Safer Speeds Communication Toolkit

Applying safer speed limits is one of the most effective ways of improving road safety and creating more liveable neighbourhoods.

Victoria Walks, Common Cause Australia and MAV have collaborated to develop a toolkit for councils on public communications to support the introduction of 40 and 30 km/h speed limits in appropriate locations.

Work to develop the Toolkit included:

  • Interviews with Victorian councils and transport departments in Western Australia and New Zealand with experience introducing safer speeds.
  • Review of council communication materials about safer speeds.
  • Five focus groups conducted in March and April 2024.
  • Survey of 2,258 people, representative of Victoria by age and gender, to measure existing support for safer speeds and test the effectiveness of different messages.
  • Development of messaging and tactical tips and a user testing workshop with council and agency staff.

Toolkit components

  1. The heart of the Toolkit, the Communication Guide provides messaging and tactical tips to build public support for 40 and 30 km/h limits, based on the rigorous research undertaken for the project.
  2. Safer speeds Conversations and Objection Handling provides suggestions for how to respond to some common objections to safer speeds.
  3. The benefits of safer speeds Evidence Summary outlines why 40 and 30km/h are safer and the evidence of road safety and other improvements where safer speeds have been introduced.
  4. The safer speeds Survey Report provides a summary of the survey results across Victoria and for five council types: inner metro, rest of metro, interface, regional cities and regional shires.

Need more help?

We have some limited capacity to directly advise or support councils to communicate around safer speeds.

If your (Victorian) council would like to be involved in an implementation workshop exploring the recommendations in detail and how they might apply to your area, register your interest here by 28 March 2025.

Otherwise: