The RoadWise Framework

Working Together Towards Achieving WA's Road Safety Objectives

The WA Government has established a road safety target[i] to reduce the number of people killed, severely or seriously injured by 50 – 70% by 2030.

This is achievable by doing more of what works, embracing new technology and engaging with the community and stakeholders to develop a cultural shift in road safety attitudes and behaviour. Driving Change, page 11.

WALGA’s RoadWise program is designed to contribute by encouraging and supporting better practice (“more of what works”), through direct engagement with Local Governments as stakeholders in delivering the Driving Change strategy and achieving those targets.

The involvement and contribution of Local Governments will be critical in achieving the targets of the WA road safety strategy and the ultimate vision of zero killed and serious injuries (KSIs).

The RoadWise Framework

Doing more of what works means adopting and applying those policies and practices that have shown to achieve the best road safety outcomes. Globally this is recognised to the be safe system approach hence this is the overarching framework for both the National and WA road safety strategies.

To ensure alignment with Driving Change and the National Road Safety Strategy, WALGA has developed the RoadWise Framework (the Framework).

The Framework, aligned with the safe system approach, is a holistic and systematic approach, designed to guide Local Government through the important governing and management functions that will enable the delivery of better practice, and evidence-based effective road safety interventions and countermeasures.

Further, the Framework recognises the priority areas of Driving Change (safe roads, safe road users, safe speeds, safe vehicles, and post-crash response) and is tailored to the relevant functional areas of Local Governments. In this way the Framework is aligned to contemporary safe systems thinking and principles and is tailored to the Local Government context.

This will help to translate best practice theory into action, it brings together the roles and responsibilities of Local Government relevant to road safety with the key elements of best practice, safe system approach.

In this way the Framework has been designed and developed to ensure that WALGA’s RoadWise program is focused on contemporary components of best practice in road safety.

The Framework, in brief: 

  • Overarching the Framework are the Road Safety Governing Principles for Local Government.
  • The next horizontal layer represents the functional areas of Local Governments that are directly relevant to improving road safety outcomes.
  • Supporting the holistic or systematic approach are topics (left column) that relate to some of the elements of a safe road transport system. These are linked to the priority areas of Driving Change.
  • It is those topics that will help focus the different Local Government functional areas towards the types of interventions or countermeasures suited to that part of the business.
  • There is a broad range of local actions for road safety that sit behind each of the tabs in the central part of the Framework.
  • The central part is made up of a grid of tabs. Stated as high-level goals, the labels on these tabs represent the aims of systems-based road safety in the Local Government context.
  • Road safety management (for example ISO 39001) is shown in the right column of the Framework to represent the underpinning plans, policies and processes that will systematically embed or mainstream road safety across the Local Government as an organisation.

          WALGA’s road safety personnel will use this Framework to guide the proactive and responsive activities of the Infrastructure portfolio in encouraging, motivating and supporting Local Governments towards best practice. For example, Road Safety Advisors will use the Framework to work with RoadWise Councils to plan, implement, monitor, report and communicate the delivery of local road safety activity.

          [i] Government of Western Australia (2020) Driving Change Road Safety Strategy for Western Australia 2020-2030, Perth. Driving-Change-Road-Safety-Strategy-2020_2.pdf (www.wa.gov.au).