For most of the past decade, Australian regulation of e-bikes, e-scooters and the lithium-ion batteries that power them has been a state-by-state patchwork. A 500 W e-bike bought legally in Sydney was an unregistered motor vehicle the moment it crossed into Victoria. An e-scooter was footpath-legal in Brisbane and Hobart but illegal in Sydney and Darwin. A trade in cheap, uncertified batteries — many destined for delivery riders’ converted bikes — fed a steady stream of fires that fire services across the country had been documenting in increasing numbers.
That patchwork is now being rewoven, fast. Two events in late 2025 set the new direction: the Commonwealth’s reinstatement of EN 15194 as the national e-bike import standard, and NSW’s decision to fold its anomalous 500 W allowance back to 250 W. Around those federal-state pivots, every jurisdiction has either tightened its own rules or has draft legislation in the pipeline. This article summarises where each state and territory now sits, across three regulatory dimensions: who can sell what, who can ride where, and what can come on public transport.
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The Federal Pivot: EN 15194 Reinstated
For years there was no enforceable national reference standard for what constituted a legal e-bike in Australia. EN 15194 had been adopted in 2014, then quietly abandoned in subsequent years, leaving importers free to bring in devices that were nominally classed as bicycles but performed like unregistered motorcycles.
That changed in late 2025. On 21 November 2025, the Australian Government committed to reinstating e-bike import requirements to meet the European safety and quality standard, EN-15194, and on 19 December 2025 the Federal Government updated import laws to require e-bikes imported into Australia to meet EN 15194 (2017). This update effectively stops the flow of any e-bike over 250W at the border, regardless of individual state laws.
The reinstated standard limits e-bikes to 25 km/h, caps continuous rated power at 250 watts, and includes an anti-tampering requirement. The anti-tampering clause is significant — under the previous, simpler “EPAC” definition there was nothing to stop a high-powered motor being software-locked to 250 W and shipped as a legal bicycle. Queensland authorities have since been explicit that devices with more powerful motors that are “locked” to 250 watts are also prohibited, and federal import rules rely on the hardware rating of the motor.
This is the regulatory bedrock everything below now sits on.
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NSW: The National Leader on Product Safety
NSW has moved further and faster than any other jurisdiction on battery and e-mobility product safety, driven by a fire record that Fire and Rescue NSW has documented in painful detail (193 e-micromobility fires between 2022 and 2025, with the rate rising each year, including the state’s first LiB fire fatalities in February 2024).
Product safety regulations
Under the *Gas and Electricity (Consumer Safety) Act 2017*, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards, self-balancing scooters and the lithium-ion batteries used to power these devices are ‘declared electrical articles’ and must comply with prescribed mandatory safety standards before they can be sold in the state.
The rollout has been staged:
- **1 February 2025** — Stage 1 prescribed safety standards in effect. Devices, batteries and chargers must comply with one of the listed standards (for batteries: EN 50604-1, IEC 62133-2 or UL 2271 for e-bikes; AS/NZS 60335.2.114 for e-scooters/skateboards/hoverboards. For complete bikes/devices: AS/EN 15194 or UL 2849).
- **19 February 2025** — Australia’s first Information Standard for e-micromobility takes effect, requiring point-of-sale safety information.
- **1 August 2025** — Information Standard enforcement begins, with penalties of up to $5,500 for breaching the Information Standard.
- **1 February 2026** — Mandatory testing, certification and marking enforcement, postponed from the original August 2025 date in response to industry feedback. Full enforcement begins, including labeling obligations and legal penalties for non-compliance up to $825,000.
A small but important carve-out: as of 18 December 2025, e-micromobility vehicles used for hire, rent or lease are exempt from the testing, certification and marking requirements, although chargers must already be tested, certified and marked.
Riding rules
Privately owned e-scooters remain illegal on NSW roads, footpaths and shared paths — they can only be ridden on private property, with shared trial schemes the only public-space exception. E-bikes have until recently been the outlier in another way: NSW was the only Australian state to permit a 500 W EPAC class. NSW increased the maximum continuous rated power to 500W (from 250W) in early 2023 to assist riders in hilly areas, e-cargo bikes with loads and those with restricted mobility. However, the increase in power also contributed to loopholes — grey areas in the definition led to a wave of high-powered bikes that behave more like electric motorbikes than pedal-assisted bicycles.
In December 2025 the NSW Government announced this would be unwound. The continuous rated power of e-bikes will be capped at 250 watts, bringing NSW into line with other states. To be used on a road, an e-bike will need to comply with EN 15194 by 1 March 2029. Owners of currently legal e-bikes with maximum power output up to 500 watts must transition to an EN compliant model by that deadline. After 1 March 2029, bikes that do not comply with the EN 15194 standard can be seized under new seizure and crushing laws.
