Victoria

The tale of a Sydney driver being fined because her passenger was on FaceTime incited shock and outrage in June 2019, but drivers may be interested to know similar penalties are becoming commonplace on roads across the nation. Sheree Panetta took to Facebook to vent about the $337 fine she received from NSW Police, with her post quickly going viral.

Sydney drivers have Australia's worst commute, with the average worker spending more than 70 minutes getting to and from work. According to the latest Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, the average Sydney commuter suffers through a 71-minute daily round trip. Brisbane drivers were the second worst-off at 67 minutes, while Melburnians face an average commute time of 65 minutes.

The car industry has called for a national motoring tribunal to be established following a landmark case in Victoria which awarded the owner of a two-year-old Mitsubishi Triton a full refund on the $39,500 new-car purchase price due to discrepancies over fuel economy claims. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) ruled in favour of an owner of a Mitsubishi Triton who claimed the fuel economy rating label was not an accurate reflection of real world consumption.

The Victorian State Government has followed its $1 million investment in a high-speed electric vehicle charging network with a further $2 million, announcing ultra high-speed stations will be built in Melbourne, Ballarat, Horsham, Torquay and Traralgon.