Heavy vehicle charges for 2026-27

Registration charges
Annual heavy vehicle registration charges will increase by 3 per cent for 2026–27.

The increase will take effect in the Heavy Vehicle Charges Model Law from 1 July 2026. However, implementation dates may vary between states and territories.

The updated model law is expected to be available on the Parliamentary Counsel’s Committee website shortly.

Road user charge
On 30 March 2026, the Australian Government announced it will defer the next scheduled increase in the Heavy Vehicle Road User Charge to 1 January 2027, in response to rising fuel prices. 

From 1 July to 2 August 2026, the Australian Government has temporarily reduced the RUC by 16 cents per litre. The RUC applying during this period is 16.4 cents per litre for liquid fuels.

This follows the temporary reduction of the RUC from 32.4 cents per litre to zero between 1 April and 30 June 2026.

You can read the media statement here.
 

Heavy vehicle charges are fees paid by truck and bus operators to cover the extra wear and tear their vehicles cause on our roads. This helps governments pay for building and maintaining safer, more reliable roads that support everyone who uses them. 

Charges are made up of: 

• Annual registration charges – collected by state and territory governments
• Fuel-based road user charges – collected by the Commonwealth government

The NTC does not set heavy vehicle charges. Our role is to research options and undertake consultation and economic analysis to inform decisions made by transport ministers.
 

Ministers asked the NTC to undertake public consultation on proposed charges for 2026-27, consistent with the Fuel Tax Act 2006 (Cth).

To support consultation, we published a consultation paper which:

• provided background on heavy vehicle charges
• explained the guiding principles for cost recovery
• outlined how much governments spend on roads compared to what is collected through charges.

Public consultation on this project has now closed. Submissions received are published below.