Public transport
From November 2025, converted e-bikes — regular pedal bikes that have been retrofitted with a motor and lithium-ion battery — are banned from Sydney Trains, NSW TrainLink and Metro services. Riders caught with a restricted converted e-bike or its battery on the network face a $400 penalty notice and fines of up to $1,100.
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Queensland: Big Reforms in the Pipeline
Queensland’s current rules sit at the more permissive end nationally — e-scooters and PMDs are legal on footpaths, shared paths and local roads — but enforcement and penalties are not light. Police enforce 12 km/h speed limits on footpaths and shared paths with fines of more than $660. The maximum speed anywhere is 25 km/h. Helmet fines exceed $160. Holding a mobile phone while riding attracts fines of more than $1,250. Hit-and-run penalties for non-serious incidents exceed $3,000 and can include imprisonment.
The state’s regulatory direction is changing significantly. After 14 e-mobility-related deaths in 2025 and a parliamentary inquiry that delivered 28 recommendations (all accepted or accepted-in-principle), the *Transport and Other Legislation (Managing E-mobility Use and Protecting Our Communities) Amendment Bill 2026* was introduced in March 2026. Subject to parliamentary approval, the laws are expected to take effect from 1 July, with a six-month transition period.
Key proposed changes:
- 10 km/h speed limit on footpaths and shared paths, replacing the existing 12 km/h limit for PMDs and addressing a regulatory gap where there was no existing speed limit for EPACs.
- PMDs to be permitted on any road with a speed limit of 60 km/h or less, replacing the existing rules that limited PMDs to roads with no dividing line and 50 km/h or less.
- Riders over 16 must hold a valid driver’s licence of any class. Under-16s banned outright from public roads, paths and shared spaces. Parents and guardians can be held liable for fines.
- More powerful devices capable of exceeding 25km/h will be reclassified as motorcycles or mopeds and will require registration and insurance. Police gain powers to randomly breath test riders and seize devices on first offence.
- Fines for unreasonably obstructing footpaths and other areas, with hire operators required to provide local governments or police with information about the last known user.
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Victoria: Public Transport Crackdown, Sales Tightening
Victoria’s response has focused most visibly on the public transport network, after several high-profile lithium-ion battery fires aboard trains.
Public transport (Conduct on Public Transport Regulations 2025, in force 21 December 2025)
Converted e-bikes are banned on metropolitan and V/Line trains and within ticketed areas. The penalty is $508.78 for adults or $101.76 for children. E-bikes, e-scooters and other rideable e-devices must be switched off and cannot be ridden or charged on board, on platforms or in station precincts. Only foldable e-scooters and e-bikes are allowed on trams and PTV buses. The changes do not apply to mobility scooters, which continue to be allowed on the network.
Riding and product rules
Victoria does not allow e-scooters on footpaths but permits them on shared paths and bike infrastructure. The 25 km/h cap and 250 W EPAC limit apply. E-bikes with toggle switches that allow the bike to override legal power and wattage limits, an EPAC that continues to provide motorised power above 25 km/h, or any bicycle with a combined maximum continuous rated power output greater than 250 watts cannot be ridden on public roads and road-related areas — these can only be ridden on private property and there are significant fines of over $1,000 if caught riding one in public areas.
Victoria has also passed the *Transport Legislation Amendment (Vehicle Sharing Scheme Safety and Standards) Bill 2025*, establishing a centralised regulatory framework under the Department of Transport and Planning to streamline operations, improve safety, and provide consistency for councils, operators, and users of shared micromobility services. The City of Melbourne has banned shared hire scooters altogether, while Yarra has effectively done so by raising fees by 400%.
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South Australia: Newly Legal as of July 2025
SA was a late mover. From 13 July 2025, privately owned electric scooters (e-scooters) and other personal mobility devices can legally be ridden on roads and paths in South Australia.
Key rules: individuals aged 16 and over can ride e-scooters and similar devices on footpaths, bike paths, many bike lanes, and certain roads. No driver’s licence or vehicle registration is required. Riders must wear a helmet and use a flashing light in low light conditions. E-scooter riders are permitted on roads with speed limits up to 60 km/h but must use bike lanes and travel no faster than 25 km/h. On footpaths, beaches and shared paths, e-scooters are limited to 10 km/h. Other personal devices such as e-skateboards and e-solo-wheels can be used on roads with speed limits up to 50 km/h at speeds up to 25 km/h. Fines for serious breaches can reach up to $2,500.
