Local Governments play a critical role in improving road safety across Western Australia. They manage most local roads and influence land use, community leadership and service delivery, making them central to achieving national and state road safety targets.
Road Safety Burden on Local Roads
More than half of all people killed or seriously injured (KSI) on Western Australian roads occur on Local Government-managed roads, with 57% of all KSIs recorded on local roads between 2019 and 2023[1]. While progress has been made, KSI rates on local roads remain higher than on state-managed roads.
As road managers, Local Governments are a critical stakeholder and partner in road safety, collectively managing over 127,000kms of roads, representing more than 86% of all public roads in WA[2].
Without systematic improvements on local roads, national and state road safety targets cannot be achieved through state roads alone. This highlights why sustained and coordinated Local Government action is essential to reducing deaths and serious injuries across WA.
A Holistic Influence on Safety
In addition to managing roads, Local Governments influence road safety through a range of other functions, including:
- land use planning and urban design, shaping safer, more liveable communities
- community development and leadership, supporting education, engagement and local partnerships
- fleet ownership and management, demonstrating best practice in safe vehicles and driving policies, and
- employers, particularly for staff who drive as part of their role.
Together, these responsibilities allow Local Governments to take a holistic, safe system approach – addressing infrastructure, speed, vehicles and behaviour in an integrated way.
This approach recognises that people make mistakes and that the transport system should be designed so those mistakes do not result in serious injury or death.
Aligning Investment with Road Safety Outcomes
Each year, Local Governments in WA spend more than $1 billion on repairs, maintenance, renewal, upgrades, and expansion of the local road infrastructure. Almost half of that investment comes from Local Governments’ own resources[2]. By embedding Safe System principles into the way Local Governments manage road safety, through maintenance, upgrades and future projects, Local Governments can make their road investment work harder to reduce deaths and serious injuries on local roads.
Recognition of Local Governments’ Role in Road Safety
The importance of Local Government involvement in road safety has been highlighted in several major reviews, reiterating that Local Government needs to be engaged and supported to ensure road safety strategy objectives and targets can be achieved.
The 2018 Inquiry into the National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020[3] recommended that road safety be embedded as ‘business as usual’ for all three spheres of government, including Local Government, to assist in transforming road safety performance across Australia.
In 2019, following a national review of road safety governance arrangements[4] , the Road Safety Taskforce concluded that the Local Government sector “is not sufficiently engaged or resourced to deliver road safety”.
In Western Australia, Driving Change, Road Safety Strategy for Western Australia 2020–2030 confirms that the target of reducing deaths and serious injuries by 50–70% by 2030 will not be possible without sustained and systematic action across the local road network. While recent data shows gradual improvements, progress must accelerate to meet these targets. These findings highlight the need for ongoing support to help Local Governments make road safety apart of everyday business, rather than relying on one-off initiatives.
How RoadWise Supports Local Government
WALGA’s RoadWise Program plays a vital role in supporting Local Governments to:
- embed road safety as core business
- apply evidence-based, safe system approaches across local road networks
build leadership, capability and consistency in road safety practice, and
- make informed, data-driven investment decisions.
By strengthening Local Government capacity and capability, RoadWise supports Local Governments to manage risk more effectively, prioritise safety outcomes and make a meaningful contribution to achieving national and state road safety objectives. This support helps Local Governments progress from current practice toward safer, and ultimately best practice, in managing local road safety performance.
