The government is now operating in accordance with the Guidance on Caretaker Conventions, pending the outcome of the 2025 federal election.

Reducing carbon emissions

The Australian Government aims to reduce transport emissions, helping Australians switch to cleaner, cheaper transport. The plan is for a 43% reduction by 2030 with initiatives to decarbonise Australia's transport network. 

There are opportunities for investor-led growth in multiple sectors:

Australia welcomes investors in all aspects of future transport. This includes technology, vehicles, infrastructure, planning and systems. Australia offers:

  • an efficient regulatory environment that supports the adoption of new technologies
  • world-class research and development (R&D). This includes R&D in robotics, autonomous systems and predictive modelling
  • a supportive policy environment, with competitive incentives
  • future-ready communications infrastructure. This includes 5G networks, satellite positioning upgrades, dedicated bandwidth and upgrades to national broadband
  • abundant natural resources to support onshore manufacturing including batteries.

How we can help

Incentives, grants and support

The Australian Government’s initiatives to support the low emissions transport industry include the:

The Australian Government's A$500 million Driving the Nation Fund. This will aid the transition to EVs and hydrogen power. This includes:

  • A$39.3 million to help deliver EV chargers on highway routes across Australia up to A$80 million to help decarbonise heavy transport.

Supporting future transport in Australia

  • The National Electric Vehicle Strategy with state and territory governments will increase the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) to reduce emissions. and help give investors certainty over future demand.
  • The Australian Government has created the Office of Future Transport Technology to support the safe and legal deployment of future land transport technologies. This includes connected and automated vehicles and cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS).
  • The National Transport Commission is working on legal reforms to allow the safe commercial deployment and operation of automated vehicles on Australia’s roads. The Australian Government plans to implement a national framework by the end of 2026.
  • The Australian Government is developing a Transport and Infrastructure Net Zero Roadmap and Action Plan to support reducing transport emissions by 2050.
  • The Australian Government and state and territory governments have created the National Energy Transformation Partnership. It will ensure Australia’s electricity system is ready for the rapid adoption of EVs.
  • The Australian Government's Fuel Efficiency Standard incentivises the development and supply of more fuel efficient and low or zero emissions cars to the Australian market.

Snapshot


Future transport and Australia


Carbon emissions

Australia’s transport sector emitted 19% of Australia’s carbon emissions in 2022


EV sales

EV sales rose 269% in H1 2023, year on year. There are an estimated 130,000 EVs in Australia (8.4% of total car sales)


Charging locations

The number of high-power charging locations in Australia increased 57% from June 2022 to June 2023

Sources:

  1. The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Reducing Transport Emissions
  2. Electric vehicle council soevs-report-2023
  3. Electric vehicle council soevs-report-2023

Australia boasts world-class R&D capabilities. They include expertise in quantum computing, connected automated vehicles (CAVs) and mobility as a service (MaaS). We also have niche expertise in AI predictive modelling for road and rail networks.

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