Australian towing law, built in
The letter you do not want to get.
An inspector can ask for a register page. A customer can dispute a fee. Both come down to the same two questions: what does your state let you charge, and what must you keep. Here are the answers for four states, each with the gazette or regulation it came from and the date it took effect. When the gazette changes, the app changes, and so does this page.
Figures last checked 19 August 2026.
NSW
$320
maximum accident tow in the Sydney metropolitan area, excluding GST
From 1 July 2026
NSW rules and registers
VIC
$289.60
maximum accident tow inside the controlled area, including GST
From 1 July 2026
VIC rules and registers
QLD
$447.90
maximum accident tow in a regulated area, including GST
From 1 July 2026
QLD rules and registers
WA
$485
maximum accident tow in Perth and Peel, including GST
From 10 January 2025
WA rules and registers
Which Australian states cap what a tow truck can charge?
New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia all cap accident towing charges, and each does it differently: NSW sets fees in dollars, Victoria gazettes an indexed amount inside a controlled area, Queensland writes its maximum in fee units, and Western Australia caps Perth and Peel with penalties for charging above it.
TowConnect holds all four as dated instruments and checks the price as you type it, in the office and on the driver's phone.
The paperwork
The inspector asks for 24 July. You print 24 July.
- Tow Truck Usage Log
- Every accident attendance, per truck, in the approved form.
- Non-accident Towing Record
- Every other tow, per truck.
- Approved Holding Yard Register
- Every vehicle in and out, per yard.
- Tow Truck Driver Register
- Every certified driver's details.
The four NSW registers are written from the jobs you already logged. Page numbers restart each year and never move. Delete a record and its slot stays, marked void, because a paper book cannot be unwritten. Print the whole week in one PDF for the inspector's folder.
Register forms for Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia are not built yet. Fee caps already cover all four states.
Never behind a tier
A legal obligation is not a premium feature.
Everything compliance we have built is on every plan - the NSW registers today, the caps for four states, the authority forms - never a tier. That includes a workspace whose card bounced last week: a paused workspace still signs in, prints its statutory registers and releases vehicles from the yard. The inspector does not care about your invoice, and neither does this.
The questions people ask about the rules
Which Australian states cap accident towing fees?+
New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia all cap accident towing charges. Each does it differently: NSW sets dollar maximums, Victoria gazettes indexed amounts inside a controlled area, Queensland writes its maximum in fee units, and Western Australia caps Perth and Peel with penalties for exceeding it.
How much can a tow truck charge for an accident tow in NSW?+
In New South Wales the maximum charge for towing a light vehicle from an accident is $320 excluding GST, anywhere in the state. Distance beyond 10 km in the Sydney metropolitan area adds $7 per kilometre, or $6 beyond 20 km elsewhere in NSW. Work outside 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday adds 20 percent. These are maximums set under the Tow Truck Industry Act 1998 (NSW).
What records must an Australian tow truck operator keep?+
A NSW Category A operator keeps five records: a tow truck usage log for accident attendance, a non-accident towing record, an approved holding yard register for each yard, a tow truck driver register, and a towing authorisation book that must physically be in the truck. Fair Trading publishes each as an approved form.
Does TowConnect generate the statutory register forms?+
Yes, for New South Wales. TowConnect generates the tow truck usage log, the non-accident towing record, the approved holding yard register and the tow truck driver register from work already logged, with page numbers that restart each year and never move. Victorian, Queensland and Western Australian forms are not built yet.
Are the registers included on every plan?+
Yes. Statutory registers are a legal obligation, not a premium feature, so they are never behind a tier. A workspace that has lapsed and gone read-only can still sign in, print its registers and release vehicles from the yard. Nothing about compliance is held against an unpaid invoice.
What happens when a state changes its fees?+
Each determination is stored as a new dated entry rather than an edit, so a job priced last year still reconciles against last year's figures. Every workspace gets the new amounts at once, and the figures on this site are rendered from the same data the app prices with.
General information, not legal advice. Figures shown are the ones the app uses, with the instrument and the date they came from.
See the rules for your state.
Every figure on those pages is the one the app uses, with the instrument and the date it came from.