When Standards Australia will hand down controversial decision on new size of car spaces

Should car spaces be made bigger to fit larger cars? That’s the controversial decision Standards Australia will soon make after a year-long delay.

A decision on whether a national standard for the size of car parks should change to accommodate larger cars, like US pick-ups, is expected within a few months – after being delayed over a year.

Standards Australia proposed increasing the size of off-street parking bays in October 2023 to accommodate the trend of larger cars on Australian roads.

At the time, the revised standard – increasing the length of car spaces from 5.4m to 5.6m – was expected to be finalised within six months.

It has proved contentious, requiring multiple rounds of consultations and attracting 1239 public submissions.

Standards Australia told news.com.au on Tuesday the decision on the proposed change is now expected by June 2025.

“Standards Australia is working towards an outcome having gone out through multiple rounds of consultation,” a spokesperson said.

“Standards Australia is focused on safety and understands a broad range of concerns exist across the wider community regarding potential changes to car park sizes. Like all road users, we are aware vehicle sizes have changed overtime, and this has led to many impacts.”

There is a Standards Australia proposal to increase the length of car spaces by 20cm. Picture: Mark Wilson

In a statement announcing the proposal back in 2023, Standards Australia general manager of engagement and communications, Adam Stingemore, said, “the last revision to the standard happened 18 years ago”.

“The experts that we work with to put that in place looked at the average car that we drove back in 2004. We have changed our national fleet significantly over the last quarter.

“Back in 2004 when we last reviewed the standard, about 13 per cent of our national vehicle fleet was an SUV. It’s now about 40 per cent. As our cars have changed, we also need to consider our car parks.”

The proposal is for the length of car spaces to increase from 5.4m to 5.6m – that is by 20cm.

Among the best-selling cars in Australia are the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux, with the 2025 models about 5.4m and 5.3m in length, respectively.

Our nation’s preference for SUVs and large cars is well established.

With the exception of the Toyota Corolla, the 10 most popular cars in Australia last year were SUVs or utes, according to Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries’ statistics.

Demand for full-size American pick-up trucks is also growing in Australia, but all of them are up at around six metres in length, according to Carsales. So, they would not fit in the new 5.6m standard spaces anyway.

The debate about whether car parks should be larger to accommodate larger cars kicked off again over the weekend on X with a picture of an American RAM pick-up truck, which are reconfigured from a left-hand drive to a right-hand drive version in Australia.

This picture of an American full-size pick-up truck kicked off another debate over the weekend about whether car spaces should be bigger. Picture: X / @PhilipThalis

Arguments against the larger car spaces include the need for more concrete and asphalt, higher construction costs and disruptions, and encouraging the use of larger and higher emission vehicles on the roads.

Critics called the massive utes an “abomination” and “menace”.

“These trucks should be made to park in parking spots furthest away from shops and pedestrians to keep the rest of us safe,” wrote one person.

“Not to mention that these enormous vehicles are a hazard to drivers when parked in the street because a standard vehicle it dwarfed by them and you can’t get clear vision of the road or what is coming. These vehicles are a menace,” said another.

A third penned: “These vehicles are an abomination – the drivers appear to think they own all the road – driving on country roads they have no concept of moving to the left – woe betide that their tyres should actually make contact with dirt.”

“Everybody effectively gets fewer bays for the benefit of a few. Instead, a small number of wider bays would be enough. And that would limit the bay reduction,” one person suggested.

“Incredible. Although car park spaces are annoyingly small, these stupid trucks should be banned,” said someone else.

Many other Australian drivers were all for bigger car parks, seeing the move as a benefit to all.

“It’s about time. Even normal SUV’s sometimes struggle to fit into some older parking spaces,” said one supporter.

“People are regularly whacking their door into my car at supermarkets and shopping centres and I drive a Mazda CX-5. The spaces are too small,” agreed another.

“Don’t we want to live in a society where you can drive what you want, find and adequate sized parking space when you need one,” a third said.

“If people want big utes, the market and parking lots will cater to that simple as that. No one’s forcing you to buy one, just as no one’s forcing you to live in a mansion or jet around the world,” argued a fourth person.

One transport expert says larger cars cause slower traffic. Picture: Rohan Kelly

An independent transport expert told The Guardian this week that more larger cars on city roads had the power to affect traffic and create more congestion.

“If I’m in a little hatchback next to an enormous vehicle, not only can fewer cars fit in the lane, but I can’t see past them, so my natural instinct is to slow down,” Marion Terrill told the publication.

She said fewer cars passing through each change of lights adds up, and “this is costly to society as people are delayed, time is wasted.”

Dr David Mepham, author of Rethinking Parking and urban planning expert, told news.com.au recently that in general, any increase in the size of a parking space would mean a dip in the number of spaces themselves – either on the street, in a parking lot or in a public parking garage.

“That, in turn, increases the cost of providing each parking space,” he explained.

“Car park structures or basements at the destination have been built to a specification that assumes average vehicle width and depth. That doesn’t change just because someone built a larger garage at the trip origin.”

Standards Australia notes that despite a revised standard, state and local authorities may have their own requirements in town and area planning regulations, and development control plans. However, it is said that courts normally consider Australian Standards to be the prevailing documents.

Premier of South Australia Peter Malinauskas. Picture: Ben Clark

In South Australia, Premier Peter Malinauskas announced earlier this year his government would look to increase the size of parking spaces in garages for new residential builds in the state.

The proposed bill, which will go through community consultation before it is introduced in parliament later this year, is aimed at accommodating population and housing density increases. If passed, garages in new dwellings would need to be at least 6 x 3.5 metres – half a metre bigger than current standards require and large enough to accommodate big cars and dual-cab utes.

“I think currently the regulation allows for developers to build new properties with garages that are frankly just too narrow,” Mr Malinauskas told ABC Radio Adelaide in January.

“You can’t even fit a HiLux or a four-wheel drive in them and that just doesn’t make sense given that’s where such a significant proportion of the new sale car market in Australia comes from.”

Under Mr Malinauskas’s proposal, developers would also need to provide a minimum number of car parks based on a home’s number of bedrooms.

– with Natalie Brown

Originally published as When Standards Australia will hand down controversial decision on new size of car spaces