Tesla’s long-awaited Full Self-Driving (FSD) rollout in Australia is now closer than ever. Thom Drew, Tesla’s Country Director for Australia, has confirmed that the company is in the “final stages of validation” for FSD (Supervised) and expects to begin phased releases soon.
In a LinkedIn post following the release of a new FSD demonstration video filmed on the streets of Sydney, Drew emphasized that regulatory approval is no longer an obstacle, reiterating comments he made in May about the potential for a release.
“We are running through the final stages of validation prior to public release,” he said. “Looking to start with HW4 on certain vehicles and then release in phases from there.”
FSD Supervised testing in Sydney, Australia pic.twitter.com/RYHiWs4vxx
— Tesla Australia & New Zealand (@TeslaAUNZ) July 17, 2025
This latest update comes just two months after Tesla shared its first public test of FSD in Australia, which took place in Melbourne on May 15, 2025. The Melbourne demonstration garnered widespread attention as a right-hand drive Model 3 equipped with FSD navigated complex city streets, including the notoriously tricky “hook turn” at tram intersections — a maneuver even local drivers can find challenging.
No Regulatory Barriers
The absence of regulatory hurdles marks a significant milestone for Tesla. In May, Drew confirmed in an interview that “there’s currently no blockers in Australia to releasing the self-driving supervised, as we have in North America.” While no firm launch date has been set, the company has prioritized bringing the supervised version of FSD to Australian customers as soon as the validation process is complete.
Tesla’s global engineering team is working across multiple markets to adapt FSD to local conditions. For Australia, this means calibrating the system for right-hand drive vehicles and unique driving environments, such as shared roadways with trams and specific lane-marking patterns.
What to Expect Next
While Tesla has not announced a launch date, the company is expected to offer FSD (Supervised) initially on vehicles equipped with the latest Hardware 4 (HW4/AI4) platform as per Drew’s comments. Phased rollouts will likely follow, eventually expanding availability to HW3/AI3 vehicles.
Currently, FSD is priced at AU$10,100 (C$9,100/US$6,600) in Australia, one of the most competitive price points globally for the advanced driver-assistance suite.
With two successful public demonstrations — first in Melbourne and now Sydney — Tesla appears poised to make Australia one of the first right-hand drive markets to experience FSD. As Drew noted, “It’s certainly very exciting to bring [FSD] to a market that doesn’t have a regulatory blocker.”
