Families and households are under real pressure. Mortgages, rent, groceries and fuel are stretching households thin.
For many households, transport is one of the biggest weekly expenses, and global uncertainty has added further pressure to family budgets.
This Budget helps ease some of that pressure. It acts on a simple principle: relief for today, reform for tomorrow – building a state working Australians can afford.
A 12-month Transport Affordability Package
At the core of this Budget is a 12-month, $561.4 million Transport Affordability Package, providing practical help with the everyday cost of getting around. For the next 12 months, households will benefit from:
- $100 off private vehicle registration, worth $435.1 million across 4.4 million vehicles, with an $80 cut for motorcycles (excluding caravans and trailers).
- Lowering the weekly toll cap from $60 to $50 for 2026-27, providing even more support for regular toll users.
- Opal fares held at 2025 prices for the year, for the 400,000 people who catch a train, bus or ferry to work each day.
Investing $2.6 million to upgrade FuelCheck and enforce accurate fuel price reporting so drivers can find the cheapest fuel nearby.
$100 off registration
From 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027, eligible motorists will automatically receive a registration discount.
Car owners will receive $100 off annual registration and motorcycle owners will receive $80 off.
There is no need to apply. The discount will automatically appear on renewal notices, with the first notices issued from late July.
Continuing toll relief
Many motorists rely on Sydney’s toll roads to get to work, school and appointments.
After the former Liberal government privatised toll road after toll road, Sydney has become the most tolled city on earth. The previous government signed the contracts and motorists paid the price.
This Budget pushes back: the weekly cap is reduced from $60 per week to $50 per week for 12 months commencing in July, putting a ceiling on what any driver pays each week, easing the open-ended cost the contracts were designed to lock in.
We are also scrapping toll administration fees from July, saving at least $10 a notice, and ending a charge that cost motorists $60 million last year, in some cases twice the toll itself.
Targeted help for those who need it most
Alongside the broad package, targeted assistance continues for the people who rely on it:
- The M5 South-West Cashback Scheme.
- A $100 registration rebate for first- and second-year apprentices.
- Registration exemptions for eligible pensioners and concession card holders.
- The Taxi Transport Subsidy Scheme, which covers half the fare up to $60 for people who cannot use public transport because of a severe and permanent disability.
Building cheaper, cleaner transport
Relief today sits alongside investment for tomorrow. The NSW Government will invest $6.5 billion over ten years for thousands of new electric buses and electric supported bus depots to reduce our reliance on foreign fuels, meet the needs of the growing community and underpin a revival of domestic bus manufacturing.
Cleaner, electric public transport is cheaper to run and less exposed to global fuel prices. That is relief that compounds over time.
Responsible decisions make these investments possible
This Budget can provide cost-of-living relief and continue investing in essential services because the Government has spent the past three years making responsible and difficult decisions to strengthen the state’s finances.
That work has been done without privatisation and without bringing back an unfair wages cap, while keeping public assets in public hands and maintaining an independent umpire for wages and conditions.
As global uncertainty and higher fuel prices place additional pressure on families and businesses, this Budget provides support now while continuing the work of returning the state’s finances to surplus in 2027-28.
It’s about supporting families today, while securing NSW’s future.
