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Abstract Cast aluminium alloys are increasingly utilised in applications requiring high thermal or electrical conductivity, owing to their well-rounded physical properties such as high strength-to-weight ratio, recyclability and castability to complement their conductivity. This review explores the fundamental principles governing thermal and electrical conductivity and evaluates current research in the context of these principles. The primary contributors to increased resistivity in cast aluminium alloys are identified as solutes and intermetallic phases. The results showed that while the impact of solutes on resistivity is higher than that of intermetallics per wt% of alloy addition, in practice, their relative effects on resistivity are similar, due to the larger volume of intermetallics. Furthermore, the trade-off between yield strength and electrical conductivity for cast alloys was shown for various alloying systems, and the potential of Al-Fe, Al-Ni and Al-rare-earth alloying systems is discussed, offering insights into their suitability for further applications. A rating table is introduced as a baseline to compare the yield strength, electrical conductivity, fluidity and resistance to hot tearing between different alloying systems. Additionally, the electrical conductivity of various alloys was predicted and compared to published data, with a maximum percentage error of 17.2%.