ACT mobile device detection cameras will be able to pick up seatbelt offences from 3 November. Photo: Queensland Transport and Main Roads Department.
Canberra’s mobile device detection cameras will be able to pick up seatbelt offences by drivers and passengers from early November.
The Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Amendment Bill 2025 was unanimously passed by the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday (3 September) to expand the detection capabilities of the cameras.
Attorney-General Tara Cheyne said it wasn’t just about enforcing the law, but raising awareness.
“This is a Bill that builds on decades of data and decades of proven messages that show one simple truth: seatbelts save lives,” she said.
“[It] does not create a new road rule nor does it introduce any new penalties, it doesn’t create a new responsibility [for drivers] either.”
A lap-and-sash seatbelt is considered “properly adjusted and fastened” if the clasp is buckled, the lap belt sits low and firmly on a person’s hips and the sash sits firmly over a person’s shoulder (not under their arm or behind their back).
An updated explanatory statement further clarified that people who are medically exempt from wearing a seatbelt – either correctly or at all – who are snapped by a camera while in a rideshare vehicle can provide their medical information directly to Access Canberra rather than to the rideshare driver.
Camera testing and system updates, along with a community education and awareness campaign, will be completed before the law comes into effect on 3 November.
Once the enforcement period of seatbelt offences begins, the cameras will work in the same way they do to detect speeding, mobile phone and registration offences.
“If multiple offences take place at the same time, for example a mobile device and a seatbelt offence, both can be captured in one event and the images can be used to issue multiple infringements,” Ms Cheyne said.
“This is already a possibility through police enforcement.”
An infringement review process and payment management plans are available for those who receive fines.
Several other Australian jurisdictions already use mobile cameras to capture seatbelt offences. Photo: NSW Government Facebook.
The ACT Government has also proposed new “move on” powers at bus stops, along with additional powers for authorised persons to manage antisocial behaviour and occupational violence on the public bus network.
The Road Transport (Public Passenger Services) Amendment Bill 2025 would allow Transport Canberra and ACT Policing officers to direct people to leave a bus interchange or the immediate area around the bus stop if they’re showing aggressive or menacing behaviour, or otherwise pose a safety risk to others.
ACT Policing would be also able to remove a person if they fail to comply with a move on direction.
Transport Minister Chris Steel said while violent behaviour on the bus network was already against the law, the legal mechanisms in place to deal with such behaviour in real time needed improvement.
“Violence or harassment towards bus drivers or passengers is not acceptable or tolerated on our bus network, including bus stops and interchanges,” he said.
“Addressing occupational violence and enhancing safety for our staff and community is a priority for the ACT Government. Our staff have the right to be safe at work and our passengers have the right to be safe when using our services.
“This Bill delivers on the commitment ACT Labor made at the election to review our transport laws to provide additional powers for transport officers to manage anti-social behaviour and promote safe journeys on public transport.”
The immediate area surrounding a bus stop is prescribed as a 20 m radius, or about the length of a Transport Canberra bus.
The new powers will apply to police officers, Transport Canberra Field Transport Officers and the new teams of Transport Enforcement Officers funded in the 2025-26 Budget.
The bill will be debated at a later date.
