Australian towing law, built in
Tow truck fee caps and registers
What you may charge and keep. An inspector can ask for a register page, and a customer can dispute a fee. 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 .
NSW
$320
maximum accident tow in the Sydney metropolitan area, excluding GST
From · NSW maximum fees for light vehicles
NSW rules and registers
VIC
$289.60
maximum accident tow inside the controlled area, including GST
From · Gazette S 257 (22 May 2026)
VIC rules and registers
QLD
$447.90
maximum accident tow in a regulated area, including GST
From · Tow Truck Regulation 2024 (Qld) Sch 2
QLD rules and registers
WA
$523
maximum accident tow in Perth and Peel, including GST
From · Towing Services Regulations 2025 (WA)
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 each as a dated instrument and checks the price as you type it, in the office and on the driver's phone.
| State | How the cap is set | Instrument | In force from |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | Dollar maximums, set by the state | NSW maximum fees for light vehicles NSW Government, tow truck fees for light vehicles | In force from |
| Victoria | Gazetted each year under s212H | Gazette S 257 (22 May 2026) Transport Victoria, information for the towing industry | In force from |
| Queensland | Fee units, revalued each 1 July | Tow Truck Regulation 2024 (Qld) Sch 2 Queensland TMR, tow truck licensing scheme | In force from |
| Western Australia | Dollar maximums in regulations, with penalties | Towing Services Regulations 2025 (WA) WA Legislation, the regulations in force | In force from |
Asked for 24 July? Print it.
- 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.
Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia set their own record duties. Their packs are coming soon. Fee caps already cover all four states.
See the whole page +
Compliance is on every plan.
Every piece of compliance work we have built is on every plan: the NSW registers, the caps for four states, and the authority's number on every job. That includes a paused workspace: it still signs in, prints its statutory registers and releases vehicles from the yard. The authority itself stays each state's own paper form.
Questions about the rules
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?
- New South Wales: four registers on Fair Trading's approved forms, and the towing authorisation book in every Category A truck.
- Victoria: each licensed tow truck's invoices, authorities to tow, drivers, manager and salvage photographs, kept at its depot at least a year after the last entry, and every complaint.
- Queensland: a towing record within 24 hours, a found-property inventory, charge records and a copy of every towing authority, each kept two years.
- Western Australia: four registers in the approved manner and form, with invoices, photographs, complaints and Authority to Tow copies kept two years, and dashcam footage kept three months.
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 law sets record duties of its own, and TowConnect does not produce those records 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.