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Priority 9

Bruny Island: Infrastructure and Funding Reform

Get the ferry numbers released, share State road costs fairly, and work with the State on a legislated visitor contribution locked to the island.

Last updated 13 September 2026. Every figure on this page is cited to the sources list at the foot of the page.

Get the ferry numbers released, share State road costs fairly, and work with the State on a legislated visitor contribution locked to the island.

Bruny in numbers

220,525
interstate and overseas visitors in the year to March 2026 [1]
~380,000
visitor trips a year in total, once Tasmanian day-trippers and weekenders are added (estimate) [4]
1 in 6
of Tasmania’s interstate and overseas visitors go to Bruny (15.7 per cent) [1]
1,008
permanent residents (2021 Census) [5]
~180,000
vehicles carried to the island a year (estimate) [4]
$1.8m
a year in rates from Bruny properties [14]
$1.04m
Council capital works on Bruny in 2026-27 [16][17]
15%
peak-season visitor surcharge from 1 December 2026, kept by the operator [11]

Bruny Island: the problem

Bruny Island is loved to death. 220,525 interstate and overseas visitors came to the island in the year to March 2026, about one in six of everyone who visits Tasmania[1]. That is 3.6 times the number in 2007-08[2]. Add the Tasmanians who cross for a day or a weekend, last measured at more than 80,000 a decade ago and likely far higher now[3][4], and the island carries close to 380,000 visitor trips a year[4]. It has 1,008 permanent residents[5].

Those residents and the island's property owners pay about $1.8 million a year in rates[14]. Council's capital works on the island were about $664,000 in 2024-25, $698,000 in 2025-26 and $1.04 million in 2026-27[16][17]. Running the island's waste service alone costs about $728,000 a year[18]. Rebuilding Adventure Bay Road will cost $2.46 million over three years, and Lighthouse Road sealing has design money but no construction funding[16].

Visitors pay a ferry fare to a private company and nothing to Bruny. A visitor car pays $58.60 return[11]. From 1 December 2026 visitors will pay a 15 per cent peak-season surcharge on top, about $8.80 a car. It stays with the operator. None of it reaches the island's roads, toilets, waste or boat ramps[11].

The data gap: first commitment

Nobody outside the Transport Commission knows how many people cross to Bruny each year. The last published figure is "in excess of 120,000 vehicles" in 2016-17[2]. The State's own peak-season count stopped in 2019[7]. The ferry operator must report patronage to the Commission every month under its contract, but the numbers are not released[6]. In one Christmas week in 2018-19 the ferry carried 5,800 vehicles and 23,000 people[8]. The best current estimate is about 180,000 vehicles and 760,000 passenger movements a year[4].

The first step is to get the numbers released, by fare class, from 2018-19 to today. I will ask Council to request them formally and I will pursue them through the State.

Interstate and overseas visitors

The Tasmanian Visitor Survey (TVS) is the only continuous series. It interviews visitors aged 14 and over as they leave the State by air or on the Spirit of Tasmania and asks which places they visited. It does not count Tasmanians. The Bruny series since the pandemic[1]:

Year endingAll visitorsInterstateInternationalStayed overnightOvernight share
June 202185,91985,24567434,02639.6%
June 2022130,952126,5284,42449,49737.8%
June 2023212,676179,77232,90470,74033.3%
June 2024228,118181,43346,68568,36730.0%
June 2025211,217178,79132,42663,17829.9%
December 2025231,858188,50743,35164,84228.0%
March 2026 (latest)220,525175,11445,41163,46428.8%

Source: Tourism Tasmania TVS dashboard (Roy Morgan), rolling 12 months, extracted 12 September 2026[1]. Earlier years: 61,400 (2007-08), 101,190 (2014-15), 147,807 (2016-17), from the Bruny Island Tourism Strategy 2017, citing the TVS[2].

Profile, year to March 2026: about 71 per cent are day visitors and 29 per cent stay overnight (average 2.3 nights); 83 per cent are on holiday; 40 per cent travel as couples and 31 per cent as families; 32 per cent come from New South Wales, 28 per cent from Victoria and 23 per cent from Queensland; 84 per cent arrived in Tasmania by air. The Neck lookout alone was visited by 169,760 people. International visitors have risen from under one per cent of the total in 2021 to about 20 per cent[1].

