2021 Heavy Vehicle Charges Determination

Anyone who owns a heavy vehicle that uses Australian roads pays a vehicle registration fee. Heavy vehicle operators also pay a road user charge on diesel fuel.  

The charges are set to ensure that those vehicles that cause more wear and tear on our roads, or those that travel further, pay more.  

State and territory governments use this money to recover what they spend to maintain and improve roads for heavy vehicles. The NTC advises transport ministers on these charges.  

Through our review of PAYGO, we will explore if the method we currently use to calculate charges is still fit for purpose. We’ll also explore how possible changes could be implemented.  

Following this work, changes to the PAYGO model and new heavy vehicle charges may come into effect from the 2022–23 financial year.  

The PAYGO model was introduced in 1992. Transport ministers ask the NTC to review the model about once every five years.  

The process of reviewing how charges are set is called a determination. Typically, a determination will develop multiple options and implementation scenarios for ministers to choose from.  

The last determination was done over seven years ago. Since then, important factors such as distances travelled, and the weight of trucks have changed.  

Public consultation on the Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) concluded on 24 August, 2021. 

This recent round of consultation invited the community to explore possible changes to PAYGO, and implementation options. We held information sessions, and accepted submissions in response to the RIS on this site. 

We’ll present recommendations to transport ministers later this year. They will select a preferred option for how PAYGO could change. Then, we’ll have another round of consultation on the preferred option.

Email the project team with questions

We offered a series of online information sessions throughout July 2021. These workshops have now concluded - but we have included a copy of the  presentations we used for your reference. 

High-level overview and discussion (90 minutes)

These sessions provided a high-level overview of technical content in the RIS, with a focus on financial impacts for industry.

Read the high-level presentation

In-depth presentation and discussion (180 minutes)

These sessions provided an in-depth dive into technical concepts in the RIS.

Read the in-depth presentation