June 2, 2026 — 1:00pmNew e-bike rules have been tinkered with by the Queensland government, but have still drawn the ire of community members.Riders will now be required to slow to 12km/h when passing a pedestrian on a shared path, instead of 10km/h on all paths under a previous version of the proposed laws.Instead of an outright ban, children aged 12 to 17 will be allowed to ride an e-bike limited to 250 watts and assistance up to 25km/h while pedalling – but they must be supervised by an adult, so could not ride independently to school on a legal e-bike.Children will be allowed to ride e-bikes limited to 250 watts under adult supervision.Louie DouvisOn Tuesday – one day before World Bicycle Day – Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg revealed the LNP government’s revised version of its e-mobility bill, set to be debated and passed this week.“The legislation this week will be tweaked, will be amended, to ensure we strike the right balance,” he said.“In some high-risk settings, we’re able to facilitate use, for example under parental supervision, while ensuring that those who do the wrong thing are held to account for their actions.“Those young hoons and hooligans who are participating in ride-outs here in Brisbane CBD or on the Gold Coast will be held to account by police who can now be empowered, from July 1, with seizure powers to seize and subsequently destroy illegal e-bikes or bikes where individuals have done the wrong thing.”However, Bicycle Queensland CEO Professor Matt Burke said if the speed limits were badly drafted, it would cause “absolute havoc on the bike network”.The new laws came after a 10-month parliamentary inquiry, sparked by community concerns about dangerous e-scooter use and high-powered electric motorbikes, which are already illegal to use in public.The inquiry’s recommendations were turned into a bill by the government, which was referred back to the same committee that did the inquiry. After a fresh round of hearings, the committee recommended the laws be partially watered down.E-bike riders will be required to slow to 12km/h while passing pedestrians on shared paths.The bill attracted almost 5000 submissions, most of them in opposition.Under the changes, from July 1, there will be a 12km/h speed limit on footpaths and while passing pedestrians on shared paths. When not passing pedestrians, the speed limit on shared paths would be 25 km/h.“Things like the bike path here along the river would be a 25km/h speed limit,” Mickelberg said from a media conference at state parliament, near the Bicentennial Bikeway.There is currently no speed limit on that bikeway for any users, including non-electric bike riders, although there is a speed limit of 20km/h on the Goodwill and Kurilpa bridges.Legal e-bikes in Queensland are already restricted to assistance up to 25km/h, although they can legally travel faster than that, for example, when travelling downhill.E-scooter riders will be allowed on roads with speed limits up to 60km/h, in an effort to reduce footpath congestion. This would allow e-scooters on major roads such as Coronation Drive, Waterworks Road and the Story Bridge’s traffic lanes.From February 2027, e-bikes will have to comply with the European standard EN15194, and display this compliance, but the “+ A1:2023” specification, which would have outlawed almost all e-bikes currently in use, other than those sold very recently, has been scrapped.E-scooters will have to be limited to 25km/h by February 2027.An assurance scheme will be developed to help e-bike owners confirm compliance, and there will be an alternative compliance pathway for e-bikes that might not meet the European standard.From August 31, riders must be at least 16 years old and hold a minimum of a learner’s driver licence to ride an e-bike, e-scooter or other mobility device, such as an e-skateboard or hoverboard.But the government will introduce an exemption for children aged 12 to 17 so they can ride under parental supervision. Other exemptions will cover some medical conditions and disabilities, rail trails and mountain bike tracks.Police will be allowed to seize and destroy illegal devices, and RBTs for bicycle, e-bike, and e-mobility riders will begin on July 1.Burke welcomed the changes to EN15194 compliance, which would have affected hundreds of thousands of otherwise legal e-bikes, but said the drafting of speed limits could cause issues.“We should remember that e-bike riders actually statistically ride slower on shared path networks than do pushbike riders,” he said.“This is complete overkill, it’s totally unnecessary, we have a charge of riding to endanger a pedestrian.”Burke said families who had bought compliant e-bikes for their children to ride to school would potentially have to drive instead.“If we could get the kids riding illegal devices converted to safe, low speed legal e-bikes we’d have a good outcome for everyone, but that has been prevented by bringing in high age limits and driver licences,” he said.Burke said the community had been worried about e-motorbikes.“It’s like the government had one job to do, and they goofed it,” he said.Mickelberg said the state government was encouraging the federal government to introduce a product standard, which would make it easier for retailers to be held accountable for selling illegal devices.There were 12 deaths involving e-mobility devices in 2025, including eight on e-scooters and three deaths involving non-compliant e-motorbikes. There was one fatality involving a legal e-bike, when a 79-year-old woman was hit by a Ford Falcon driver on Bribie Island.Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.More:City lifeBrisbaneRoadsFor subscribersQueensland governmentBrent MickelbergFrom our partners