The government has announced they will require states and territories to reveal crash data to meet road funding requirements. OTR journalist Thomas Docking reports on this commitment and its potential role in future road safety strategies. (Image: naviti)
By Thomas Docking | @tom_docking
The Australian Federal Government has committed to new data reporting requirements, stipulating that states release vital road trauma data to receive federal road funding.
Despite all states and territories collecting data, it isn’t shared between them, the federal government, experts or the public.
The announcement coincides with a $21 million investment in the National Road Safety Data Hub, which aims to provide a clearer picture, through data, of where to target road safety measures to save lives.
The details of the requirements are not known as federal and state transport ministers are yet to concur on the reforms as part of the next funding agreement.
RAA Senior Manager of Road Safety, Charles Mountain, applauded the move.
“Without comprehensive data that reveals the contributing factors for all serious and fatal crashes, we don’t have the full picture to understand what is really causing them.
“By making this type of data public, we will have the information needed to form more effective road safety strategies — and help save lives and reduce injuries on our roads.”
Publishing road safety data aims to make road funding more transparent, make it easier to hold politicians accountable, and improve the effectiveness of existing measures to reduce road crashes.
Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King, said in a speech: “For the first time, the Commonwealth will seek to include a provision in this negotiated agreement with the states, that will create a requirement for the provision of a nationally consistent data set.
“States and territories, researchers and stakeholders, as well as the general public, will also benefit from increased access to national datasets.”
Mountain concurs. “At RAA, our traffic engineers spend countless hours poring over the crash data that is currently available to understand crash causes and what could reduce their occurrence.
“The increased data will help us become more effective in identifying targeted actions.”
This commitment follows South Australian Police (SAPOL) recording 117 fatalities on South Australian roads in 2023 — the highest number of road fatalities in the state since 2010 and higher than the annual average of 100.5 over the last 15 years.
South Australia’s Road Safety Strategy to 2031 plans to reduce the number of road fatalities by half and serious injuries by 30 per cent by 2031.
RAA findings, however, show that in the 12 months prior to March 2024, there were 807 serious injuries and 99 fatalities on roads. This is 18 per cent more than the Road Safety Strategy’s target of 84 fatalities to be on track to meet the 10-year goal.
“We believe … better access to road safety data, [which will help us] understand the causes of car crashes that result in fatalities or serious injuries, will enable road authorities, safety bodies and experts, together with police, to better target strategies to meet the objectives in SA’s Road Safety Strategy,” Mountain said.
The issue of a consistent national road safety dataset had been raised in an independent report on the National Partnership Agreement on Land Transport Infrastructure, commissioned by Minister King.
Minister King said: “This is something that many stakeholders, including the Australian Automobile Association, have been calling for … This is the first opportunity our government has had to act on data through these intergovernmental agreements.
“A clear picture, underpinned by data about where best to target road safety funding, will save lives and ensure we are investing in the projects that will make the biggest difference.”
On the investment in the National Road Safety Data Hub, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Carol Brown said in the senate: “This investment of $21 million will ensure that the hub can be used effectively by everyone, including decision-makers, and will continue the work of harmonising the important data provided by states and territories.”
Mountain said that while the National Road Safety Data Hub provides data about crashes and injuries across Australia, its methods are too varied.
“There is a lack of consistency between states and territories as to how the information is collected, collated and ultimately made available,” he said.
The investment “is welcomed as an important step towards achieving a nationally consistent approach to the capture and timely reporting of road crash serious injuries and fatalities”.
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