NSW New Powers for NSW Motorways and a Customer Advocate for Toll Road Users

Roads Legislation Amendment (NSW Motorways) Bill 2025

15 Sep 2026: Passed by Parliament and signed off by the governor.

This bill kicks in: TBA

Legislative Assembly

Legislative Council

Assent

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Topics

customer advocacy land acquisition road transport road work toll roads tollway ombudsman

Introduced by: The Hon Jenny Aitchison MP (ALP); The Hon John Graham MLC (ALP)

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Official page: bill text and explanatory notes

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

NSW Motorways becomes the legal roads authority for tollways it owns, giving it the same powers as Transport for NSW to manage, maintain, and regulate those roads.
Fines collected for toll offences and related offences committed on tollways go into the NSW Motorways Fund.
A Customer Advocate is established within NSW Motorways to handle disputes and complaints from toll road customers.
The tollway ombudsman scheme is extended to cover disputes about toll services provided outside NSW — relevant for interstate toll accounts and e-tags.
Toll entities (companies operating toll roads) must pay the costs of running and administering the tollway ombudsman scheme.
Ownership of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel transfers to NSW Motorways, by proclamation.

The Debate

What different members said when this bill was debated:

Natalie Ward LIB

“I lead for the Opposition in debate on the Roads Legislation Amendment (NSW Motorways) Bill 2025. The Opposition does not oppose the legislation, but we have amendments to improve the bill. I thank the Government for its engagement on those amendments. The legislation builds on previous legislation concerning the establishment of NSW Motorways, which the Opposition also did not oppose.”

Official source →

Cate Faehrmann GRN

“As The Greens spokesperson for roads, I join in debate on the Roads Legislation Amendment (NSW Motorways) Bill 2025.”

Official source →

John Graham ALP

“I thank Ms Cate Faehrmann for that frank description. I will address some of the remarks made by the Hon. Natalie Ward and Ms Cate Faehrmann. I thank them both for their comments and for supporting the Roads Legislation Amendment (NSW Motorways) Bill 2025. We will sort through some of the issues that the Opposition referred to when we come to the Committee stage. In the Hon.”

Official source →

News articles and press releases

Roads Legislation Amendment (NSW Motorways) Bill 2025

Ms JENNY AITCHISON, Minister for Regional Transport — 2025-10-15

The bill before us today does three critical things. Firstly, it removes outdated legislation and terminology. This means clearer, consolidated governance for our State’s toll roads. Importantly, the bill also transfers the Sydney Harbour Tunnel to NSW Motorways. The Sydney Harbour Tunnel will be safe in public hands and operated with motorists’ interests front of mind. This is a significant step in bringing tolled road infrastructure back to public ownership and ensuring that key assets are managed transparently and responsibly. Secondly, the bill confers roads authority functions on NSW Motorways, empowering it to manage tollways appropriately. Schedule 1 [2] to the bill formally recognises NSW Motorways as a roads authority for tollways. This provision removes ambiguity and ensures NSW Motorways can exercise its functions with clarity and consistency.