A new report by an independent policy body has revealed that Australia has a growing car park problem that’s forecast to worsen if current laws don't change.
According to the Grattan Institute, Australian developers are spending $1 billion “building off-street car parking that residents don’t want or need” each year.
“There are more car spaces in apartments in Sydney and Melbourne than cars. Off-street car parking accounts for 13 per cent of the built floor space of apartments in these cities, and as much as 40 per cent of spaces sit vacant each night,” the policy body’s report stated.
The Grattan Institute’s report also found that among two-bedroom apartment households, 19 per cent of tenants don’t own a car, while 58 per cent of tenants in three-or-more-bedroom apartments have access to one or no cars.
The independent policy body recommended a range of changes to make apartment parking infrastructure more consumer-friendly.
The Grattan Institute is calling on state and local governments to abolish parking requirements for new residential developments, and to potentially adopt tools to better manage on-street demand, such as parking permit schemes, time limits, and user charging in high-demand areas.
Additionally, the policy body is also calling on relevant authorities to “unbundle” parking rights from new housing, so that parking spaces can be purchased or leased independently from the home.
According to the think tank, its recommended policy changes could "avoid the cost of constructing more than 86,000 unwanted car spaces nationwide over the next five years".
However, some industry bodies and companies said these vacant apartment car parks would be better used for EV charging infrastructure.
The Head of Energy and Infrastructure at the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC), Dr Alina Dini, said the peak industry body recognises the importance of charging infrastructure in apartment buildings.
“The EVC has long advocated for EV-ready buildings, including pre-wiring car spaces for at a minimum level 1 charging via a dedicated charging point,” Dr Dini told Drive.
“Buildings constructed today are likely to be still operating in 2050, so ensuring they are EV-ready now is a practical long-term investment that helps avoid unnecessary upgrade costs and make charging access simpler and more equitable for residents.”
The Chief Executive Officer of JET Charge Tim Washington said it’s generally more expensive to retrofit an EV charger in an existing space.
“It’s always cheaper to install [EV chargers] for greenfields [new builds] rather than existing apartments. Retrofit can cost anywhere from $2000–$3000 to $10,000, depending on where the car park is,” he said.
While industry bodies are calling for more public chargers to accommodate the rise of electric cars, Washington recommended that even just one EV charger at an apartment can be helpful.
“The best way through for brownfields [existing apartment buildings] is to recognise that the EV charging ecosystem for these buildings exist in the context of a growing public charging ecosystem,” Washington told Drive.
“[An] ideal solution would be mandating shared DC charging in brownfield apartments where the percentage of residents say they want to buy EVs, paid for by the OC [owner’s corporation]. One DC charger can serve a large number of residents, without needing to build a backbone across the apartment.”
While the Grattan Institute’s report found that the recommended policy changes could avoid the construction of more than 86,000 “unwanted car spaces”, Dr Dini from the EVC said developers are starting to accommodate electric car owners.
“Australian apartment developers are increasingly recognising the growth of EV adoption and planning accordingly. In recent weeks alone, the EVC has been in discussions with major developers who are incorporating EVB charging into new projects from the outset,” she said.
But not everyone agrees. According to Washington, the current apartment development system does not alleviate charging concerns among EV owners.
“The reality is that our current decision-making process does not support the active rollout of apartment charging solutions,” he said.
“That’s because almost all decisions are made by a volunteer group of residents, many of whom have very little interest in EV charging infrastructure, particularly if they don’t have an EV themselves.
“My view is that any step change must come through government mandate, which is what most of the world has focused on with greenfield developments. This ignores the fact that almost all buildings in Australia are brownfield.”
Additionally, the chair of the Owners Corporation Network (OCN), Fred Tuckwell, said that EV anxiety and misconceptions – as well as generational divides – among apartment owners also contribute to the lack of charging infrastructure.
"The biggest issue is FUD, fear, uncertainty and doubt, and that's brought by right-wing and extreme views against electric vehicles. It also extends to the baby boomer generation who are in positions on [strata] committees in apartment buildings," Tuckwell told Drive.
"We've got to try and encourage younger people to run the strata committees so we can change some of the entrenched views [on EVs] and better educate people."
Ethan Cardinal graduated with a Journalism degree in 2020 from La Trobe University and has been working in the fashion industry as a freelance writer prior to joining Drive in 2023. Ethan greatly enjoys investigating and reporting on the cross sections between automotive, lifestyle and culture. Ethan relishes the opportunity to explore how deep cars are intertwined within different industries and how they could affect both casual readers and car enthusiasts.
