Road safety data including information about fatalities, hospitalisations, police enforcement and analysis of crash risk will now be collected and published, to help inform future road safety projects.
This follows a campaign led by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) and supported by the Australian Trucking Association (ATA).
With the finalisation of a new funding agreement, the Australian, state and territory governments will publish critical road safety information, following detailing negotiations.
A new Road Safety Data Hub website went live on Wednesday November 13, where the data will be publicly available.
Through the Hub, this data will be provided in a searchable catalogue.
The Hub website also integrates links to a number of other road safety government websites and includes a submission form for public feedback.
This forms part of the Government’s $21 million commitment to ensure the Hub can be used effectively by everyone, including decision makers, and will continue the work of harmonising the important data provided by state and territories.
It’s hoped the Hub website will help to better inform policy decisions and funding allocations under the Road Safety Program.
Transport Minister Catherine King said, “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.”
AAA managing director Michael Bradley added that the agreement was Australia’s most significant road safety reform in many years.
“Publishing this data will save lives, because it will help explain the crashes occurring today, and tell us how to prevent similar crashes in the future. Australians will finally be able to see which road safety approaches are working, and those that are not,” he said.
ATA CEO Mathew Munro agreed that the agreement was an important step forward.
“Governments and industry need better information about road crashes so we can stop them from happening,” Munro said.
“It’s an important step, but to get the best information governments need to enable the expert safety investigators at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to conduct no-blame safety investigations into truck crashes where there are lessons to be learned.”
The data will be provided through the Government’s new Road Safety Data Hub.