Laser shortpulse heating of metallic substrates requires microscopic examination of the energy transport in the irradiated region. This is because of low specific heat capacity of electrons, which results in nonequilibrium temperature distribution in this region. In the present study, laser shortpulse heating of gold with variable properties is considered. Nonequilibrium energy transport is modelled using an electron kinetic theory approach. The resulting integro-differential equations are reduced to partial differential equation using a Fourier transform method. The resulting differential equation is further transformed into two differential equations similar to those given in the two-equation model. The coefficients of the differential equations are correlated. It is found that variable properties results in higher lattice site and lower electron temperatures as compared to those corresponding to constant properties case. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.