Outback Highway

Not to be confused with The Outback Highway of South Australia.

The Outback Highway or Outback Way is a series of sealed and unsealed roads linking Laverton, Western Australia and Winton, Queensland. At 2,719 km (1,690 mi), it crosses Central Australia (the heart of what is colloquially known as the Outback), passing through Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland. The Outback Way is often dubbed “Australia’s longest shortcut” because it provides a shorter east–west route across central Australia.

Outback Highway Western Australia –Queensland
The Kennedy Development Road between Middleton and Boulia, 2011
West end East end
Coordinates	28.625671°S 122.401344°E / -28.625671; 122.401344 (West end) 22.390557°S 143.041199°E / -22.390557; 143.041199 (East end)
General information
Type	Highway
Length	2,719 km (1,690 mi)
Major junctions
West end	Laverton Leonora Road Laverton, Western Australia
	Gunbarrel Highway Stuart Highway Diamantina Developmental Road
East end	Landsborough Highway Winton, Queensland
Location(s)
Region	Goldfields–Esperance Central Australia Central West Queensland
Major settlements	Warburton, Yulara, Alice Springs, Boulia
Restrictions
Fuel supply	Laverton 28.624120°S 122.396416°E / -28.624120; 122.396416 Tjukayirla Roadhouse 27.155334°S 124.574817°E / -27.155334; 124.574817 Warburton (26.131861°S 126.569026°E / -26.131861; 126.569026 Warakurna Roadhouse 25.042906°S 128.303417°E / -25.042906; 128.303417 Kaltukatjara 24.873483°S 129.083220°E / -24.873483; 129.083220 Atitjere 22.984045°S 134.935457°E / -22.984045; 134.935457 Tobermorey Roadhouse 22.274469°S 137.973721°E / -22.274469; 137.973721
Highway system
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in Western Australia Highways in Queensland

Proposed upgrade to a sealed highway

The Outback Highway Development Council Inc. (OHDC) is a non-profit alliance of local governments formed in 1998 to lobby for the sealing and upgrading of the Outback Highway (OH). It has proposed that the OH be developed to provide an inland route between southern Western Australia and northern Queensland as an alternative to the National Highway 1 along either coast.

Sections of the Outback Highway

Existing roads that make up the highway are :

• Great Central Road, a mostly graded gravel road, with short sealed sections, between Laverton and the junction with Kata Tjuta Road near Yulara (1056 km). Parts of this road around Warakurna are concurrent with the Gunbarrel Highway.
• Kata Tjuta Road and Uluru Road in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park between Great Central Road and Lasseter Highway (48 km). The OH route passes through the Park entry gate where Uluru Road divides into a lane to enter (westbound on the OH), controlled by a barrier and Park Pass payment office, and a separate exit lane (eastbound on the OH) with no barrier or stop sign. OH travellers should check with the National Parks office if a pass is required in either direction.
• Lasseter Highway, a sealed road between Yulara and Erldunda on the Stuart Highway (244 km).
• Stuart Highway, the section between Erldunda and the Plenty Highway junction (268 km), of the sealed road forming the major north-south route through Central Australia.
• Plenty Highway, a mostly unsealed highway between the Stuart Highway and Donohue Highway (498 km).
• Donohue Highway, a mostly unsealed highway between the Plenty Highway and the Diamantina Developmental Road just north of Boulia (249 km).
• Diamantina Developmental Road (also known as the Boulia-Mt Isa Highway) between the Donohue Highway junction and Boulia (7 km).
• Kennedy Development Road, a sealed highway, section from Boulia to Winton (362 km).

The Outback Highway project is in effect a series of coordinated but separately-funded projects of WA, NT and QLD. The largest is the Western Australian project between Laverton and the NT border with road sealing due to be completed in 2032 at a cost of $678 million.

Mobile phone coverage is limited and is non-existent for long sections of the highway. A reliable 4G or 3G service is only found in major hubs and near some roadhouses and indigenous communities.

As at May 2026 there is a total of 1161 km of the Outback Highway remaining to seal.

Permits to travel on the highway through Aboriginal Lands

As of May 2026, the following permits are required to travel the Great Central Road:

• Great Central Road Laverton to Tjukayirla Roadhouse: apply to WA Dept Planning Lands & Heritage. The application is referred to the Yilka Talintji Aboriginal Corporation. In May 2026 the online application page was as https://aapapermits.microsoftcrmportals.com
• Great Central Road Tjukayirla Roadhouse to NT Border: apply via the Ngaanyatjarra Council permit portal: https://aapapermits.microsoftcrmportals.com/
• Tjukururu Road (the Great Central Road in the Northern Territory between the NT Border and Kata Tjuta Road): apply to the Central Land Council: https://www.clc.org.au/transit-permit-application/

When keeping to the highway itself, permits are not required for travel on other sections of the Outback Highway. Queensland no longer requires permits for the sections in that state.

For further information including fuel availabilty, tourist information and to links for road condition updates, see www.outbackway.org.au/faqs.

Major intersections

State/Territory	LGA	Location	km	mi	Destinations	Notes
Western Australia	Laverton	Laverton	0	0.0	Laverton–Leonora Road – Leonora	Western terminus of highway Continues east as Great Central Road
		Warburton	554	344	Connie Sue Highway – Rawlinna
	Ngaanyatjarraku	Warakurna/Giles	781	485	Old Gunbarrel Highway – Carnegie	Concurrency with Gunbarrel Highway
			807	501	Gunbarrel Highway – Pipalyatjara
Western Australia – Northern Territory border			870	540	Western Australia – Northern Territory border	Continues east as Great Central Road Continues west as Tjukaruru Road
Northern Territory	MacDonnell Region	Kaltukatjara	878	546	Lungkata Road – Kaltukatjara
	unincorporated area	Yulara	1,107	688	Yulara Drive – Yulara	Continues east as Tjukaruru Road Continues east as Lasseter Highway
	MacDonnell Region	Erldunda	1,351	839	Stuart Highway (A87 south) – Coober Pedy, Port Augusta, Adelaide	Continues west as Lasseter Highway Continues north as Stuart Highway
	Alice Springs	Alice Springs	1,546	961	Ross Highway (B8) – Arltunga Historical Reserve
			1,550	960	Larapinta Drive (B6) – Hermannsburg, Mereenie
	MacDonnell Region	Burt Plain	1,570	980	Tanami Road (C5) – Tanami
			1,620	1,010	Stuart Highway (A87 north) – Tennant Creek, Katherine, Darwin	Continues south as Stuart Highway Continues north as Plenty Highway
Northern Territory – Queensland border			2,116	1,315	Northern Territory – Queensland border	Continues west as Plenty Highway Continues east as Donohue Highway
Queensland	Boulia	Boulia	2,363	1,468	Diamantina Developmental Road (National Route 83) – Mount Isa, Bedourie, Birdsville	Continues west as Donohue Highway Continues east as Kennedy Developmental Road
	Winton	Winton	2,719	1,690	Landsborough Highway (A2) – Cloncurry, Longreach	Eastern terminus of highway Continues west as Kennedy Developmental Road
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Route transition

See also

• Highways in Australia
• List of highways in the Northern Territory
• List of highways in Queensland
• List of highways in Western Australia

Further reading

• Ham, Anthony (13 June 2022). "The Outback Way: Is this the world's emptiest road?". BBC Travel. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.

External links

• Outback Highway official website