Heavy vehicle charges for 2026-27

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.

You can read the media statement here. 

An outcome on annual registration charges is still being considered. 

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 the proposed charges increase, consistent with the Fuel Tax Act 2006 (Cth).

To support this, we published a consultation paper which:

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

Public consultation on this project has now closed. Submissions received during the consultation period will be published here shortly.