Fine and licence changes impact three states

CHANGES to licencing requirements and road law enforcement will impact three Australian states from this month as the Victoria government bungles its digital licence trial and both Tasmania and Queensland tighten the surveillance of in-car mobile phone use.

Victoria’s recent trial to shift toward a NSW-style digital (mobile phone-based) licence has hit a speedhump with reports this week that thousands of Ballarat trial participants were mailed email contact details and personal information of other residents taking part in the evaluation.

VicRoads was forced to issue an apology over the error which has left many participants feeling vulnerable to identity theft and similar scams. The Victorian state government says more than 2500 drivers in the trial program were now accessing their licence electronically but did not say how many were affected by the mail-out error.

The digital licences – which may soon be accessible via the Services Victoria and VicRoads mobile phone apps – automatically advises authorities if a licence has been revoked or suspended.

Police and businesses requiring identification checks can verify a digital licence holder’s identification via a timed QR code.

The state-wide roll-out of the move to a digital licence is expected to take place sometime next year, bringing Victoria in line with South Australia and New South Wales who already have digital licences.

Further south, Tasmanian motorists are being advised that mobile speed cameras in the state will not be equipped with cameras to detect mobile phone use.

A recent trial by Tasmania Police captured drivers breaking the laws around mobile phone use in vehicles at a rate of one every 7.6 minutes. The enforcement agency now has 14 mobile camera systems capable of detecting mobile phone use and seatbelt non-compliance at its disposal.

According to a report published by the ABC this week, Tasmania’s new mobile phone detection cameras captured 339 infractions in 43 hours as part of the trail. The 14 mobile camera systems are now fully operational with anyone now caught breaking the law likely to receive a fine of $390 and three demerit points.

Queensland introduced mobile phone and seatbelt detection cameras in 2021 and Victoria in March of this year.

In Queensland, the camera system captured 170,000 drivers and front-seat passengers breaking the law in the first 12 months of the systems use.

A recent announcement from the Queensland state government says road users in the state can expect to receive even more speed-, mobile phone- and seatbelt related fines in the near future with the Camera Detected Offence Program receiving a “massive funding boost”.

9News reports that the Cabinet Budget Review Committee approved $4,998,500 to be allocation to the Transport and Main Roads Department for “camera initiatives”, with 39 full-time staff to be funded.

The Queensland state government says revenue made from fines issued by traffic camera systems will be reinvested into road and traffic safety programs.