Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Nineteen years old: that is the age of the latest victim killed on our roads, right here in Canberra—a life lost too soon, a young life which has now joined more than 1,170 people killed on our roads in the past 12 months. Road safety is an issue for everyone, a shared responsibility between government, communities and individuals—each and every one of us. It is an issue which will continue to be addressed through the National Road Safety Strategy and the commitment to reduce road fatalities by 50 per cent by 2030, just a mere seven years away.

The National Road Safety Strategy, announced in 2021, is a continuation of the strategy launched in 2011. In the decade since 2011, the strategy has supported a national effort of advancing road safety. The previous strategy saw various achievements from state and territory governments under the Commonwealth's leadership by improving road infrastructure, improving the enforcement of speed limits, as well as vehicle safety enhancements and stronger graduating licensing schemes for new drivers. Against population growth under the last strategy, annual deaths on our roads dropped 22.5 per cent over the decade. However, the number of people hospitalised after an incident on our roads increased.

The strategy works because it brings together people and enables collaboration. As the assistant minister responsible for the National Road Safety Strategy, it is my commitment to continue to grow on the learnings of the last decade. The current strategy focuses on three main themes: safe roads, safe vehicles, safe road use. Embedded throughout the strategy is the understanding that speed management is key to advancing road safety. The principles of the National Road Safety Strategy are the guiding forces behind the delivery of the strategy and the Road Safety Action Plan. The principles include long-term goals of achieving Vision Zero by 2050, transparency and clear governance arrangements to ensure that there is a clear understanding of who is responsible for actions and more. Within the National Road Safety Strategy, it is the Road Safety Action Plan which is revised every five years.

Currently, we are undertaking consultation for the new Road Safety Action Plan. The action plan will strongly contribute to reducing deaths and serious injuries on our roads. This action plan will go one step further by setting in place comprehensive performance indicators that will show the extent of transformation of the road transport system during the action plan. In consultation phase, the phase we are currently in, states and territories have been engaged to paint a picture of what road safety programs, initiatives and infrastructure have been rolled out across the country. In doing so, we are ensuring that the new action plan that will move us forward is fit for purpose and best practice.

We already know that states and territories across the country are making headways through innovation and by targeting their road safety spending. To highlight just a couple: in Victoria, young drivers have been encouraged to trade in their older vehicles are newer safer one, with the Victorian government providing a $5,000 subsidy. In Queensland, the StreetSmarts campaign is educating young and old about road safety. Further, the Queensland government yesterday announced a program to support 160 hours of supervised training for aspiring heavy-vehicle drivers.

It is time for our national action plan to incorporate the great work state and territory governments are already doing. In the new action plan, the work of states and territories will inform the measurable outcomes right from the get-go. Unlike previous action plans, this one will be aligned to the National Road Safety Strategy to ensure states and territories and the Commonwealth are working together towards the themes of the strategy. The action plan will be built on our collective strengths in order to address the gaps in road safety understanding, spending and innovation. Next week, I will be hosting a road safety roundtable in Melbourne with peak industries and stakeholders to explore the themes which have emerged from recent consultations on the new Road Safety Action Plan.

We have heard three main themes arising from our consultations: data and research; prioritising investment; and vulnerable road users. Prioritising investment considers the ability of governments to invest in projects which will have tangible impacts on the safety of certain roads. Many of the programs that fall under the national partnership agreement have funding considerations which seek to invest in infrastructure that will have the most impact on the safety of the transport corridor.

Through consultations and meetings with stakeholders, it is clear that data and research has been a common issue. The Office of Road Safety collects and collates road safety data from across the country for BITRE. However, there is a need to understand what road safety data experts consider the most meaningful data to be, and how we can use that data to tell a story about where we've come from, where we are right now and where we hope to be.

We have a lot of work ahead of us to make our roads, drivers and vehicles as safe as possible. But I am confident that, with the passion and dedication of advocates and experts, we will get there. Our task, I know, is supported by all of us—every one of us here. In generations past, we've had clear cultural understandings about what road safety is, how it impacts each and every road user and how, as road users, we share the responsibility of safe road use. Measures which once were considered extreme, like helmets and seat belts, are now employed without a second thought. Mainstream attitudes towards drinking and driving have also dramatically shifted over time, with changes in how we educate new drivers through enforcement campaigns.

These cultural changes have been led by national leadership and collaboration at all levels of our community, from this place right down through to family dinner tables across the country. But cultural change must be retained and reinforced over time. We must ensure that the understanding of what road safety means and what it looks like in practice is passed down to the younger generations. My message is clear, and it could not be clearer: wear a seat belt; don't mix drinking and driving; stop and rest if tired; importantly, slow down on rural and regional roads; don't speed; drive to the conditions; and drive so others survive.