Australia’s Cheapest and Most Expensive Car Parks and On-street Parking Rates

Australia has the second-highest car ownership in the world and car dependency in the major cities is very high. The distance travelled by car in Australia is only surpassed by the United States and Canada. When you are travelling such vast distances, cars make the journey much more convenient and comfortable. When travelling in cities or commuting, choosing a car over public transport means you can leave whenever you like, you aren’t tied to an inflexible schedule. If you travel a lot with children, cars are just so much more practical and easy compared to trying to catch a bus, train or tram.

However, there is a downside to using your own car. You have to find somewhere safe and legal to park. In most cases, you have to pay for the privilege, and let me tell you, parking can work out a lot more expensive than using public transport. Not only that, but the city where you park also plays a part in how much you will pay for parking, with some Australian cities eye-wateringly more expensive than others.

With this in mind, we’ve researched the cheapest and most expensive cities in Australia for parking, both in car parks and on-street.

For comparison purposes, we looked at hourly and overnight midweek parking rates in locations within 60 minutes walking time of the centre.

How does your city fare?

The cheapest and most expensive cities for hourly on-street parking

If you are driving into beautiful Rockhampton in Central Queensland, you will be happy to know that the city streets have free parking. Drivers in Ballarat also luck out as you get one hour of free on-street parking - just long enough to grab a coffee and run a few errands. Mackay is another wallet-friendly city with on-street parking for as little as $0.70 an hour.

As for the most expensive city for on-street parking?

Would you be surprised to know it is Melbourne? In the central city, it is a pricey $7.00 an hour to park up. Adelaide is the second most expensive city to park up on-street, with hourly rates of $4.70. Rounding out the top three most expensive cities in Australia for on-street parking is Sydney where it costs $4.40 an hour.

The car parks in Australia with the cheapest and most expensive hourly rates

Planning on a coastal road trip to Wollongong? Then, woohoo, you’ll be delighted to know that leaving your vehicle in a car park will cost you just cents. In fact, Wollongong has the cheapest car park in Australia with an hourly rate of just $0.60. A great reason to stay longer!

On the other hand, the most expensive car park in Australia is in Brisbane where you’ll shell out a whopping $42.00 an hour. This is $13.00 more per hour than the next most expensive car park, which is in Sydney.

The car parks in Australia with the cheapest and most expensive overnight rates

If you need to leave your car overnight in a car park, you’ll be glad to know that you don’t have to pay by the hour. Almost all of the car parks offer special overnight or 24-hour rates that work out a lot cheaper than the hourly rate. In fact, parking your car for 24 hours in Bendigo is cheaper than parking it for just an hour in those cities with the most expensive car park rates. It’s also super cheap to leave your car parked up overnight in Wollongong, Toowoomba and Cairns where 24 hours of parking will cost you in and around $5.00. In contrast to this, you can pay a jaw-dropping $300 for 24 hours parking in, you guessed it, Melbourne. To park your car overnight in Sydney’s Hilton Secure Parking, you’ll have to fork out $163 and to leave your motor overnight in Post Office Square in Brisbane, you’ll pay $161. Ouch!

*Please note all prices are for weekdays, core hours only and central locations. Weekend prices may differ from those listed.