Stakeholders demand answers as SA withholds road safety data amid accuracy concerns

While other states reveal their road safety ratings to help save lives, South Australia has dramatically pulled its data at the eleventh hour.

The government won’t release road safety ratings that could slash speed limits and determine road upgrades across SA, claiming they need “confidence” in the data first. Picture: Emma Brasier

Road safety ratings that could determine future upgrades and changes to speed limits on roads throughout South Australia have not been made public, after the government “withdrew consent” for release, saying they were waiting until they had “confidence” in the data’s accuracy.

The Australian Road Assessment Program (AusRAP) is conducted by the federal government through Austroads, and ranks roads on a five-star scale to determine where improvements can be made and which roads pose risks for drivers, looking at factors such as layout, speed limits, and volumes of traffic.

Narungga MP Fraser Ellis is calling for the release of the data. Picture: David Mariuz

Results of the latest surveys were released nationally on Monday, except for Queensland and Tasmania, whose surveys have yet to be completed, and South Australia.

The Advertiser understands that last week, the South Australian government told Austroads they were withdrawing consent for the release of the data, raising questions from stakeholders as to why this decision was made.

It would have been the first time AusRAP ratings were publicly available.

Among those calling for the release of the SA ratings is independent MP Fraser Ellis, who said he’d been lobbying to increase the speed limits on upgraded roads in his electorate of Narungga.

“I was interested in the start because it would help me, I think, add some objectivity to my lobbying for road improvements if we knew which were the worst roads in the state,” Mr Ellis said.

He said the speed limits on many country roads had been reduced from 110km/h to 80km/h before upgrades. But now that the upgrades were finished, the AusRAP could help his advocacy for the original speed limits to return.

RAA safety and infrastructure senior manager Charles Mountain called on the state government to provide a timeline for the data’s release. Picture: David Mariuz

He said he would be writing to the new Transport Minister Emily Bourke to question why the ratings had not yet been made public.

“It’s no secret that we have a dilapidated road network,” Mr Ellis said. “So it’s not like withholding that information is going to prevent people from realising that.”

RAA safety and infrastructure senior manager Charles Mountain said publicly available ratings would “help us save lives”, as the motoring body called on the state government to provide a timeline for the data’s release.

“Publicly available AusRAP star ratings will help us save lives on our roads by helping to identify where investment on the network should be prioritised for maximum safety benefit,” Mr Mountain said.

A Department for Infrastructure and Transport spokeswoman said the department was waiting for the data to be verified and that it would “support” it being published.

“The decision to publish South Australian AusRAP star ratings will be reserved until the department has confidence in the accuracy of the data, and we are actively working to complete these assessments,” the spokeswoman said.

Shadow transport minister Ben Hood said SA’s withdrawal raised “serious questions”.

“If Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia and the Northern Territory are confident enough to release this data, why isn’t South Australia?” Mr Hood said.

“South Australians deserve the same transparency about the state of our roads as every other Australian, most especially those who live in regional SA.”

Austroads was contacted for comment.