The options that have been assessed

Six ways of returning a visitor contribution to the island have been assessed. The table sets out what is feasible and why. No option is being put forward as the answer at this stage. The rate, the design and the choice between options are for consultation with islanders, operators and the tourism industry, and for the Tasmanian Parliament.[4]

OptionAssessmentWhy
A dedicated State Act creating a visitor contribution, exemptions, a collection duty on the ferry operator and a fund locked to the islandFeasible. The only robust routeA compulsory charge for public purposes that is not a payment for a service is a tax, and taxes must be imposed by Parliament (Constitution Act 1934 (Tas), ss 37 and 38; Air Caledonie International v Commonwealth, 1988). Every island levy examined, from Stewart Island to Rottnest, rests on statute
A fare restructure inside the existing ferry contract, with the State's subsidy adjusted and the saving budgeted to BrunyFeasible now, without legislation, but weakThe Transport Commission approves fares (contract clause 8). Lawful as a fare, but the money stays with the operator unless the subsidy is adjusted, and the island's share is a budget promise rather than a legislated fund
A surcharge directed by the Transport Commission under the contract and remitted to the CrownNot feasible without an ActIt is a tax by another name; the Commission has no taxing power; the contract gives fare revenue to the operator
A Kingborough Council levy under the Local Government Act 1993Not feasibleCouncils may charge for their own property and services (s 205) and rate rateable land (ss 93 and 94). A charge on people using a State ferry and State terminals is a tax on non-ratepayers, which no council power allows
A terminal or wharf access fee at Kettering or Roberts PointNot feasible beyond cost recoveryThe terminals are State road reserve licensed to the operator; the Roads and Jetties Act 1935 has no toll power; a fee above terminal costs becomes a tax
A Parks and Wildlife entry fee for South Bruny reserved landFeasible by regulation, but partialThe National Parks and Reserves Management Act 2002 (ss 30 and 60) permits entry charges on reserved land only; it cannot fund council roads or toilets and the money goes to consolidated revenue

Two things follow. Council cannot do this on its own; it needs a State partner and an Act. And any Act must put the modelling, the exemptions and the fund on the face of the legislation. On 9 September 2026 the Legislative Council defeated the State's own short-stay levy for want of exactly those things[23].

Modelling in the working paper indicates that each $1 per visitor per visit, with islanders, property owners and workers exempt, would return roughly $0.3 million a year to the island after collection costs. The rate and the design are matters for consultation and for the Parliament.[4]

Exemptions under consideration

Whatever design is chosen, the following exemptions are on the table. They are presented as options, not as a settled scheme.

  • Bruny residents, both owner-occupiers and renters, and the members of their households. Verified through the resident register the ferry operator already runs (rates notice or lease, licence and registration, windscreen barcode)[12].
  • Property owners and ratepayers who do not live on the island, and their households. Same register[12].
  • Anyone travelling in a registered resident or landowner vehicle: family and guests[12].
  • People travelling to the island for work: tradespeople, contractors, deliveries, nurses, teachers, aged-care and allied-health staff, emergency services, council and utility staff. Verified through the commercial fare class or annual registration.
  • Children and young people under 18. Stewart Island exempts under-18s; Rottnest charges children about half the adult fee[24][25].
  • Kingborough ratepayers. Ratepayers of the municipality that already funds the island's services through their rates could be exempted as ratepayers. This is a property criterion, not a residence criterion, which matters legally (see the caveat below). On the working paper's assumption that Kingborough residents make about 30 per cent of Tasmanian visits, it would reduce the Tasmanian-visitor share of any contribution by about a third[4].

Legal caveat. Exemptions tied to a connection with the island, or to paying rates, are lawful. An exemption or a lower rate based on living in Tasmania rather than interstate is not: section 117 of the Constitution prohibits a State from treating residents of other States worse than its own (Street v Queensland Bar Association, 1989). A Kingborough ratepayer exemption is lower risk than a Tasmania-wide one but is a partial proxy for residence and needs Crown Law advice before it goes into a Bill. This is not legal advice.[4]

No added cost at the booth: the State regulates the fare

The State sets the fares on the Bruny ferry. The Transport Commission must approve every fare change, resident fares are capped at CPI and visitor fares at 5 per cent a year[6][13]. That means a visitor contribution does not have to be an impost on top of today's fare. The State can approve a lower base fare and a visitor contribution of the same amount, so the total a visitor pays at the booth does not rise; the difference goes to the island instead of the operator. From 1 December 2026 visitors will pay a 15 per cent peak-season surcharge, about $8.80 a car, that stays with the operator[11]. That headroom shows the contribution can sit inside what visitors are already being asked to pay. The operator's position is settled through the State's existing subsidy arrangements[20] and the contract, which expires in September 2028 and is up for its first extension decision now[6].

Why this needs the State, and the timing

Council cannot legislate a visitor contribution. It needs an Act of the Tasmanian Parliament, a collection arrangement with the ferry operator and a fund that can only be spent on Bruny. I am working with the State Government on the options now.

The timing is right. The ferry contract expires in September 2028 and its first extension decision is due in September 2026[6]. The operator is being sold to Journey Beyond, with completion expected before the end of 2026 subject to the Transport Commission's consent[21][22]. Those are the moments when collection can be written into the contract at no cost to the taxpayer.

