Road safety in Australia
Around 1,200 people die and about 40,000 are seriously injured on Australian roads each year. Australia aims for zero deaths and serious injuries by 2050 (Vision Zero). The National Road Safety Strategy 2021–30 targets a 50% reduction in deaths and a 30% reduction in serious injuries by 2030.
Road death data are reported by state and nationally by BITRE. Australia also reports road deaths during holidays, usually Christmas and Easter.
Policy history and local action: The national 1992 Road Safety Strategy set goals, but local governments decide how to apply them. Victoria has reduced deaths with speed cameras, random alcohol breath tests, and an integrated trauma system. Requiring seat belts has helped lower deaths.
Random breath testing (RBT) uses visible roadblocks where all drivers are tested for alcohol, regardless of suspicion. RBT has been shown to reduce alcohol-related road deaths by about 8–71% across 14 studies.
New South Wales: Transport for NSW manages roads. The Connecting NSW Strategy prioritizes “Towards zero trauma” (2025). NSW publishes daily road-safety statistics. The 2026 Road Safety Action Plan aligns with the National Strategy targets.
In 2022, TfNSW worked with Real Time Traffic and Lab3 to trial deployable computer-vision tech to detect near misses and crashes. In two weeks, 217 near misses were detected at two locations.
Terminology note: “Road toll” is an old term. Most agencies now use road deaths, road fatalities, lives lost, or road trauma. Media guidelines suggest not using “road toll” because it implies deaths are an acceptable cost of roads.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 19:45 (CET).