Road safety ministers meet ahead of the holiday period

Federal, state and territory Ministers responsible for road safety met in Sydney today to discuss actions being undertaken to improve safety on our roads and agree on priority actions moving forward.

Federal Assistant Minister for Regional Development, Anthony Chisholm, chaired today’s meeting and recognised the rates of death and serious injury on our roads in 2024 were unacceptable, and urged Ministers to prioritise actions to improve safety.

Assistant Minister Chisholm also acknowledged the importance of road safety awareness heading into the holiday period and raised the improved collaboration between governments and industry as a key objective.

The Albanese Government remains focused on areas within road safety where it can add most value, namely improving vehicle safety, co-investing in infrastructure that delivers safety outcomes and the coordination of data sharing.

This includes work on improving vehicle safety through the Australian Design Rules (ADRs), with the Albanese Government introducing 13 new ADRs and providing 31 amendments to existing ADRs since 2023.

Boosting road safety through infrastructure projects is another key priority, with direct and indirect funding for road safety valued under the Australian Government’s infrastructure investment pipeline at $19.6 billion over the 10 years from 2024-25. 

Quotes attributable to Federal Assistant Minister for Regional Development, Anthony Chisholm:

“Any death on our roads is one too many, but unfortunately, we’ve seen a 5.2 per cent increase in deaths on our roads over the last 12 months.

“Meeting with the state and territory ministers today has been a great opportunity to better align our road safety objectives and see what improvements need to be made to ensure we’re all on track to hit our targets.

“The Albanese Government’s record investments show we’re committed to improving road safety, but solving the road safety challenge is a collective responsibility in which we all play an important role.

“We’re all committed to reducing road trauma by investing in safer infrastructure and prioritising the collaboration between governments, industry, and experts, as we work towards bringing down Australia’s road toll."