PMDs sold in SA must meet an applicable safety standard — currently the AUS/NZ electrical safety standard. PMDs are not permitted on public transport in SA (trains, trams, buses), although the government has indicated this may change.
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Western Australia: e-Rideables Established, Inquiry Recommendations Pending
WA has had a legal framework for “e-Rideables” (e-scooters, e-skateboards, hoverboards, e-unicycles) for some time. The headline rules: 10 km/h on footpaths and pedestrian crossings, 25 km/h on local roads, bicycle paths and shared paths. eRiders are subject to the same drink and drug driving laws as motor vehicle drivers. Breaking electric scooter laws will result in fines depending on the severity of the offence — for example $500–$1,000 for using a mobile phone while riding.
In 2025, an inquiry into e-scooters and e-bikes in WA made a number of recommendations including changes to laws, many of which the state government supported and are planned for implementation. In the meantime, police continue to enforce current rules, including targeting illegal devices and unsafe riding behaviour. WA is the only state with an explicit 16+ minimum age. E-bikes are dealt with separately from e-Rideables and follow standard bicycle rules under the Road Traffic Code 2000.
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Tasmania: Permissive but Bounded
Tasmania allows private and shared e-scooters, with 15 km/h on footpaths and 25 km/h elsewhere, a 16+ minimum age (children under 16 are restricted to ≤200 W, ≤10 km/h devices), and a 45 kg device weight ceiling. In Tasmania, e-bikes that have not been modified may be taken on trains only, and e-scooters are not allowed on buses.
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ACT: Path-Friendly, Road-Restricted
The ACT has legalised PMDs since 2019. E-scooters are permitted on footpaths, shared paths, bicycle paths and the bicycle side of separated paths. Speed limits are 15 km/h on footpaths, 25 km/h elsewhere. Roads only for the shortest, safest route where there is no footpath, shared path or nature strip available, or it is impracticable to use one. There are no public transport restrictions specific to e-mobility devices.
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Northern Territory: Hire-Only, in Trial Areas
The NT remains the most restrictive jurisdiction for private ownership. Riding personal e-scooters remains illegal on roads and road-related areas, including footpaths, shared paths, and bicycle lanes. They can only be used on private property. The NT government encourages the use of hired e-scooters instead. The Darwin trial scheme operates with Beam Mobility / Neuron, capped at 15 km/h. People caught riding private e-scooters in public will be fined for driving an unregistered and uninsured motor vehicle.
E-bikes are legal under standard bicycle rules.
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Public Transport: The Quickest-Moving Frontier
Public transport rules have shifted faster than any other category in the past nine months, driven directly by lithium-ion battery fires aboard trains and within station precincts. In Tasmania, e-bikes that have not been modified may be taken on trains only, and e-scooters are not allowed on buses. In Queensland they are not permitted on trams or buses, and in South Australia they are not allowed on any type of public transport. At the time of writing, there were no such limitations in the ACT, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Both NSW (November 2025) and Victoria (December 2025) have introduced specific bans on converted e-bikes on rail networks, while permitting compliant factory-built e-bikes and foldable e-scooters under varying conditions.
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What This Means in Practice
A few patterns emerge from this landscape.
**Convergence on 250 W / 25 km/h.** With the Commonwealth’s December 2025 import rule and NSW’s planned alignment, the entire country will sit on the same EPAC definition by 2029 at the latest. Software-locked higher-powered motors are now explicitly out of bounds.
**Convergence on EN 15194 as the reference standard.** The federal import requirement, combined with NSW’s product safety regulations citing it, makes EN 15194 (and its companion battery standard EN 50604-1) the de facto national specification for e-bikes. AS 15194 is the Australian-adopted equivalent. UL 2849 remains acceptable in some state product safety regimes but does not on its own satisfy the federal road-vehicle import test.
**Enforcement is sharpening at both ends.** At the supply end, NSW’s $825,000 maximum penalty and Federal Border Force import controls target retailers and importers. At the use end, QLD’s draft Bill, NSW’s seizure-and-crush powers, and the WA enforcement focus all push consequences onto riders and parents.
**Fire risk is the dominant policy driver.** The trigger for almost every regulation reviewed here is a documented fire — particularly fires linked to converted e-bikes, retrofit kits and high-capacity replacement batteries used by delivery riders. Product safety regulation is moving faster than rider regulation in part because the failure mode is so visible: a townhouse fatality in NSW in February 2024, repeated train fires through 2024–2025, and the Croydon e-bike shop fire of January 2024.
