No More Broken Chargers: Australia Tightens EV Rules

Updated national standards tie public funding for EV chargers to uptime, access and payments, signaling a push for dependable infrastructure as adoption grows

29 Jan 2026

Australia’s electric vehicle charging market is entering a more demanding phase, as governments move to enforce higher standards for publicly funded infrastructure. Updated Minimum Operating Standards, developed under the National Electric Vehicle Strategy, link government support to reliability, accessibility and user experience, a shift intended to address uneven performance across the charging network.

The standards, agreed to by federal, state and territory governments, apply to charging sites that receive public funding rather than to all chargers nationwide. Since January 2024, they have been incorporated into new funding agreements and are reviewed periodically as the market evolves. Officials have framed the changes as a way to ensure taxpayer-backed infrastructure keeps pace with rising expectations as electric vehicle ownership expands.

At the center of the update is a focus on reliability. Operators of government-supported chargers are expected to meet a 98 percent uptime benchmark, a requirement that pushes networks to invest more heavily in maintenance, monitoring and rapid fault response. For drivers, the goal is fewer broken chargers and less uncertainty. For operators, it raises operational costs and places performance under closer scrutiny.

Industry participants say the shift formalizes trends already under way. Charging networks including Chargefox and Evie Networks have publicly emphasized reliability as core to their business strategies. Across the sector, analysts say dependable service is increasingly viewed not as a differentiator but as a baseline expectation.

The standards also address usability. They encourage the CCS connector as a common standard, call for clearer pricing information and promote interoperable payment options. Accessibility requirements are intended to ensure chargers can be used by a wider range of drivers, reinforcing government efforts to make EV charging feel routine rather than experimental.

Beyond the projects they directly govern, the rules are likely to shape the broader market. Investors and site hosts often treat publicly backed standards as a reference point, and networks that align with them may be better positioned to secure partnerships and long-term customers. Smaller operators and regional deployments could face challenges meeting the benchmarks, particularly as costs rise. Still, policymakers are signaling that Australia’s EV transition will be judged not only by the number of chargers installed, but by whether the system earns public trust as adoption accelerates.