This week, Queensland became the first Australian state – and one of the first jurisdictions on the planet – to set age limits and licensing requirements for e-vehicle riders.
Bicycle Queensland, the advocacy body for cycling in the state, says only a handful of other other jurisdictions around the world have passed similar legislation for ebike or e-scooter riders, such as New Jersey and Israel .
But how does the new legislation work, and what could other cities, states and countries learn from Queensland’s example?
The Transport and Other Legislation (Managing E-mobility Use and Protecting our Communities) Amendment Act 2026 imposes four main new restrictions on ebike and e-scooter riders in Queensland.
It bans people under the age of 16 from riding an ebike in public at all, except where supervised by their parents.
It also requires a person to get at least a learner’s driving licence to ride, with a limited exemption for disabled people . These two restrictions went into force on Monday.
It also imposes a new speed limit of 12km/h near pedestrians and bans e-vehicles that don’t meet a European performance and safety standard, though there is still a grace period on that part of the law.
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It also gives the police new powers to seize vehicles that were already illegal under prior Queensland law, typically because they were too overpowered or large, which are known as ‘e-motorbikes’. They can now also fine parents of children breaking the law by riding an ebike and there are new or greater fines for drink riding, speeding and other offences.
The larger illegal vehicles have become controversial particularly due to media coverage of high-profile gatherings of young people riding them.
How many people die as a result of ebikes in Queensland?
Queensland recorded its worst road toll in 16 years in 2025 , with 306 deaths. There have already been 206 fatalities in 2026, a 7.9% increase on the same time last year, according to Department of Transport and Main Roads data.
Related: Queensland ebike laws could cripple Uber Eats, DoorDash and shared e-vehicle schemes, industry warns
Almost all of them were people either driving or a passenger in a car, riding a motorbike or killed in a crash involving a heavy freight vehicle.
There have been three fatalities involving people using a non-compliant e-mobility device in 2026.
There is no specific category covering legal ebikes, but an inquiry into the bill heard that just one person had been killed in a crash involving a legal ebike in Queensland in 2025, a 79-year-old woman who was hit by a car on Bribie Island in July.
In March two teenagers died after an ebike crash with a motorbike south of Brisbane, though police could not say at the time whether their ebike was legal.
Queensland police say the laws are working.
Assistant commissioner Rhys Wildman said there had been “a significant cultural shift in our community” as a result of the legislation, indicated by a visible reduction in the number of people riding an e-vehicle on the state’s bike paths, footpaths and roadway.
“They’re using other forms of mobility devices to get around, and they’re doing it safely,” he said on Sunday.
Queensland’s minister for transport, Brent Mickelberg said: “for too long, young hoons and young hooligans have held communities to ransom, and we made a commitment to ensure that we tackled this very challenging issue.”
The police minister, Dan Purdie, said the new measures were “the toughest laws in the country”, with about 400 illegal e-devices seized since 1 July – about seven a day.
Cycling advocates say the legislation largely targets users of safe, legal ebikes. It permits the continued sale of overpowered vehicles and there is also no buyback scheme.
The Bicycle Queensland CEO, Matt Burke, estimates that the state’s bike stores import and sell about 20 illegal e-motorbikes a day though some retailers are moving to compliance, he said.
Related: ‘Take them away, crush them’: Australia faces an ebike surge that some say poses a health emergency
He said the laws are a barrier to some people switching out of a car into a more sustainable transport model. For instance, they ban children from riding to school, likely forcing their parents to drive them.
It may also make ebike riders less safe, he said. The bill’s explanatory notes explain that the new speed limit is expected to force some riders off designated protected cycle lanes into general traffic.
Burke said some of the state’s safest riders were being affected by the legislation.
“The other people being affected are seniors who who are having to go and get their learner’s permit at the age of 80 plus (after surrendering it due to age)”.
E-mobility is controversial across Australia and many states are considering how to crack down .
New South Wales is currently developing an age limit similar to Queensland’s, among other changes . There have also been moves in Victoria to roll back council-backed shared ebike schemes .
The federal government is also planning to close a loophole created in 2021 by the former Coalition government allowing importation of e-motorbikes.
But the head of Asia-Pacific at Lime, Will Peters, said no other Australian jurisdiction was likely to consider licensing, which he said was “ridiculous”.
“I think it’s popular, but it’s certainly not the way that we’re seeing governments move at all,” he said.
“It’s a very lazy argument to solve a complex problem”.
Bicycle Queensland, the advocacy body for cycling in the state, says only a handful of other other jurisdictions around the world have passed similar legislation for ebike or e-scooter riders, such as New Jersey and Israel .
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · Andrew Messenger. Published 31 Aug 2026, 03:00 pm.
