Government to force states and territories to give up secret crash data or risk road funding – UPDATE

UPDATE, 2 May 2024: The Australian Government has agreed to link the funding it gives to the states and territories for transport to a requirement to share previously secret data about the causes of road crashes, it has been announced today.

The purpose of such a move, following an extensive campaign mounted by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA), is to share data from incidents to try to bring down the nation's growing road toll.

Following the announcement, the AAA said it was "the most significant national road safety reform in decades."

“The AAA is very pleased the Government has listened to Australian motorists," said AAA Managing Director Michael Bradley.

“With more than 100 people killed on Australian roads each month and the toll rising, we need data about the causes of crashes, the condition of roads and the effectiveness of traffic policing to better understand what is going wrong."

For the first time, the Federal Government will seek to include a provision in its five-year funding deal with the states that requires them to provide a nationally-consistent data set.

As reported by Drive last week (below), Queensland has become the first authority to agree to make public its crash information, with Federal Transport Minister, Catherine King, using the announcement to "encourage the states which haven’t indicated they will do so to now do the same."

"Addressing the absence of consistent road safety data will complement the work we have already done since we came to Government to improve road safety," Minister King said in a statement.

The Government also said it would be using next week’s Budget to invest $21 million in the National Road Safety Data Hub.

The requirement to report will take effect from 1 July this year.

Our original story continues unchanged below.

23 April 2024: Pressure is ramping up on the Federal Government to link road safety reform to state transport funding in an effort to bring down the nation’s road toll.

The nation’s peak motoring body, the Australian Automobile Association (AAA), has revealed that the number of deaths on our roads has jumped by 8.2 per cent in the 12 months to the end of March – with 1286 fatalities recorded.

The latest numbers, provided by the AAA, show deaths in New South Wales are up 33 per cent, while in Victoria they have risen by 13 per cent over the same time period.

In the days leading up to the 2022 Federal Election, Labor promised to overhaul road safety across the country – but now the AAA says the Government is running out of time to fulfil its commitments.

At the time it said it would “extract better quality road data from the states and territories in return for funding of road projects” but as yet has failed to do so, despite the Commonwealth and all states and territories adopting a target to halve road deaths by 2030.

As a result the AAA and others are now calling on the Government to dictate how $50 billion of Commonwealth road funding will be provided beyond 1 July 2024 as part of the upcoming National Partnership Agreement on Land Transport Infrastructure Projects.

“The continued rise in Australia’s road toll can’t be ignored any longer and the time has come for the Australian Government to fulfil its election promise and end the needless secrecy surrounding state-held road safety data,” said AAA Managing Director Michael Bradley in a statement.

“Australia needs a data-driven response to a problem killing more than 100 people every month, and as we enter another election year, it’s time our state and federal leaders showed their commitment to saving lives greater.”

At present, the data needed to understand the spike in road deaths is being collected at a local level by state and territory governments – but so far only Queensland has agreed (in principle) to share this previously secret information.

The data, which has yet to be made public, describes the causes of car crashes, traffic policing and the condition of roads to help tackle the escalating road safety crisis.

“I congratulate the Queensland Government for its commonsense approach. If other states take the same position, this will be Australia’s most important safety reform for decades,” Mr Bradley added.

“I’m really keen to get as much of that information out there as we can; really keen to provide whatever we’ve got on our books from Department of Transport and Main Roads to the Federal Government and to anyone who it helps,” said Queensland Transport Minister Bart Mellish, speaking on ABC radio last week.

Momentum for reform has increased in recent weeks, with secret safety ratings about Queensland’s Bruce Highway obtained by the Federal Opposition using Freedom of Information legislation, reports the Courier Mail. The data showed about 45 per cent of the state’s main highway is rated at two stars or less out of five in terms of safety.

Last October, the AAA began its Data Saves Lives campaign, which is supported by the nation’s motoring clubs, and 18 national organisations representing motorists, motorcyclists, truckers, pedestrians, doctors, insurers, road engineers and safety advocates.