A move to introduce a national per-kilometre road-user charge in Australia has gained momentum after a Canberra roundtable that brought together the Federal Treasurer, state officials and industry representatives. The discussion produced broad conceptual support for a scheme that could ensure electric vehicles contribute to road funding, and may ultimately be designed to apply across vehicle types.
What was agreed and next steps
Treasurer Jim Chalmers and other federal and state figures discussed the idea at the meeting, and ministers agreed to prepare an options paper setting out how a road-user charge could work. That paper will be tabled for further discussion between the Treasurer and all state and territory treasurers at a meeting scheduled for 5 September.
Details remain unsettled. Officials will consider whether any national scheme should initially target particular vehicle classes, such as heavy vehicles, before extending to passenger cars. The design work is intended to examine rate options, collection models and transitional arrangements, and to test legal and constitutional issues identified when states previously attempted similar schemes.
Why governments are considering a per-kilometre charge
A principal driver for the proposal is the steady erosion of fuel excise revenue as vehicles become more fuel efficient and as electric vehicle uptake grows. Petrol and diesel drivers currently contribute to road maintenance through the fuel excise levied per litre of fuel sold. Battery-electric vehicles do not pay that excise, so a per-kilometre charge is presented as a way to maintain a stable funding base for roads as the vehicle fleet changes.
Officials and industry leaders at the roundtable reportedly expressed strong interest in pursuing the idea, though the Federal Government has not committed to a preferred model or to a timetable beyond producing the options paper and consulting with states and territories.
How previous state proposals fared
Victoria and New South Wales have both developed road-user charge proposals in recent years, but neither became a national model. Victoria introduced a scheme in 2021 targeting low-emission vehicles, setting preliminary rates in the low cents-per-kilometre range, but the plan was overturned by the High Court, which found that a road-user charge of that nature would need to be established by the Commonwealth.