**The remaining patchwork is in rider rules, not product rules.** What’s legal to *sell* will look very similar across the country by 2027. What’s legal to *ride*, where, by whom, and on what — that will continue to vary, with QLD imposing licence requirements that no other state has yet contemplated, NT remaining hire-only, and the footpath/no-footpath split between NSW–Victoria and the rest persisting into the foreseeable future.
For anyone buying a new e-bike in 2026, the practical advice is now straightforward: look for the EN 15194 mark and an EN 50604-1 battery, and the device will be legal to ride and re-sell anywhere in the country, today and through any reasonable future of policy reform.
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Sources
- NSW Government — New safety standards for lithium-ion batteries in e-mobility devices: https://www.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-construction/safety-home/electrical-safety/lithium-ion-battery-safety/new-standards-for-lithium-ion-batteries-e-micromobility-devices
- NSW Government — Nation-leading safety and information standards now in effect (Feb 2025): https://www.nsw.gov.au/ministerial-releases/nation-leading-safety-and-information-standards-for-lithium-ion-battery-products-now-effect
- NSW Government — E-Bike FAQs: https://www.nsw.gov.au/driving-boating-and-transport/bikes-e-bikes-e-scooters/bicycles-electric-bikes/e-bike-faqs
- TÜV Rheinland — New South Wales New Safety Standards summary: https://www.tuv.com/regulations-and-standards/en/new-south-wales-new-safety-standards-for-lithium-ion-batteries-in-e-mobility-devices.html
- SGS — NSW Australia Publishes Mandatory Regulation: https://www.sgs.com/en/news/2024/11/safeguards-16324-nsw-australia-publishes-mandatory-regulation-for-e-mobility-devices-and-batteries
- Queensland StreetSmarts — Rules for riders: https://streetsmarts.initiatives.qld.gov.au/initiatives/pmd-rules/
- Queensland Parliament — Transport and Other Legislation (Managing E-mobility Use) Amendment Bill 2026 Explanatory Notes: https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/bills/2026/4284/Transport-and-Other-Legislation-(Managing-E-mobility-Use-and-Protecting-Our-Communities)-Amendment-Bill-2026—Explanatory-Notes-1590.pdf
- Bicycle Network — Queensland moves to license e-scooter and e-bike riders: https://bicyclenetwork.com.au/newsroom/2026/03/25/queensland-moves-to-license-e-scooter-and-e-bike-riders/
- Smith’s Lawyers — Queensland’s E-Mobility Crackdown: https://www.smithslawyers.com.au/post/qld-ebike-crackdown-debate
- National Seniors Australia — Crackdown on e-scooters and e-bikes: https://nationalseniors.com.au/news/featured-news/crackdown-on-e-scooters-and-e-bikes
- Transport Victoria — Electric bikes: https://transport.vic.gov.au/road-and-active-transport/active-transport/bicycles/electric-bikes
- Transport Victoria — Changes to public transport rules (Dec 2025): https://transport.vic.gov.au/news-and-resources/news/changes-to-the-way-you-use-public-transport-and-the-rules-for-travelling-on-board
- Transport Victoria — E-scooter road rules: https://transport.vic.gov.au/road-and-active-transport/active-transport/e-scooter-road-rules
- Parliament of Victoria — Helmet mandates, GPS limits and fines: https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/news/infrastructure/escooter-regulation/
- South Australia DIT — Street legal: e-scooters can be driven on SA roads from July: https://dit.sa.gov.au/news/articles/2025/june/street-legal-e-scooters-can-be-driven-on-sa-roads-from-july
- South Australia My Licence — Personal Mobility Devices: https://mylicence.sa.gov.au/road-rules/personal-mobility-devices
- South Australia Law Handbook — Electric scooters and other PMDs: https://www.lawhandbook.sa.gov.au/ch12s08s05s11.php
- RAC WA — E-skateboards, e-scooters and e-hoverboards: https://rac.com.au/horizons/drive/e-skateboard-e-scooter-rules
- WA Government — eRideables: https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/road-safety-commission/erideables
- NT Government — Electric scooters and bikes: https://nt.gov.au/driving/safety/electric-scooters-and-bikes
- NRMA — Rules for e-scooters and e-bikes (cross-jurisdictional summary): https://www.mynrma.com.au/open-road/advice-and-how-to/road-safety/rules-for-e-scooters-and-e-bikes
- Bicycle Network — Feds return to Euro e-bike standard: https://bicyclenetwork.com.au/newsroom/2025/12/03/feds-return-to-euro-e-bike-standard/
- Bicycle NSW — Towards safe and legal e-bikes in NSW: https://bicyclensw.org.au/towards-safe-legal-ebikes-nsw/
- Fire and Rescue NSW — LiB Fire Data Jan–Jun 2024 (project file)