The Parliamentary Committee’s latest recommendations into Queensland’s proposed e-mobility laws still fail to properly address the core safety issues facing the state, while creating new uncertainty for riders, industry and enforcement agencies.
This is despite 5,000 public submissions to the committee, 95% of which are telling the Government that they are wrong on licences, very low speed limits and age restrictions for safe, legal e-bikes.
Bicycle Queensland welcomes only three of the proposed recommendations of the State Development, Infrastructure and Works Committee to amend the Transport and Other Legislation (Managing E-mobility Use and Protecting Our Communities) Amendment Bill 2026. The recommendations still avoids tackling the main issues around the sale of electric motorbikes and non-compliant devices in Queensland – despite the need to close the loopholes that allow it.
In terms of positive outcomes, BQ supports Recommendation 2, which would allow compliant e-bikes built to previous versions of the EN15194 standard to remain legal.
“Grandfathering earlier EN15194 compliant e-bikes is a sensible recommendation. It recognises that hundreds of thousands of safe, low-speed and low-power e-bikes are already in use across Queensland. Compliant e-bikes keep people moving and reduce congestion,” said BQ’s CEO Dr Matthew Burke.
We do have serious concerns about several other recommendations, particularly around proposed certification and exemption frameworks.
Recommendation 3 proposes investigating exemption pathways for devices that do not fully meet EN15194 standards, including adaptive e-trikes and mobility devices. Bicycle Queensland says the recommendation lacks detail and appears to underestimate the complexity and cost involved.
“There has been little evidence that the committee has properly thought through how such a scheme would work in practice,” Dr Burke said. “BQ supports e-mobility access for adaptive e-trikes and mobility devices. But a new certification and exemption process may require an entirely new network for assessment, compliance logging, verification and auditing, alongside specialist training for those undertaking assessments. None of that has been costed or explained.”
Similar concerns were raised about Recommendation 4, which proposes a statewide assurance and labelling scheme for compliant e-bikes.
“The bike industry, retailers and riders all welcome the addition of a possible pathway to compliance for the tens of thousands of safe, legal e-bikes that do not have compliance markings (as they weren’t ever needed before). But we need clarity before any new certification system is introduced.”
“At the moment, the recommendation is vague and risks creating confusion and unnecessary red tape for compliant riders and businesses. This new system of compliance will come at great cost and needs proper planning, lest it be abused and therefore ineffective. It needs a lot of consultation with the bike industries, advocates and other stakeholders to get this right. That can’t be done this month.”
We are particularly critical of Recommendation 5, which proposes exemption mechanisms for people unable to hold a driver licence due to disability, medical conditions or age.
“This recommendation still links the use of safe, legal e-bikes to driver licensing. Compliant, EN-standard e-bikes are low-speed, low-power devices that already operate within strict limits.
“Licensing requirements for compliant e-bikes should be scrapped entirely, not patched over with convoluted carve-out systems.”
There have been minor modifications to proposed footpath and shared-path speed rules but they remain poorly drafted and disconnected from how active transport infrastructure actually works in Queensland.
We welcome efforts to better define footpaths and separate them from shared paths, but the bill still fails to recognise multi-use trails and tourism infrastructure such as rail trails.
“That omission creates a significant legal grey area. Queensland has invested heavily in rail trails and recreational tourism infrastructure in National Parks, yet the bill still does not clearly account for those environments. Riders and operators could be caught in a legal trap.”
The committee’s suggestion of reduced speed limits within 10 metres of pedestrians was also described as impractical and unenforceable.
“The recommendation simply does not reflect real-world conditions,” Dr Burke said.
“A pedestrian could be sitting on a park bench, walking on the opposite side of a road, or using a separate footpath entirely. The proposal creates ambiguity for riders and law enforcement alike.”
While Recommendation 8 suggests guidance for companies like public hire schemes like Neuron and Lime, the likelihood is they will all leave Queensland. The licensing requirements and age limits will remove too much of their business for them to stay viable, as they told the Committee at hearings last week.
Recommendation 9 proposes a 12-month review of the legislation if passed. But we question whether the bill itself should proceed at all. “The missing link is comprehensive road safety education in primary and secondary schools. If Queensland is serious about improving behaviour and safety outcomes, and lowering the road toll education needs to begin long before someone gets in a car.”
“The best use of taxpayer money would be to scrap this bill and focus directly on the key safety issues.”
“That means targeting the importation and sale of illegal high-powered devices, cracking down on retailers doing the wrong thing, and properly funding Queensland Police to enforce the rules that already exist.”
“The current bill largely fails to do any of that. The Committee’s LNP majority seems to have no way out of the mess they themselves created. The Labor minority report makes clear just how emphatic the community response has been by Queenslanders of all walks of life to this terrible bill,” said BQ’s CEO Dr. Matthew Burke.
“We are amazed that the same rogue shops selling the same illegal high-speed and overpowered devices that created this whole mess, are still going to be in business and be allowed to sell the same dangerous products from 1st of July. It’s the number one thing this Committee should have done. That they’ve gone a year now and not realised it is stunning,” said BQ CEO Dr Matthew Burke.
“How the committee continues to get this so wrong is beyond us. They heard from internationally significant bicycle safety researchers who said 10km/h will create risk to riders and to those around them on paths as they becomes so unstable, but they refused to listen.”
“The bill remains a stinker and needs to be pulled.”
