Allan government under fire after it diverted $40m from road safety program to extra speed cameras

The cash-strapped state government is under fire after it diverted more than $40m from Victoria’s road safety program to spend on extra speed cameras.

The Allan government has diverted more than $40m from Victoria’s road safety program to spend on speed cameras instead.

But the state’s top transport bureaucrat has promised the move won’t leave safety programs short changed.

Documents tendered to the parliament’s Public Accounts and Estimates Committee showed the total estimated investment in Victoria’s Road Safety Strategy decreased by $42.8m in 2023-24.

The money was transferred to the Department of Justice and Community Safety for additional intersection speed and highway network cameras.

Department of Transport and Planning secretary Paul Younis on Wednesday could not detail how that money would be spent, but said there would be no reduction in Victoria’s road safety program.

The state government has been accused of revenue-raising. Picture: Paul Loughnan

But shadow roads minister, Danny O’Brien, said taking money from road safety for more speed cameras looked like “revenue-raising for a cash-strapped government”.

“We’ve already seen huge reductions in TAC-funded road safety spending and road safety infrastructure programs such as safety barriers and tactile line-marking have been axed altogether,” he said.

“At a time when the road toll is at its highest level in 15 years, taking crucial funds from road safety to install more speed cameras is robbing Peter to pay Paul to pay Tim Pallas.”

TAC data shows the current 2024 road toll, at 252, is down 2.7 per cent compared to the same time last year, but remains well above the five year average.

The current road toll is well above the five year average. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

At the same time traffic camera and speeding fine revenue is at a five year high, with $528m collected last year, $127m more than the previous year.

A government spokesperson said the money diverted away from road safety programs was always allocated to deliver 35 new fixed road safety camera locations and two new point-to-point networks.

It was transferred from the Department of Transport and Planning to the Department of Justice and Community Safety to streamline road safety camera projects.

“We work in partnership across agencies to deliver Victoria’s Road Safety Strategy and there has not been a decrease in road safety camera funding,” she said.

“Road safety cameras are proven to be one of the most effective ways to get motorists to slow down. The facts speak for themselves – there is on average a 47 per cent reduction in crashes resulting in death or injury on stretches of road where a camera is installed.

“Every dollar received from road safety cameras goes to the Better Roads Victoria Trust where it is spent on projects such as roads restoration, surface replacement, bridge strengthening and other road safety improvements.”