Google's autonomous driving company has been working with high-level federal public servants and even briefed the transport minister on its "2026 plans in Australia" — but one big road bump remains. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

January 15, 2026 | Read online
# Waymo plans to test self-driving cars in Australia this year, documents reveal Google's autonomous driving company has been working with high-level federal public servants and even briefed the transport minister on its "2026 plans in Australia" — but one big road bump remains.
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Waymo has told the federal government that it wants to start trialling self-driving cars in Australia this year, internal documents show.
Staff from Google’s autonomous vehicle company have repeatedly met with high-level public servants and have even held a “confidential briefing” about its plans to launch in 2026 with the office of federal transport minister Catherine King.
These documents are the first official acknowledgement from Waymo’s side about its Australian ambitions, and show that the company is already working through how to import and trial its self-driving cars.
“While we are eager to bring the Waymo Driver to more people in more places, we do not have specific plans or a timeline to share regarding Waymo’s future in Australia at this time,” Waymo spokesperson Ethan Teicher said.
I first reported last year that Transport for NSW had begun very early level talks with Waymo, which has already rolled out a functional robotaxi service in a number of US cities and is testing in international cities like London and Tokyo.
Now, emails from the federal department of transport that I obtained through a freedom of information request (uploaded below) show that Waymo was working with the government for most of 2025.
| FOI-26-134_documents_released-2.pdf 3.50 MB • PDF File
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In July, representatives for Waymo set up a meeting with the department’s assistant secretary for transport partnerships and emerging technology, Mike Makin.
Waymo’s head of international policy and government affairs George Ivanov sent an email with the subject line “Reintroductions on AV Import Topics”.
“It’s been quite some time since we spoke about importation topics in 2023,” Ivanov wrote, before proposing that they meet in the next fortnight. “Great to hear from you again,” Makin responded.
The pair met later that month. Ivanov details Waymo’s plans to get one of its vehicles approved to drive on Australian roads. Makin encouraged Waymo to meet with the department’s autonomous vehicles team and to brief the Minister’s department, according to August and September emails.
“As promised, following on from our meeting we have spoken with our colleagues who manage RVS [Road Vehicle Standards] approvals and have set out some more guidance on how the proposal you presented to us might progress,” Makin wrote on September 16, providing information on getting permission to import non-approved vehicles into Australia.
This progressed to Ivanov formally sending a letter to Minister King about “introducing our autonomous driving technology in Australia” on October 17.
The letter, titled “Confidential Briefing on Waymo’s 2026 Plans in Australia”, is mostly redacted. Subsequently, Ivanov included Waymo’s registered lobbyists GRACosway in emails with the Minister’s office, saying that they will meet in person while Waymo staff join remotely. The briefing is finally scheduled for 14 November.
One of the few un-redacted details in the letter alluded to an Australian regulatory issue for Waymo.
The letter references a 2024 submission from the company that supports “a Commonwealth-led Automated Vehicle Safety Law (AVSL) that establishes clear responsibilities for the Automated Driving Vehicle System Entity (ADS Entity) and ensures national consistency to avoid regulatory fragmentation.”
Late last year, the federal government announced that it won’t meet Waymo’s desired deadline of 2026, instead promising to complete its framework by 2027.
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