at 36 Computer Road, Yatala in South East Queensland, making its “Supa-Cel” cellulose. The Adelaide business is still trading today; but according to ABN Lookup, the Queensland entity that ran the Yatala plant had its ABN cancelled on 7 August 2020.
If you’re searching for the old Cool or Cosy QLD
The numbers people remember from the Queensland / national operation were the general line 13 33 34 and the Yatala office on (07) 3297 4444 (earlier (07) 3804 6666). If that’s who you were chasing for a cellulose roof in South East Queensland, the Yatala operation is gone, but the product isn’t. We still make cellulose, an hour up the road in Tiaro.
ABN 37 055 452 910 · check it on ABN Lookup. The current Adelaide “Cool or Cosy” is a separate, still-active business.
Cancelled on the public record
The Australian cellulose makers whose ABNs are now cancelled.
Every company here is listed only because ABN Lookup shows its ABN as cancelled, and we link straight to that record so you can check it. A cancelled ABN is a registry fact, not a judgment about the business. These were good local makers.
AAA Cellulose Insulation Pty Ltd
Cellulose fibre · Murarrie / Cannon Hill, Brisbane QLD
ABN 91 083 330 965 · verify on ABN Lookup
Ecocell Pty Ltd
Cellulose fibre · Narangba / Brisbane Airport QLD
Last listed at 1090 Kingsford Smith Drive, Brisbane Airport QLD 4007.
ABN 49 135 629 631 · verify on ABN Lookup
Greenfibre Industries Pty Ltd
Cellulose fibre · Pennant Hills, Sydney NSW
ABN 47 138 119 178 · verify on ABN Lookup
Apex Cellulose Insulation Pty Ltd
Cellulose fibre · Hoppers Crossing / Werribee, Melbourne VIC
ABN 19 139 002 261 · verify on ABN Lookup
Woolcell Australia Pty Ltd
Cellulose / wool-blend fibre · Esperance WA
The “Woolcell” product brand is still sold today by other installers. It’s the Woolcell Australia Pty Ltd company whose ABN was cancelled.
ABN 62 054 029 015 · verify on ABN Lookup
Australian Cellulose Insulation Manufacturers Association Inc. (ACIMA)
The industry body for cellulose makers · South Australia
The standards body Australian cellulose was certified against. Its own ABN was cancelled in 2020.
ABN 31 773 084 986 · verify on ABN Lookup
This isn’t every insulation company that stopped trading. There were many more, including plenty of batt and foil installers. These are the cellulose makers we could verify on the register. If you ran one of these, or know a detail we’ve got wrong, tell us and we’ll fix it.
It wasn’t the product
The cellulose makers who came through.
Plenty didn't make it, but cellulose itself never went away. These makers are still trading today, which is the whole point: a good product, knocked about by a policy, not by any fault of its own.
Cool or Cosy (Adelaide / SA)
Still trading, established 1984. The separate, still-active Adelaide business (not the wound-up national/QLD entity).
Insulfluf (Azelia Insulation, Melbourne)
Still trading, a Melbourne cellulose maker going for over 50 years.
Roo Roofing (Brisbane)
Still trading, a Brisbane name from the grant era that came through.
Cellulose Insulation Manufacturing Co. (Brisbane)
Still trading, a Brisbane cellulose manufacturer.
Fibrecell (South Australia)
Still trading, an SA cellulose maker.
Queensland Insulation Co. / Natracel, now part of us
We bought Natracel; it trades on as a sister brand of Comfort Zone, on our ABN, pointing to our number. A survivor that became part of the family.
Searched an old company and landed here?
The company might be gone. The cellulose isn’t.
If you’ve got cellulose in your roof from one of these old makers and it doesn’t seem to be working, here’s the good news: it’s almost always the install, not the product. About 90% of those calls just need a top-up to the right depth. And if you were simply trying to find someone who still does cellulose properly, that’s us. Is your existing cellulose safe?
We make cellulose at our factory in Tiaro and install it across Brisbane, South East Queensland and Northern NSW, the same proven Australian product, from the family that pumps it in.
Honest answers
Questions about the companies that disappeared.
What happened to all the insulation companies that used to be in the Yellow Pages?+
Most of the small, local ones are gone, and not because there was anything wrong with their product. The 2009–10 Home Insulation Program (the 'pink batts' grant) caused the number of insulation businesses to balloon from roughly 200 to about 8,300 chasing the free-insulation money, flooded the country with cheap imported stock, and then stopped dead in early 2010. When it stopped, the small operators were left holding worthless stock and unpaid jobs. The big multinational batt makers had the balance sheet to ride it out; many of the small local makers, including a lot of the cellulose ones, did not. The full story is in our cellulose-history guide.
Were these companies shut down for doing something wrong?+
No, and we're not suggesting that. A cancelled ABN is just a public record that a business deregistered that Australian Business Number with the tax office; it isn't a finding of any wrongdoing, and some businesses re-register or carry on under a new entity. We only list a company here when ABN Lookup shows its ABN as cancelled, we link straight to that record so you can check it yourself, and we list the ones that came through separately. If we've got a detail wrong, tell us and we'll fix it.
Is Cool or Cosy still trading?+
Yes, the Adelaide business is still going (established 1984). What wound up was the national operation, including the Queensland manufacturing arm that ran the Yatala plant and made the 'Supa-Cel' cellulose; according to ABN Lookup that Queensland entity's ABN was cancelled in 2020. So if you remember Cool or Cosy's Brisbane or Yatala operation, that's the part that's gone. The South Australian business carries on.
I found an old insulation company's name or phone number. Can you still help me?+
Very likely, yes. If you've got cellulose in your roof from one of these old makers and it isn't performing, it's almost always the install, not the product. About 90% of those calls just need a top-up. We still make cellulose at our factory in Tiaro and install it right across South East Queensland and Northern NSW. Send us your address and we'll have a look.
Why did Queensland stop insulation being a licensed trade?+
On 1 September 2003, Queensland specifically excluded 'preparation for, or installation of, insulation for acoustic or thermal control' from licensed building work (QBSA Regulation 2003). It's carried through to the QBCC rules today. That meant anyone could call themselves an insulation installer without a building licence, which is part of why the grant years went so badly when 8,000-odd new operators piled in. It's also why we put so much weight on training and standards in our own crews.
Remember one of these old cellulose companies? Tell people who’s still making it.
A quick honest review genuinely helps a small family business, and helps the next person decide. Thank you.
One of the last cellulose makers standing, and still family-owned.
The grant thinned out the people who made this product. We never stopped. Send us your address and roof type and we’ll give you a fixed-price quote for Australian-made cellulose, or, if you’d like to help put it back on the map, look at our franchise.
Peter Johnson
Owner / installer · Comfort Zone Insulation Team® · Since 1986