12th Annual Australian Road Safety Awards

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I’d like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the country we are meeting on.

And I pay my respects Elders past and present, and to all First Nations people joining us here today.

This is the year of the Voice, and I am proud to be part of a Government committed to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart, in full. 

I’d also like to acknowledge:

• My parliamentary colleagues and distinguished guests who are with us today.
• Mr Russell White the founder and CEO of the Australian Road Safety Foundation for inviting me to this wonderful event and for that kind introduction.
• And I’d like to extend my gratitude to the sponsors of these awards, and to the wider work of the Foundation.

Today I am here with a heavy heart, a feeling I know is shared around this room and indeed the country.

What Australians woke up to on Monday morning was devastating and life altering for hundreds if not thousands of people impacted by the deaths of 10 people in a bus crash in the Hunter.

This year has been a traumatic year on Australian roads, with 1202 people killed on our roads between May 2022 and May 2023. A number that is far to high, and a number that should shock people.

But, today we are here to recognise you and the important work you do every day to curb our road toll and save Australian families and communities the heart break of learning a loved one has been killed on our roads.

I know we are all familiar with the key message that ‘road safety is everyone’s responsibility.’

And this years’ award winners and nominees have exemplified this.

They have acted upon this key message through an inspiring array of initiatives.

Amongst today’s winners are associations, businesses, state and local governments, emergency services and others.

All of them deserving of the recognition of an Australian Road Safety Award.



I have been inspired countless times in this role as Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, by the number of dedicated people working to make a difference in saving lives on our roads.

Efforts like those we are acknowledging today are both innovative and inspiring and true testaments of leadership.

The nominees and winners instill me with confidence that when industry and government work together we can deliver on the promise of the National Road Safety Strategy and new National Road Safety Action Plan.

Our shared promise of reaching Vision Zero – zero deaths and serious injuries by 2050.

I congratulate not only those who will receive awards today, but everyone who was nominated and involved.



I commend you all for your efforts to make a difference in reducing the trauma on our roads.

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate to visit Darwin where I had the privilege of meeting representatives from a variety of organisations with an interest in, or focus on road safety.

I met with members of the Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation.

They deliver multiple community-based program, one of which provides practical road safety support to the Long grass communities in and around Darwin.

This is in effort to reduce a horrifying statistic.

One hundred per cent of pedestrian deaths in the Northern Territory over the last 12 months have been First Nations people. And this has been the case for a decade.

This simple but impactful initiative by the Larrakia Nation helps to raise road safety awareness and assists to keep people safe.

I was thrilled to hear about the successful Sober Bob campaign operating in pubs and clubs across the Northern Territory.

This campaign sees pubs and clubs offering free soft drinks and food to designated drivers to ensure more people return to their homes safely. 

Another amazing initiative to come from the Northern Territory is Hector the Road Safety Cat.

Hector travels around primary schools to educate children on road safety in a fun, engaging and relatable way.

It is apparent from the three initiatives I just mentioned that there is a lot that can be done in the non-infrastructure space to improve road safety.

Having looked through the winners of todays awards, I know that you will inspire further action with the work you are doing. The winners demonstrate a level of innovation and passion we should all strive for.

That is why I am proud that in the recent Budget, the Albanese Government strengthened our commitment to road safety.

In this Budget we committed over 43 million dollars to the National Road Safety Action Grants Program to support non-infrastructure initiatives that will support the National Road Safety Action Plan.

The focus of this program will be on the key, non-infrastructure, priorities in the Road Safety Strategy and Action Plan – that being, First Nations road safety, vulnerable road users, community education, awareness, technology, innovation, research and data.

Further funding has been allocated to the Car Safety Ratings Program to improve testing protocols and safety evaluations for new cars, through ANCAP and used cars through the MUARC used car program.

The work of ANCAP will be sufficiently expanded to include testing of a wider range of vehicles – including the US style large utes that we are seeing more and more on our roads.

These programs will help to get Australian road users’ home safely from every journey, no matter the distance travelled.

We are also continuing to delivering road safety infrastructure upgrades through the Road Safety Program.

More than 1,400 projects have been delivered to date.

The next round of funding will allow us to continue development and innovation in this space.

I am pleased to see that some of the award recipients today have been supported by Australian Government funding.

I look forward to seeing proposals for future projects when applications open for grants shortly.

Again, I wish to thank all of you who share my passion in making Australian roads safer.

I am confident that united, we can work towards road safety solutions for the benefit of all Australians – and I encourage all Australians, today and every day, to choose road safety.

Thank you