Australia’s eBike Laws Are Broken—and They’re Making Us Vulnerable
Australia’s eBike laws are outdated, restrictive, and dangerously out of touch with modern transport realities. Right now, electric bikes are capped at 25km/h assisted speed. That’s barely fast enough to stay balanced in traffic—let alone safe.
Riders are forced into lanes with cars and trucks traveling twice as fast. And while they can’t legally use the footpath unless it’s a designated shared path, they’re also not allowed to keep up with motor traffic. It’s a lose-lose setup that makes roads more dangerous for everyone.
Meanwhile, traditional cyclists on lightweight road bikes can easily hit 30–40km/h. No licence. No lights required. Often no reliable brakes. Yet they’re considered street legal. Why are high-tech eBikes—with disc brakes, integrated lighting, and speed-limiting software—the ones getting overregulated?
Throttle control is a joke. In most of Australia, throttle assist cuts out at 6km/h—barely faster than walking. That makes it useless for starting at traffic lights or climbing hills. Add to that the power cap of 250W nationwide (500W in NSW), and most eBikes are left underpowered and underperforming in real-world traffic conditions.
And this isn’t just a matter of transport policy—it’s a matter of national resilience.
Australia imports 91% of its oil, mostly for transport. That’s a massive vulnerability. A conflict in the Middle East, a disrupted shipping lane, or geopolitical sanctions—and we’re suddenly stranded. Fuel prices skyrocket. Logistics freeze. People can’t get to work. Supermarket shelves go empty.
eBikes are one of the few scalable, immediate tools we have to cut that dependence. They’re affordable. They’re clean. They take up less space and don’t rely on oil. But we’ve made them too slow, too weak, and too legally risky to seriously compete with cars.
My Proposal: A Smarter eBike Category for Australia
Let’s create a new eBike class that actually works for Australia’s sprawling cities and long commutes:
✅ Up to 45km/h pedal assist
✅ Up to 1000W continuous power (1800W peak)
✅ Throttle permitted up to 45km/h
✅ Mandatory one-day safety course
✅ Annual licence fee
✅ Small registration plate for visibility and accountability
This isn’t radical. Similar rules already exist in other countries—and they’re working. But this proposal is tailored to Australia’s reality: a vast, car-reliant, continental country where many people don’t have access to practical public transport and commute long distances every day.
This gives people a real alternative to cars. It eases congestion. It reduces pressure on public transport. And it slashes our dependence on imported oil.
We can’t solve modern problems with laws written for a different era.
Reform the eBike regulations—and let Australia ride into the future.
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