Cancel a booked campsite at Freycinet, Mount Field or Fortescue Bay four days before you arrive and, under Tasmania’s new rules, you get nothing back. That is one change in the Parks and Wildlife Service’s new Parks Online Booking System, which started on 3 November 2026 for fee-paying campgrounds in ten parks and reserves with a flat price per site instead of per-person fees, PWS announced. That was three days after the new Spirit of Tasmania ferries began their first passenger crossings of Bass Strait.
What we know
- Ten places are in the first phase. It covers campgrounds that already charged a booking fee in Narawntapu, Freycinet, Maria Island, Mount William, Mount Field and South Bruny national parks, the Arthur Pieman and Peggs Beach conservation areas, Lime Bay State Reserve and Fortescue Bay (PWS).
- You pay per site, not per person. One flat rate covers up to six people; fees were previously charged per person. Premium powered sites are $35 a night, premium unpowered $24 and standard sites $18. Existing rates are honoured for earlier bookings (PWS).
- Late cancellations now cost the lot. Cancel more than 30 days out and you get a full refund; between 5 and 30 days, 75 per cent; less than five days out, after arrival or as a no-show, nothing. Leave early and the unused nights are not refunded (camping terms and conditions).
- Changes are limited too. They are free more than 30 days out, cost a $10 flat fee between 5 and 30 days, and are not allowed inside five days. There are no waitlists, bookings are not transferable, and concession discounts do not apply to camping fees (terms and conditions).
- In national parks, the parks pass is still extra. A daily pass is $49.15 per vehicle for up to eight people (excluding Cradle Mountain), and a Holiday Pass covering all national parks for up to two months is $98.35 per vehicle (PWS entry fees).
- Free campgrounds remain free for now. PWS says many campgrounds “remain free to use” and need no booking. Isaacs Point at Friendly Beaches, for example, stays first-in, first-served for a maximum of 14 nights (PWS).
What we don’t know yet
- Whether free campgrounds will be added. Parks Minister Nick Duigan told the ABC in September he would like to see “all of the Parks [and Wildlife Service] offerings” in the system. No timeline has been published. His office or PWS could say when.
- How firmly ghost campers will be moved on. Mr Duigan said PWS would take “a pretty soft-touch approach” early on. Only PWS can say what that means on a full January night.
- How much extra demand the new ferries bring. Visit Northern Tasmania chief executive Tracey Mallett told the ABC the new ships would bring “two and a half times more caravanners over the course of a week”. That is an industry estimate; ferry operator TT-Line could publish real vehicle numbers.
- When everything else joins the portal. PWS says walks, cave tours, accommodation and parks passes will be added progressively, but has not given dates.
- How far ahead every campground opens. The Fortescue Bay page says bookings open 180 days in advance. The other campground pages we checked on 11 November did not say, so check each in the booking system.
What it means if you tow
Book the campsite as firmly as you book the ferry. With full payment upfront and no waitlist, booking is the only sure way to hold a site at the popular parks in peak season. Mount Field, for example, has just 14 powered sites, according to its campground page.
Check the van fits before you pay. Richardsons Beach’s powered sites at Freycinet take “a small caravan, camper trailer, rooftop tent or campervan no longer than 18 foot”, PWS says. Maria Island has no vehicle access, so the van stays behind.
Couples pay more per head than groups. On a $35 powered site, two people pay $17.50 each a night, while six pay about $5.83 each. Our state-by-state camping fee comparison runs the numbers for couples and families.
The five-day line is the one to plan around. If weather or a breakdown pushes your arrival back at short notice, the new rules allow no refund and no change inside five days. Whether travel insurance covers a lost campsite fee depends on the policy wording and the circumstances, so read your policy before you book. The new ferries carry more vehicles, as our look at the new Spirit of Tasmania ships explains, and Visit Northern Tasmania expects more caravanners as a result.
Timing matters on site, too. Arrival is from midday and departure by 10am, and at Richardsons Beach the maximum stay drops to 10 nights from 18 December to 10 February.
Cancel three days out and you now get nothing back
What one $245 week on a powered site returns if you cancel, under Freycinet’s old published rules and Tasmania’s new PWS camping rules.
Refund on a $245 booking, by when you cancel
for Freycinet (to 2 Nov)New rules
stays from 3 NovChange
New rules also: no changes inside 5 days, a $10 fee to change 5 to 30 days out, and no refund for leaving early.
Flat price per site from 3 November, up to six people
Per night, plus a parks pass in national parks. Previously charged per person.
Assumptions: 7 nights on a $35 premium powered site ($245), with both cancellation policies applied to the same booking to isolate the rule change (old bookings were priced per person). Old rules as published by PWS on its Freycinet (Richardsons Beach) campground page for booked stays up to 2 November 2026, not necessarily statewide; new rules from the PWS camping terms and conditions (October 2026) for stays from 3 November 2026. Sources: Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania, checked 11 November 2026. WUDU calculation.
What to do this week
- Check any booking you already hold. The old rate stands. The Freycinet page’s headings (“For booked stays up to 2 November 2026” and “For stays from 3 November 2026”) suggest the cancellation terms follow the stay date, not the booking date, so confirm with PWS which terms apply to yours.
- Set up an account at book.parks.tas.gov.au. You need your full name, residential address, email and phone number, and the account holder must be 18 or older.
- Lock in your ferry dates first, then book campsites, with a buffer night at the start of the trip.
- Price the parks pass. Two daily passes cost $98.30 and the Holiday Pass $98.35, so if you will enter national parks on three or more days, the Holiday Pass is the cheaper choice.
- Plan a free fallback. Note a first-in, first-served campground such as Isaacs Point for each region, and check our guide to whether you qualify to free camp legally.
As of 11 November 2026. We’ll update this story if the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service publishes more.
Images via Wikimedia Commons: brewbooks (CC BY-SA 2.0), JJ Harrison (CC BY-SA 3.0) and Pretzelles (CC BY-SA 4.0).
