Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Select Committee on Road Safety, I present the committee's report entitled Improving road safety in Australia.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—I was very pleased to act as the chair of the Joint Select Committee on Road Safety, and indeed it is a privilege to present this report and its 22 recommendations to the House today. I would like to thank all members of the committee who participated, but, in particular, the Hon. Sharon Bird, the Hon. Matt Thistlethwaite and Senator Glenn Sterle for their input and experience and also for their bipartisan approach to such an important national issue—road safety. I would also like to thank the very diligent research officers and secretary for compiling this report.

Last year, 1,188 people died on our nation's roads. The quantified financial cost of road trauma on the Australian economy in 2016 is estimated to have been over $33 billion. A recent inquiry into the National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020 also found that inaction on improving the current position will result in 12,000 people killed and 360,000 admitted to hospital, costing the nation in excess of $300 billion over the next decade. And this is only the immediate financial impact. Beyond this is the often silent but far-reaching emotional and social cost of road trauma in the community—and, far too often, in regional and rural communities. Over two-thirds of deaths on our roads occur in regional and rural locations, causing a ripple effect both emotionally and financially. This is imposed on family members and friends. Then, of course, there is the silent pain suffered by those first responders—the police, ambulance, SES and frontline medical workers—who are confronted with the catastrophic and unforgettable scenes of carnage.

In the past, all governments have failed to do enough to ensure that our roads provide safe passage for drivers and vulnerable road-users. This report acknowledges those failures, and, through its 22 recommendations, seeks to implement ideas, practices and policies received from experts, stakeholders, frontline workers and affected family members, to all of whom the committee is extremely grateful for their submissions and their evidence.

The first step in working towards safer roads is a change to the mindset that dying on our roads is tragic yet acceptable. Last year alone, we lost more people on our roads than we have during this coronavirus pandemic. Yet we don't refer to our road toll as a pandemic. We can no longer think that road deaths are an unfortunate consequence of road use. It is also incumbent on all levels of government to work together to collect and share data and report on all issues surrounding road safety. We can no longer consider this a local issue, a state issue or a federal issue. This is a national issue, and it can only be resolved by working together.

It was pleasing to see an additional $2 billion for road safety upgrades and a further $1 billion to help our councils through the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program. Sometimes, the smallest of changes can have the biggest outcomes.

I hope to continue to work with my colleagues in a permanent capacity on the road safety committee to implement these recommendations and to ensure transparency, accountability and outcomes, and to save lives, for all Australians on our roads. I commend the report to the House.

Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Financial Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too wish to join with the member for Cowper in commending this report to the parliament. I thank the member for Cowper for the great job that he did in chairing this committee and the bipartisan culture that he instilled in the committee and the recommendations that have been made.

That bipartisan approach existed on this committee for this simple fact: far too many Australians die or are seriously injured on our roads every year. As the chair said, 1,188 Australians lost their lives last year. A massive 36,000 people were hospitalised, with a huge cost—over $30 billion—to our nation. The shocking fact is that we, as a nation, continue to tolerate this, when we know that there is technology and there are advances that we can make as a nation to reduce that toll.

Many of those who submitted to the inquiry mentioned the simple things we can do that will have a big effect. Most notably, simply having nationally consistent data across the network about definitions for casualty crashes, for road safety ratings and for speeding will make a massive improvement to policy approaches to fixing some of this problem. There's a recommendation for the national Office of Road Safety to work with the states and territories on developing these nationally consistent definitions over the coming years and, importantly, on having this data published on a regular basis so that the people who work in this area can make better decisions about improving safety outcomes.

Road design and engineering is vitally important and can make a big difference. Many of the submitters made their approach about the importance of road safety rating systems or star rating systems relating to infrastructural changes, like making changes to the way we build shoulders on roads, putting audible markings on highways, building dual carriageways where we can, putting in anti-collision wires and making the many other changes that can be made around the technology of road design and proper engineering that will have a big effect. There's a recommendation in the report about the importance of the Commonwealth using funding as a mechanism to ensure that we get better outcomes in this area by making sure that, if Commonwealth funding is going to a particular road project, it meets criteria and incorporates the Network Design for Road Safety principles.

We heard about the importance of technology and the changes that have been made, particularly over the last decade, and the improvements that have been made and the effects that those have had. We all know about the introduction of speed cameras and red light cameras, but, more recently, jurisdictions have been beginning to implement mobile phone cameras that indicate when a person has picked up their mobile phone and is potentially distracted, as a driver, whilst in their car. That is providing important data and, of course, an enforcement mechanism to reduce the distraction of drivers. There's the importance of point-to-point speed cameras and how they're making a difference on highways throughout the country. I think that we, as a Commonwealth, should be insisting, in terms of funding going to states, that, where it's possible, funding is contingent upon such technology being built into the road that the Commonwealth is a partner in.

Vehicle safety standards are very, very important. Anti-collision braking, lane-change assist, rear cameras—all of these changes can make a difference to safety. We highlight, through a recommendation, that safety should be paramount in procurement decisions, particularly in government at all levels. We asked for the review of the time frames for mandatory information in respect of safety features.

One of the most important recommendations—and I'll finish on this—is, as the chair said, the committee's unanimous recommendation that this committee become a permanent standing committee of the parliament and that it work with this parliament, with the states and territories and, importantly, with local government and the people who work in this industry, on a permanent basis, to improve the safety standards on Australian roads and, hopefully, reduce that road toll.

I too wish to thank all of the submitters who submitted to the inquiry. Many of them are very, very passionate. Many of those who are involved in this didn't want to be but are, because they've lost loved ones and are campaigning for better standards and changes we can make as a nation. I once again thank the chair and all of the members and senators who participated in the inquiry.

Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House take note of the report.

Debate adjourned.