In short:
E-scooters will become a permanent fixture in Victoria from October.
It follows a two-year trial in some regional areas and metropolitan Melbourne.
What's next?
The Victorian government has also announced additional safety and compliance measures including tougher penalties.
The Victorian government has announced share hire e-scooters will be permanently legalised across the state, following a two-year trial.
It will come into effect in October, along with tougher e-scooter rules and penalties for those caught doing the wrong thing.
Under the changes, riders will receive increased fines for things like riding on the footpath, not wearing a helmet, drinking alcohol while riding and dinking.
The fine for not wearing a helmet will increase from $247 to $395, speeding will see riders now cop a $346 fine, and underage riders will be fined $296, the same amount if riders are caught on a footpath.
"These are hefty new fines," City of Melbourne Mayor Nicholas Reece said.
"You see two people double dinking on a scooter, not wearing a helmet, riding on a footpath — that's a $1,500 fine. That's a week's wages."
The government also plans to introduce new offences around riding as a passenger, which is not permitted, and passengers not wearing helmets.
"This gives us some of the strictest settings across the country," Minister for Public and Active Transport Gabrielle Williams said.
It follows calls from doctors to implement greater safety regulations following an increasing number of serious injuries.
The Royal Melbourne Hospital's director of emergency medicine welcomed the news but said it was "the first step in a very long journey".
"We certainly don't want to keep seeing people with serious facial fractures, losing all their teeth, bilateral wrist fractures, horrible brain injuries," Mark Putland said.
"That's got to stop and it can stop if we invest in the infrastructure, if we look at sensible legislation, we enforce that legislation and hold each other accountable."
PSOs to be given more power
Since the e-scooter trial began in 2022, about 9 million trips have been taken across Victoria according to the government.
Ms Williams said it is "one of the most popular schemes in the world".
She said scooters are also contributing to fewer cars on the road with almost 30 per cent of users in Melbourne's CBD opting for an e-scooter over a car.
In Ballarat, where the scheme was also trialled, that was closer to 40 per cent.
"E-scooters are here to stay," she said.
"They've proven popular among commuters, especially shift workers, providing an additional option to travel home safely."
The government will also introduce new legislation to parliament next year that will extend the powers of Protective Services Officers (PSO).
It will enable PSOs to enforce the e-scooter road rules.
"We know we needed to do more to make sure Victorians understood the rules attached to the use of e-scooters and we needed to do more to ensure compliance with those rules," Ms Williams said.
The government will also launch an education and safety campaign with the Transport Accident Commission.
New technology to improve safety features
The Department of Transport and Planning will work with councils and e-scooter operators to introduce technology to improve safety.
That includes footpath detection technology, cognitive reaction testing to reduce drink and drug-affected riding, and disabling e-scooters for hire without attached helmets.
"There's been too much rule breaking and the scheme hasn't worked as we intended," Cr Reece said.
"People breaking the rules, double dinking, not wearing helmets, riding on footpaths, parking the scooters wherever creating hazards around the city, and that’s unacceptable."
The City of Melbourne will look at further measures including parking bays to create more order.
"Melbourne is a city for people and if the scooters are interfering with people's enjoyment of the city, then the scheme will not be continuing," Cr Reece warned.
"But I'm confident with these arrangements … we will see a significant improvement."
Shire hire e-scooters are only legal in council areas that have an agreement with an operator.
The government will work with other councils to introduce the share hire schemes.