This is not a new idea. Islanders first proposed a landing fee in 2008. Council resolved to support a visitor levy in October 2016. Council's 2023 submission to the Future of Local Government review proposed a Bruny Island Board funded partly by a State-introduced visitor levy, and the then Mayor publicly suggested a $5 visitor fee the same month. Friends of North Bruny and the 2018 Bruny Life survey of 691 residents backed the principle[28][14][29][30][31]. What has been missing is the data, a legal pathway and a State partner.

As Mayor I will:

  • Get the ferry numbers released, by fare class, from 2018-19 to today, through a formal Council request and through the State
  • Progress a formal cost-sharing framework with the State Government for State roads on the island
  • Work with the State Government on a legislated pathway for a visitor contribution, designed with islanders, operators and the tourism industry, with every dollar locked to Bruny and reported publicly
  • Keep exemptions for Bruny residents, non-resident property owners and ratepayers, family and guests in registered vehicles, and the people who travel to the island for work, as options in every design considered
  • Consult non-resident property owners and shack owners directly rather than through resident groups alone
  • Fix the Kettering ferry queue backing onto the Channel Highway as a safety problem in its own right, alongside any visitor contribution rather than after it
  • Seek a fair deal on ferry costs for the essential workers who commute to the island, and for the tradespeople and support workers based on Bruny who bear weekly ferry costs moving vehicles and equipment
Filmed on Bruny Island: an update on the proposed tourist levy and the dust on Lighthouse Road.
Filmed on South Bruny: Graham Carter on what the dust from Lighthouse Road does to his home and his water tanks.
Celebrating a local achievement on Bruny Island
Celebrating a local achievement on Bruny Island.

Bruny work for Bruny businesses

There are operators on the island right now with the equipment, the capacity and the local knowledge to take on infrastructure and maintenance work on Bruny. At the moment a lot of that work goes to providers from off the island who win the tenders with big gear. As a small business operator myself, I know what it takes to put your own capital on the line to keep things going, for your family and for the people you employ. I would like to see council explore maintenance and upgrade contracts with local businesses in the new term. Some of the wealth generated from our rates should stay on the island, and local operators take pride in work their own community will see every day.

Filmed on Bruny Island: should Kingborough Council be hiring Bruny businesses to do Bruny work?

