As Australian councils grapple with the transition to zero emissions transport, the rollout of public electric vehicle chargers is emerging as a key pillar in local government climate action.
Electric vehicle (EV) uptake depends on more than just consumer interest. Without visible, reliable, and accessible charging infrastructure – especially for people without off-street parking – the transition will stall. And that’s where local governments are stepping up.
Across the country, councils are becoming crucial players in the rollout of public EV charging, using their unique position as landowners, planners and service providers to bridge the infrastructure gap. From Sydney’s eastern suburbs to the streets of Newcastle and inner-city Melbourne, councils are not just trialling solutions – they’re building real networks, serving real drivers, in real time.
From asset‑rich suburban councils to regional cities, local governments are making significant strides.
Early adoption to state-leading network
In Melbourne’s inner north, Merri‑Bek City Council has taken a hands‑on role in EV charging.
Merri-Bek’s journey in the EV space began long before electric vehicles became mainstream. The council was among the first in Australia to install public direct current (DC) fast chargers, rolling out the country’s second such unit. Early initiatives included trials with hydrogen vehicles and electric car sharing programs, demonstrating a willingness to explore innovative solutions and set ambitious benchmarks.
Technical Lead, Paul Swift, explained that Merri‑Bek currently owns and operates about 22 public EV chargers and 13 council-only chargers.
“Ours is one of the largest council‑owned portfolios in Victoria,” Swift said.
As Merri-Bek aims to dramatically grow its charging footprint – targeting 50 to 100 public DC chargers by 2030 – the council is considering a mixed model of direct ownership and licensing parking bays to private operators to increase scale and flexibility.
New initiatives include piloting home-to-street charging for residents without off-street parking and exploring pole-mounted chargers for faster deployment.
Through a combination of practical action, resident engagement, and openness to new models, Merri-Bek is balancing the drive toward zero emissions with inclusive, future-focused infrastructure.
Eastern Sydney’s ‘Charging the East’
One of the country’s most comprehensive council-led charging programs has been established in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
The Waverley, Woollahra and Randwick Councils have jointly built and expanded a public network of 90 charging ports of which 20 are DC.
“In our area, a lot of residents live without off-street parking,” said Anthony Weinberg, Regional Environment Program Manager for the three-Councils.
“If we are to transition to electric vehicles, we need to be able to support everyone in that transition,” Weinberg said.
“As a council we need to make sure that there’s accessible, available, equitable public charging. We recently calculated that 80 per cent of our residents now live within an eight minute walk of a charger.
“We’ve also got one of the highest uptakes of EV in the state – about 3.7 per cent of vehicles on the road, which is two and half times the NSW average.”
The 3-Councils began their journey in 2019 with a modest on‑street network of six chargers – the first on‑street public network in New South Wales.
“In 2019 we had maybe 40 charging sessions a month. Now it’s well over 4,000 per month, and we’re expecting that to keep growing,” Weinberg said.
“We also work with the private sector, in 2022 we were providing about 70 per cent of the public EV charging, whereas today we’re providing around 30 per cent and that’s because we’ve worked with private companies to install more charging stations.”
Sustainable and inclusive
EV networks
The City of Newcastle also stands out as a pioneering force in supporting sustainable transportation through its rapidly growing EV charging network.
Council’s Climate Change and Sustainability Manager, Dr Heather Stevens, said that the city started in 2019, and has now expanded to over 50 public charging bays, all powered by 100 per cent renewable electricity. Their commitment to installing the ‘right charger in the right place’ has helped drive a surge in EV ownership in the city.
Newcastle has taken a hands-on management approach to its infrastructure. The council owns and operates the charging stations, enabling revenue to stay within the community. These funds are reinvested to further improve and expand the public charging infrastructure.
“For us, being a charge point operator means we can make decisions that are driven by our values – doing what’s best for our community rather than just what makes profit,” Heather explained.
The EV chargers, distributed across the city, offer different types for commuters, locals using shops or facilities, and travellers in need of a fast charge.
Accessibility is also a priority.
“We’ve responded to feedback from disability advocates to ensure that we provide wide and inclusive designs, supporting everyone using our chargers.”
User feedback has been supportive, especially on the increased convenience of locations, as well as from businesses who have seen an increase in local spend and visitation from users who are waiting for their car to charge.
By prioritising sustainability, inclusivity, and community benefit, Newcastle exemplifies how proactive local government can shape the future of urban mobility.
A powerful platform
Each of this councils works with EV infrastructure software provider, Chargefox, for the software, driver‑app, analytics, billing and integration services that the need, so they can focus on the location, hardware and operations of their networks.
Chargefox allows councils to outsource the software complexity, driver‑interface, user‑support and data analytics, while retaining ownership of the physical chargers and their strategic location.
This opens up flexible models: owning and operating chargers; licensing bays to external operators; mixing private and public models. As Swift points out, when it comes to achieving the scale of EV charging infrastructure that the transition needs, “I don’t think there’s any likelihood that Council will install and operate all of those. It’s always going to be a mix,” he said.
One of the benefits of using Chargefox’s platform that stood out most to councils was the ability to access user data to see trends and insights, allowing network planners to use that data to make informed decisions for their future infrastructure.
Weinberg explained that when users log on to the platform to enable a charging session, Council can see when, where and for how long a charger is used.
“Chargefox gives us all our monitoring and reporting and information dashboards. We can really see how our network has grown, and it shows us interesting things like the busiest times of day,” Wienberg said.
“We’re looking at using that insight to offer our drivers cheaper prices to during certain times.”
Stevens said that the platform can even distinguish between visitor and resident demographics.
“We now know that when we have visitors coming in our LGA – people who travel more than an hour – they want to charge on a fast charger,” Stevens said.
“Whereas people that live locally are happy to use the slow charger.”
Another challenge for charger owners is how to maximise the number of people using chargers in order to generate a return on investment. Chargefox has over 300,000 registered users meaning that when councils install chargers that the EV driving community will be able to see, find and use them.
They also have partnerships with car manufacturers and fleets meaning that as the number of Australians driving an EV grows, the audience who can find and use chargers on Chargefox will grow along with it.
While each of these councils has a very different set of circumstances, they have all found that having a robust back‑end platform for driver experience, maintenance alerts, analytics and billing is critical to moving beyond pilot stage.
What this means for future EV planning
For councils looking to scale EV charging infrastructure, the message is clear: the hardware is only part of the story.
Locating chargers, securing grid capacity, designing for access and monitoring performance, as well as finding an audience, all demand strategic attention. Partnering with a platform like Chargefox can reduce the friction around software, driver‑interface and analytics, enabling councils to focus on location, community needs and outcomes.
Of course, every council’s context is different – high‑density apartments, regional distances, or fleet renewal – but these three cases suggest that public charging is no longer an experimental add‑on. It is a strategic infrastructure asset that plays a role in transport decarbonisation, community access and local economic activity.
