Feds Commit $21m To National Road Safety Data Hub

The upcoming Federal Budget will include a $21 million investment in a National Road Safety Data Hub in a bid to improve road safety, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King has revealed.

King, speaking at the Roads Australia 2024 Transforming Transport Summit, says the investment will ensure the Hub can be used effectively by everyone, including decision makers, and will continue the work of harmonising important data provided by state and territories.

“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,” she adds.

“States and territories, researchers and stakeholders, as well as the general public, will also benefit from increased access to national datasets.”

Secondly, King reveals the Federal Government will seek to improve data sharing from the states through its upcoming federation funding agreement negotiations.

She says an absence of consistent road safety data was one of the issues raised in the review of the National Partnership Agreement on Land Transport Infrastructure undertaken by Professor Jane Halton, which the Minister commissioned and received last year.

“Following that report, I can confirm that, 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,” King says.

“I know too that this is something that many stakeholders, including the Australian Automobile Association, have been calling for, and it was one of the recommendations of the Halton review of National Partnership Agreement, which I commissioned and received last year.

“This is the first opportunity our Government has had to act on data through these intergovernmental agreements.

“We are committed to this – I encourage the states now to do the same.”