This information provides guidance to principals in addressing road safety issues in and around schools through education, infrastructure and collaboration.
Principals, in consultation with the school community and, where appropriate, as part of a SafeST review, are to assess the risks associated with traffic on nearby roads and provide student education or practical demonstrations regarding safe road usage, having regard to these risks.
Any road safety incidences in, and around the immediate vicinity of schools, must be entered in the MyHR workplace health and safety (WH&S) system.
Regional offices will report adverse trends to the Department of Education's (DoE) Property Management Unit for consideration with the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR).
Strategies for addressing road safety concerns
To protect students against the risk of injury or harm associated with road use which should have been reasonably foreseen, consider the following to support your school with addressing road safety concerns:
- If a school community identifies a safety concern it should establish a Safe School Travel Committee to assess risks and determine improvement options with stakeholders (the road owner (TMR or local council), the school community and the local member). Details on how to establish a Safe School Travel Committee and how to assess road safety issues can be found at the
Safe School travel website.
- include road safety curriculum content as part of the school learning program
- highlight particular local situations (e.g. split campus environments) in road safety awareness sessions.
- At split campus schools
- provide all students with road safety awareness sessions twice yearly
- supplement road safety awareness sessions with regular reminders at assembly
- provide local road safety information and inductions to new students as one component of their road safety education
- for primary students, this induction should also include practical demonstrations
- review any road safety notifications, formal or informal, of injuries or near misses with their Parents and Citizens' Committee to address those issues.
- Ensure all school staff and the school community
- model safe road user behaviour
- reinforce the road safety messages taught at school
- identify and report road safety issues in, and around, the immediate vicinity of the school
- report illegal driver behaviour to the appropriate authority
- attempt to resolve road safety issues at a local level with support from the TMR regional staff.
- Manage and communicate safe and responsible travel of students travelling to and from school in partnership with the school community (e.g. bus safety and behaviour - Code of Conduct for School Students Travelling on Buses).
Online resources