❓ Mr. Love questions the Minister for Road Safety about the ineffective administration of the Road Trauma Trust Account (RTTA) and the lack of improvement in WA's road toll. The Minister acknowledges the Auditor General's report and outlines reforms being undertaken by the Road Safety Commission and Road Safety Council.
AnsweredQoN 771Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ROAD TRAUMA TRUST
ACCOUNT — AUDITOR GENERAL'S REPORT
771. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Road Safety:
I refer to the Auditor General's
determination that the Road Safety Council and Road Safety Commission are not
effectively administering the road trauma trust account, and that last year an
unacceptable 175 Western Australians lost their lives on our roads.
(1) Given that Western
Australia's road toll has not seen significant improvement in a decade,
what specific reforms will the minister make
to the road trust trauma account to ensure that strategic projects are
identified and evaluated to ensure the effective use of this well over
$100 million fund?
(2) Noting that
the RTTA is expected to increase in value by up to $69 million annually when
new camera systems come online, will the
minister ensure that this funding will be used to reduce deaths on WA roads?
ACCOUNT — AUDITOR GENERAL'S REPORT
771. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Road Safety:
I refer to the Auditor General's
determination that the Road Safety Council and Road Safety Commission are not
effectively administering the road trauma trust account, and that last year an
unacceptable 175 Western Australians lost their lives on our roads.
(1) Given that Western
Australia's road toll has not seen significant improvement in a decade,
what specific reforms will the minister make
to the road trust trauma account to ensure that strategic projects are
identified and evaluated to ensure the effective use of this well over
$100 million fund?
(2) Noting that
the RTTA is expected to increase in value by up to $69 million annually when
new camera systems come online, will the
minister ensure that this funding will be used to reduce deaths on WA roads?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) Yes;
I am obviously aware of the Auditor General's report that came out
yesterday regarding the performance audit of
the office of the Road Safety Commission and the Road Safety Council. I acknowledge
the findings of the report. The member will note that there are three
recommendations. A couple of the recommendations
refer to governments and one refers to a procedural matter that was covered
already in a finance audit of the Western Australia Police Force that
was released a few weeks ago. That recommendation is to ensure that the Road
Safety Commission gets approval from the minister before any money is spent from the road trauma trust
account. I can say that all money spent from the road trauma trust
account has already been government approved on projects to improve road
safety, and that goes through a vigorous budget process every year. I have
written to the Road Safety Commission to ensure that it complies with that as
soon as it is able to in the forthcoming budget processes.
In terms of those other
recommendations that the Auditor General made, the Road Safety Commission
already has a body of work underway. We also have our Road Safety Council, and
the chair has been in the job I think a little over a year. The former member
for Carine Katie Hodson-Thomas is there doing a great job elevating the Road
Safety Council and making sure that the people on the council are of a high
level in government and that some of those community organisations are already
represented on it. The reforms that the Road Safety Commission and the Road
Safety Council have already been looking at—it is mentioned in the
response to the report—include a new evaluation framework to ensure
that when the Road Safety Commission recommends up to the Road Safety Council
funding out of the road trauma trust account,
it is properly evaluated and there is a standard assessment process; a new
governance charter to deal with any issues of conflict of interest,
given who is legislated to be on the Road Safety Council; and also a new
administration framework. These are the things that I am committed to. We
accept the recommendations in full. There are some implementation time frames
in there. I am expecting that the Road
Safety Commission and the Road Safety Council will hopefully exceed them and
have them completed within the next few months.
I am obviously aware of the Auditor General's report that came out
yesterday regarding the performance audit of
the office of the Road Safety Commission and the Road Safety Council. I acknowledge
the findings of the report. The member will note that there are three
recommendations. A couple of the recommendations
refer to governments and one refers to a procedural matter that was covered
already in a finance audit of the Western Australia Police Force that
was released a few weeks ago. That recommendation is to ensure that the Road
Safety Commission gets approval from the minister before any money is spent from the road trauma trust
account. I can say that all money spent from the road trauma trust
account has already been government approved on projects to improve road
safety, and that goes through a vigorous budget process every year. I have
written to the Road Safety Commission to ensure that it complies with that as
soon as it is able to in the forthcoming budget processes.
In terms of those other
recommendations that the Auditor General made, the Road Safety Commission
already has a body of work underway. We also have our Road Safety Council, and
the chair has been in the job I think a little over a year. The former member
for Carine Katie Hodson-Thomas is there doing a great job elevating the Road
Safety Council and making sure that the people on the council are of a high
level in government and that some of those community organisations are already
represented on it. The reforms that the Road Safety Commission and the Road
Safety Council have already been looking at—it is mentioned in the
response to the report—include a new evaluation framework to ensure
that when the Road Safety Commission recommends up to the Road Safety Council
funding out of the road trauma trust account,
it is properly evaluated and there is a standard assessment process; a new
governance charter to deal with any issues of conflict of interest,
given who is legislated to be on the Road Safety Council; and also a new
administration framework. These are the things that I am committed to. We
accept the recommendations in full. There are some implementation time frames
in there. I am expecting that the Road
Safety Commission and the Road Safety Council will hopefully exceed them and
have them completed within the next few months.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.