Australian toll roads are found in the eastern states of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. The majority of toll roads in Australia are in Sydney, but there are also toll roads in Melbourne, Brisbane, Ipswich and Toowoomba.
Most of the toll roads are partially owned or operated by Transurban. All toll roads in Australia are tolled electronically (cashless) using free-flow tolling. All toll collection points are toll gantries, with the last cash toll booths in the country closed in July 2013 on the M5 South West Motorway.
Tolls are collected from an e-TAG transponder attached to the vehicle's windscreen. The first e-TAG was developed in the 1990s by Transurban who owns and operates the CityLink in Melbourne in preparation for what would be one of the world's first 'fully electronic' tollways. There are different e-TAG retailers across the country, such as Transurban's Linkt or Transport for NSW's e-Toll.
According to Professor Mark Hickman, the chair of Transport at the University of Queensland's School of Civil Engineering, toll roads in Australia have not reached expected traffic volumes and do not always relieve congestion in the short-term. Melbourne's CityLink tollway (M1 and M2 sections) carry the highest volume of traffic and also generate the highest revenue of all the tollways (by a substantial amount). This is mainly due to the necessary cross-city and North (Melbourne Airport-bound) corridors.
In 2019, the Grattan Institute published a report titled "Why itâÂÂs time for congestion charging: better ways to manage busy urban roads".
Transurban stated in their 1H26 financial investor presentation slides and recording that they were "Exploring RUC [road user charging] in Australia" and "looking at further road user charging trials in Australia".
Transurban trialled a congestion-based demand pricing model in 2016 and has long advocated for a road user charging model.
John Graham has stated since 2023 that the government is not considering and will not implement congestion charging in NSW. In June 2023 Graham stated "...the NSW Government will not support any recommendations to place tolls on previously untolled roads and there will be no charge to drive into the Sydney CBD, as we promised in the election".
In July 2024, the Independent toll review led by Allan Fels and David Cousins released their findings and recommendations for toll reform in NSW.
In February 2025, bureaucrats were trying to agree on the "purpose, priorities and values" of toll reform. Investment NSW's Economics and Analysis team wrote a report which stated toll reform should implement "consistent, demand-based pricing structures across the existing toll network". The report also stated that as "fairness and equity are not objectives of toll roads", toll reform should not make prices fairer for drivers.
John Graham stated on 15 February 2026 that the government would not implement demand-based pricing.
<section begin="header_dist" />
<section end="footer_dist" />
<section begin="header" />
<section end="footer" />
<section begin="header_qld" />
<section end="footer_qld" />
<section begin="header_vic" />
<section end="footer_vic" />