Road deaths in Australia have risen by 8.2% in the 12 months to March this year, the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) has found.
There were 1,286 road fatalities in the last year. The largest number of deaths were in NSW, Victoria and Queensland — Australia’s most populous states.
Only Western Australia, Tasmania, and the ACT recorded fewer deaths in the last 12 months than the previous year.
Road deaths in Australia
NSW had the highest number of deaths (364) in the year to March. This was a 33.3% increase on the previous year – the largest rise in Australia. Victoria (291) and Queensland (290) also recorded large numbers of road deaths.
Western Australia (162) recorded 10% fewer deaths in the year to March 2024 than it did in the previous 12 months. Tasmania (31) and the ACT (4) had the least number of road deaths.
Further details
The AAA found Australia isn’t on track to meet its goal of reducing road deaths by 50% by 2030. This goal was included in Australia’s 10-year national road safety strategy, which came into effect in 2021.
The AAA also shared concern about a lack of data-sharing by the states and territories with national authorities.
It said that current data being shared doesn’t offer information about the circumstances leading to the deaths, such as road quality and the location of fatal crashes.
