Tourists will soon have to pay an entry fee to see the Twelve Apostles on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, in a move the government says will help protect the site for generations to come.
The Victorian environment minister, Steve Dimopoulos, on Monday announced a fee for tourists to visit the $126m Twelve Apostles Visitor Experience Centre, which is due to open at the end of 2026.
He said “every single dollar” would go back into the area surrounding the Great Ocean Road, which he described as a 240km stretch of coastline “under threat” from climate change, coastal erosion and the impact of millions of visitors each year.
“We want to make sure the Great Ocean Road is there for the next 100 years. We cannot be the generation that lets it fall away,” Dimopoulos told reporters.
He said it was “only fair” and “not unusual”, given fees are charged at Uluru, Kakadu and Kosciuszko national parks and Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain.
While there are now only seven ”apostles” remaining (though they were named the Twelve Apostles, there were originally believed to be nine limestone stacks) – as erosion has caused several to collapse over time – the natural wonder is incredibly popular. According to Development Victoria, 2.8 million people visited the area in 2019, with the figure forecast to reach 4 million this year.
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Dimopoulos said locals had often shared their frustration that “bus loads of tourists” came to visit the site at the same time, causing significant congestion.
He said the entry fee – which would not apply to people who live near the site and members of the Eastern Maar Indigenous community – and an accompanying booking system would allow for a “staged process” that was “appropriate for the natural environment and for locals”.
The entry cost will be decided following a consultation with stakeholders, including local government and tour operators and residents. It is understood there is a strong view within government that the fee should be under $20.
The Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority, which will operate the new visitor centre, will also collect the funds. It said it will be spent repairing and restoring historic landmarks and upgrading and improving caravan parks and campgrounds, as well as walkways, bush walks and trails, lookouts and barbecues and tables on the foreshore.
The authority said the visitor booking system would also benefit local businesses, as it would encourage tourists to stay longer and explore the region.
The Corangamite shire council and the Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism board issued a joint statement in September urging the state government to introduce a user-pays model to visit the site, to coincide with the visitor centre opening. At the time, they said a charge of between $10 and $20 would help manage crowds and protect the coastal environment.
The confirmation of an entry fee was welcomed by Lisa Patroni, the chief executive of the Victoria Tourism Industry Council, who said it was “well overdue” and would make the attraction safer while improving the visitor experience.
“It is an incredible coastline, but it’s also very fragile. Hence, you’ve only got a single lane road and people park along the shoulder, which was never there for cars to park across,” Patroni said.
“You’ve got all this traffic visitation, no footpaths, pedestrians trying to walk from their cars. It’s been fortunate, to be honest, that they haven’t had more incidents.”
Patroni said the fee would also help control visitor numbers. Around the world, she said, natural attractions with high demand typically manage crowds through ticketing, booking systems or parking fees.
“It’s just not how we have traditionally done things in Victoria but it is not new worldwide,” she said.
“While local people might be grappling with the thought of how this is going to work for them, internationally it will be a blip in the radar because this is what they’re used to.”
However, the move was criticised by the opposition leader, Jess Wilson, who said it was “another example of a government that has run out of money”.
“It’s Victorians who ultimately pay the price … having to pay an entry fee to see the Twelve Apostles, an iconic tourism site here in Victoria that should be free to see,” she said.
Dimopoulos responded that three local Liberal MPs – Bev McArthur, Joe McCracken and Richard Riordan – had previously made public comments supporting a visitor contribution to the region.
• This article was amended on 9 March 2026. A previous version said there were originally 12 limestone stacks that made up the Twelve Apostles, when it’s believed there were only nine at the time it received that name.