Sources

  1. [1] Tourism Tasmania, Tasmanian Visitor Survey dashboard (Roy Morgan), rolling 12 months to March 2026, published 7 July 2026; extracted 12 September 2026. https://www.tvsanalyser.com.au/
  2. [2] Kingborough Council, Bruny Island Tourism Strategy, September 2017 (Table 3, visitor series; p.23, ferry vehicles). https://assets.kingborough.tas.gov.au/uploads/2017/09/Bruny-Tourism-Strategy-Sept-2017.pdf
  3. [3] Bruny Island Destination Action Plan 2016-18, October 2016 (intrastate visitors 2015, citing Tourism Tasmania). https://www.bien.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/BRUNY-DAP-FINAL-ONLINE-VERSION-161028.pdf
  4. [4] Antolli, A., Bruny Island Visitor Contribution: working paper, 12 September 2026, and accompanying model (Bruny_Island_Visitor_Levy_Model.xlsx). Campaign document.
  5. [5] ABS Census 2021, QuickStats, Bruny Island localities (Adventure Bay, Alonnah, Lunawanna, North Bruny, South Bruny, Great Bay, Dennes Point, Simpsons Bay, Apollo Bay, Barnes Bay). https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/SAL60007
  6. [6] Transport Commission and SeaLink Tasmania, Bruny Island Ferry Service Contract, released under RTI 19-20-49 (clauses 4.2, 4.3, 5.9, 8, 9.2 to 9.4). https://www.stategrowth.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/256803/RTI19-20-49_Record_2.pdf
  7. [7] Department of State Growth, Annual Report 2017-18 (p.34) and Annual Report 2018-19 (p.30). https://www.stategrowth.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/202400/Annual_Report_2018-19.pdf
  8. [8] ABC News, 3 January 2019, "Bruny Island ferry queue causes traffic delays" (SeaLink figures). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-03/bruny-island-ferry-queue-causes-traffic-delays/10683430
  9. [9] Tasmanian Government release, 20 May 2021, "Thank you MV Mirambeena" (via Mirage News). https://www.miragenews.com/thank-you-mv-mirambeena-563608/
  10. [10] SeaLink Bruny Island, fleet and timetable pages; SeaLink news release, 28 November 2025. https://www.sealink.com.au/bruny-island/ferry-information/ferry-timetable/
  11. [11] SeaLink Bruny Island ferry fares, including "Changes to Bruny Island Visitor Fares from 28 September 2026" (read 12 September 2026). https://www.sealink.com.au/bruny-island/ferry-information/bruny-island-ferry-fares/
  12. [12] SeaLink Bruny Island, residents and landowners (fares from 1 July 2024; registration requirements). https://www.sealink.com.au/bruny-island/residents-and-landowners/
  13. [13] Transport Commission, Bruny Island Ferry Service Contract Summary, August 2018; Transport Tasmania, Bruny Island ferry page (updated 20 July 2026). https://www.transport.tas.gov.au/public_transport/bruny_island_ferry
  14. [14] Kingborough Council, agenda item 16.6, 17 July 2023, submission to the Future of Local Government review (Bruny rates about $1.8 million; Bruny Island Board proposal). https://www.futurelocal.tas.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Kingborough-Council-Council-Agenda-Paper.pdf
  15. [15] ABC News, 20 December 2018, "Bruny Island tourist influx a double-edged sword" (Mayor Winter: $1.25 per $1). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-20/bruny-island-off-tasmania-feels-growing-pains-of-tourism-boom/10582124
  16. [16] Kingborough Council, Agenda No. 11, 15 June 2026 (2026-27 budget and five-year capital works program); 2024-25 and 2025-26 capital works programs. https://assets.kingborough.tas.gov.au/uploads/2026/06/Agenda-No.-11-15-June-2026-Public-Copy.pdf
  17. [17] Kingborough Council, Minutes No. 11, 15 June 2026 (2026-27 budget adoption). https://assets.kingborough.tas.gov.au/uploads/2026/06/Minutes-No.-11-15-June-2026-Public-Copy-1.pdf
  18. [18] Kingborough Council, 2026-27 operating budget (Bruny waste lines). https://assets.kingborough.tas.gov.au/uploads/2026/06/2026-27-BUDGET-COUNCIL-OP.pdf
  19. [19] Tasmanian Budget Paper No. 2, 2024-25 (Bruny Island landside infrastructure, $8.5 million); Roads Online, 2018 ($8 million Bruny road package). https://www.treasury.tas.gov.au/Documents/2024-25-Budget-Paper-No-2-Volume-1.pdf
  20. [20] Tasmanian Budget Paper No. 2, 2026-27, Department of State Growth, Output 6.1 Shipping and Ferry Subsidies. https://www.treasury.tas.gov.au/Documents/2026-27%20Budget%20Paper%20No.%202,%20Agency%20Information%20Supporting%20Appropriation%20Bill%20No.%201.PDF
  21. [21] Kelsian Group, ASX announcement, 24 February 2026, tourism portfolio divestment. https://announcements.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20260224/pdf/06wnwzq3bgkc55.pdf
  22. [22] Travel Daily, 8 September 2026, "ACCC approves Journey Beyond acquisition of Kelsian tourism portfolio". https://traveldaily.com.au/news/td-breaking-news-accc-approves-journey-beyond-acquisition-of-kelsian-tourism-portfolio/446646
  23. [23] ABC News, 9 September 2026, "Tasmania's upper house votes down visitor tax on short-stay accommodation". https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-09/tasmanias-upper-house-votes-on-short-stay-levy-bill/107110498
  24. [24] Southland District Council, Stewart Island/Rakiura Visitor Levy fees (from 1 October 2025), Policy (22 June 2022) and Annual Report 2024-25. https://www.southlanddc.govt.nz/assets/Fees-and-charges/individual/Fees-and-charges-Stewart-Island_Rakiura-visitor-levy.pdf
  25. [25] Rottnest Island Authority, fees and charges 2026-27 and Annual Report 2024-25. https://www.ria.wa.gov.au/permits-and-fees/fees-and-charges
  26. [26] Encounter Maria Island, fares (parks pass added at booking). https://encountermaria.com.au/fares/
  27. [27] Reef Authority, Environmental Management Charge. https://www2.gbrmpa.gov.au/access/environmental-management-charge/what-are-charges
  28. [28] Kingborough Council, Agenda No. 20, 10 October 2016, Cr Bury notice of motion (landing fee; 2008 origin). https://assets.kingborough.tas.gov.au/uploads/2017/07/Council-Agenda-No-20-10-October-2016-Public-Copy.pdf
  29. [29] ABC Hobart Drive, 25 July 2023, "Should Bruny Island go it alone?" (Mayor Wriedt). https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/hobart-drive/should-bruny-island-be-removed-from-kingborough-council/102650636
  30. [30] Friends of North Bruny Inc., submission to the Future of Local Government review, 2023. https://www.futurelocal.tas.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Friends-of-North-Bruny-Inc.pdf
  31. [31] Kingborough Council, Bruny Life: Bruny Island Liveability Study, Final Report, June 2018. https://assets.kingborough.tas.gov.au/uploads/2018/06/Bruny-Life-Final-Report.pdf
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