State and territory road laws
Review of child restraint requirements in the Australian Road Rules
MACA welcomes and strongly supports updates to child restraint rules in the Australian Road Rules. Proposed changes being considered are outlined in the National Transport Commission (NTC) Issues Paper. As a member of the NTC’s Expert Advisory Group, MACA actively contributed to the development of the paper.
This Issues Paper formed the basis of a public consultation undertaken by the NTC between Monday 27 October and Friday 19 December 2025. MACA submitted a response, which can be downloaded below.
A summary report outlining the feedback received during the consultation is available on the NTC website.
Next steps
The NTC will use feedback from the Issues Paper consultation to inform the development of a regulation impact statement.
The regulation impact statement will outline the preferred options for updating child restraint requirements under the Australian Road Rules, informed by an analysis of the potential impacts.
A further round of public consultation is expected mid-2026.
Final recommendations will be presented to Ministers for approval in the second half of 2026.
By state or territory
There are many differences in road laws in each state and territory for transporting children and adults with disabilities and medical conditions.
To help health professionals, families and other people navigate the law, we've summarised the most common laws in each state and territory.
MACA develops resources such as template letters to assist MACA Certified Professionals to help families and clients comply with road laws. These resources are available from MACAhub Pro.
