Big change looms for camping in national parks with major deadline from today

Yahoo

24-05-2025

Avid campers and lovers of the great outdoors have only hours left to have their say about controversial changes to how camping grounds are managed by authorities in NSW as a proposed overhaul to booking systems is set to see travellers pay more to stay in public national parks.
The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has invited community feedback on the comprehensive overhaul with the deadline for public consultation ending on Sunday, May 25.
The proposal includes pegging fees to increases in the consumer price index, meaning prices would rise each year. It will also categorise all campsites into a hierarchy, with each tier being more expensive.
A simple clearing with no facilities will remain free while campgrounds from tier 2 to tier 5 (which make up 85 per cent of sites) will range from $22 per night in high season for the most basic campground to $65 for sites that have water and access to a flushable toilet. The top campsites, tier 6, which have hot showers and BBQ facilities, will cost $89 per night.
The proposal has seen critics take to social media with many worrying about the disappearance of an "affordable way to have a holiday".
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Among those who have voiced concerns about the changes is Mike Atkinson, who appeared on the popular survivalist TV show Alone Australia and produces content about life in Australia's outdoors.
"The really serious thing is that they are introducing camping fees to an enormous percentage of campgrounds that never had them before," he told Yahoo News earlier this month.
"Never in the history of parks has there ever been a camping fee there... and now my guess is 60 to 70 per cent of campgrounds will have fees for the first time ever. I feel that the executives in NSW National Parks are running it like a business, and it's not, it's a public service."
The higher costs are needed due to record investment in campground infrastructure, increased park management costs and changing community expectations, the National Parks and Wildlife Service says.
The NSW parks service manages 895 parks and reserves which make up roughly 10 per cent of the state's total land mass. According to the consultation paper, visitation has grown 49 per cent over the last decade, and there are now more than 50 million visits to national parks every year, including 1.8 million overnight campground stays.
In a recent video, Mike highlighted the Thredbo Diggings Campground in the Kosciuszko National Park which he believes will go from $6 to as much as $54 under the proposed system.
Part of the justification is to tackle the issue of ghost bookings, which has been a problem in campsites across the country where booking systems have been introduced. The perception of ghost bookings is a big part of the reason Victoria is not renewing its free camping initiate from July.
Another keen camper, Jay from CampingMates, highlighted the same site in a video discussing the overhaul and calling on people to provide feedback, and shared his own anecdote of ghost booking.
"Out of 41 campsites at Thredbo Diggings, when I was there 30 campsites were booked but I was the only person for the entire campsite," he said.
Those opposed to the changes say there is other ways to tackle the problem without raising prices on campers, such as automatic reminders and prompts to ensure cancellations are made.
With hours left to provide feedback, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service says all public input will still be considered. You can do so here.
"All feedback on the proposal, which aims to introduce more consistent and simplified state-wide camping fees and bookings for NSW national parks and reserves will be carefully considered," a spokesperson told Yahoo News.
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