For a long time now the karting community has be calling for the improvement of club and state level karting in Australia. While it is great having an extremely competitive national scene, those drivers begin their careers at the lower levels.

No lower levels, no national-level drivers coming through the system.

On January 14, Karting Australia announced its new State Regulations. Taking a quote from Karting Australia’s press release: “The State Regulations are designed by the State Associations in conjunction with Karting Australia to govern the conduct of state-level karting competitions to complement the National Competition Rules. They provide specific guidance on eligibility, event formats, entry requirements, and operational standards for State Series, State Trophy, and Cup events.”

There are a few key points to highlight here. The claim that these new rules have been designed by the State Associations seems to already be falling apart. The Victorian Country Series put out a Facebook post on January 15 that read, “this was NOT a decision made by the series nor Karting Victoria”. It only leaves one party to have made the decision. Logically the clubs also wouldn’t have agreed to the new rules which will certainly see a downturn in entries and therefore revenue. The Golden Power Series also run in Victoria commented via Facebook, “please note this was not a decision made by the series”. Seemingly it didn’t want this change either.

You may be asking what actually are the new regulations, and how will they affect me? Below is a list of all the states and what the requirements are to race in certain competitions.

Queensland 

No restrictions for interstate drivers

New South Wales 

For anyone wanting to compete in the NSW Trophy Series you must have a Karting Australia (NSW) licence or Karting Victoria if the driver’s home club is the Albury Kart Racing Club and they reside in the surrounding area.

Victoria 

For the Victorian Country Series you must hold a Karting Victoria licence or Karting SA, if the driver resides in a postcode between 5263-5291.

For the Golden Power Series you must hold a Karting Victoria licence or Karting Australia (NSW) if the driver’s home club is either the Griffith Kart Club or the Wagga Kart Racing Club and they reside in the surrounding area of the respective club

South Australia  

For the Festival State Cup Series you must hold Karting SA licence or Karting Victoria where the driver’s home club recorded in KOMP is either Mildura Kart Club or Portland & District Kart Club and the driver resides in the surrounding area, or Karting Australia (NSW) where the driver’s home club recorded in KOMP is the Broken Hill Kart Club and the driver resides in the surrounding area.

Tasmania 

No restrictions for interstate drivers.

Western Australia 

Regulations not yet released.

Other new regulations include specific approved formats and points systems for certain events and the recommendation to run the ‘drop down’ bumpers at certain events. All of the formats and points systems have been commonly used previously, so none of them should come as a surprise when you turn up to race.

Karting Australia also wrote in its press release, “[the regulations] have changed for 2026 to better align with the long-term development objectives of the sport. The updated requirements are designed to ensure each state series remains focused on drivers based within that state, while also supporting the growth and sustainability of state-level competition nationally”.

Improving state-level competition and keeping drivers racing at home was the main purpose of this change. But was it the best way to go about improving local and state competition? Let us know what you think.

So to make it simple. Can you still compete in state-level, multi-round championships as an interstater. No.

State Cups, State Championships, and Club events will still be free to enter for anyone. Other than that, the new State Regulations won’t have any meaningful effect when you turn up to race.