Despite the reintroduction of some border restrictions resulting from a COVID-19 outbreak in New South Wales, the Government of Tasnmania is moving ahead with a plan to help boost the tourism and car rental industry. 

Tasmania is still welcoming tourists from around the nation. To help meet demand, the peer-to-peer car sharing app, Car Next Door, is now accredited in Tasmania, which will further increase vehicle hire availability in the state. This app will provide opportunity for Tasmanians to make their vehicles available to visitors, subject to meeting vehicle requirements and checks.

In addition, the government has reached an agreement with the Motor Accident Insurance Board to cut the insurance premiums payable for new hire cars for a limited time. This discount will be made possible by the MAIB providing Class 8 coverage for the cost of Class 1 during the Christmas and January holiday period. It will apply for the first 500 cars brought into the hire and drive market on a first-in basis.

Further, the Tasmanian Government’s provisions under the vehicle hire and drive contract with AVIS Australia, which gives government agencies priority access to vehicles for hire for government business, even at short notice, have been waived.

These measures will ease the pressure on numbers of rental vehicles available in the market.  

The government fast-tracked all requests to unfreeze car rental registrations that were frozen under the COVID-19 Business Vehicle Registration Relief package. This measure was put in place to support transport operators during the travel restrictions, and now nearly all existing hire vehicle registrations are again active in Tasmania.