Austroads moves to operationalise National Registration Framework for Road Safety Auditors

Tuesday, 19 May 2026

The National Harmonisation of Road Safety Audit Practices Project has reached a major milestone, with Austroads operationalising the National Registration Framework for Road Safety Auditors (NRFRSA).

This framework will establish a national system for registering trainee auditors, road safety auditors, and senior road safety auditors. It will introduce standardised requirements for auditor registration, renewal, and oversight, supported by a network of nationally approved road safety audit training providers.

“Road safety auditors are currently managed individually by state and territory road agencies, leading to variability in training, accreditation and registration,” said Geoff Allan, Austroads Chief Executive. “Senior road safety auditors accredited across different jurisdictions generally had to meet different practice, training and experience requirements and have differing obligations to maintain their accreditation.”

Austroads members are committed to improving the consistency and quality of road safety audit practices and have agreed to implement a national registration system for road safety auditors and a national approval process for road safety audit training providers. The NRFRSA provides a nationally harmonised environment for individuals to register and practice road safety auditing. The NRFRSA ensures road safety auditors have:

• road safety audit training
• road safety engineering experience
• road safety audit practice
• continuing professional development.

Key documents published

These newly published documents are the result of extensive collaboration and analysis between Austroads members, industry experts, and stakeholders.

• Benefit-Cost Analysis: The purpose of this study was to carry out an economic evaluation of Austroads’ proposal for national harmonisation of road safety audit practices. The study found that an annual reduction of 0.07 fatal crashes, or 1.07 hospitalisation crashes, would cover the costs of the national harmonised road safety audit practice.
• Road Safety Audit National Training Syllabus: The purpose of the National Training Syllabus is to detail the training programs that will form the National Road Safety Auditor Training. The syllabus is supported by Austroads Technical Note 18 – Addressing High-Risk Crash Locations, which covers the treatment of high-risk crash locations.  
  
  The syllabus provides guidance for training organisations to develop their training material and apply to become approved training providers for the delivery of road safety audit training. Whilst prospective training organisations are encouraged to consider the syllabus, the application process for application to become an approved training provider will be formally announced by Austroads closer to the commencement date.

For more information, visit the National Registration Framework for Road Safety Auditors webpage.