When Do You Need a Road Safety Audit in Victoria?

When an audit is usually required

No single rule covers every project. In practice, audits are most often required in the situations below.

• DTP-managed (arterial) roads: the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP), formerly VicRoads, commonly requires audits on projects that change its roads. That includes its own projects and works by others, such as a developer building a new intersection on an arterial road.
• Council roads: councils manage local roads. Many ask for an audit on intersection upgrades, new roads, traffic calming and other changes to existing roads, either through their own policy or project by project. Requirements vary between councils.
• Development and subdivision works: where a development builds roads or intersections that will be handed over to council, or connects to a DTP road, an audit is commonly a condition of the planning permit or of the road authority's approval of the works.
• Major projects: on Victoria's Big Build projects, such as level crossing removals and major road upgrades, audits are a standard part of design and delivery, usually at several stages.
• Roadworks and temporary traffic management: works on live roads change how people drive, walk and ride through a site. Audits of the traffic management plan (TMP), the traffic guidance scheme (TGS) and the setup on the road are commonly required by the road authority or the principal contractor, particularly on DTP roads and larger projects.

The surest way to know is to read the documents. Your planning permit, the road authority's conditions, your contract or the project brief will usually say whether an audit is needed and at which stages.

Which audit stage applies when

The Austroads Guide to Road Safety Part 6: Road Safety Audit describes audits at different points in a project. Each stage has a name and a purpose.

• Feasibility: early, when route and layout options are being compared. Big changes are still possible.
• Preliminary design: once the concept is set. The audit looks at geometry, sight distance, intersection layout and provision for pedestrians and cyclists.
• Detailed design: when the drawings are close to final. The audit covers signs, line marking, barriers, lighting and the details that are easy to miss.
• Pre-opening: a day and night site inspection before the road opens to traffic. It checks what was built, not just what was drawn.
• Post-opening: a site inspection once the road is in use, to see how people actually use it.
• Existing roads: a review of a road that has been in service for some time, using a site inspection and the crash history.
• Roadworks and temporary traffic management: a review of the TMP or TGS and the setup on a live road.

Not every project needs every stage. A small intersection upgrade might only need a detailed design and a pre-opening audit. A major project may have all of them.

Earlier is cheaper. A finding at preliminary design is a change to a drawing. The same finding at pre-opening can mean rework, delay and cost. Bring the auditor in at the earliest stage your project allows.

Who asks for it, and who commissions it

The party that asks for an audit is usually the road authority: DTP for arterial roads, or the council for local roads. They set the requirement through policy, permit conditions or the contract.

The party that commissions and pays for it is usually whoever is delivering the work. On a road authority's own project, that is the authority or its contractor. On a development, it is the developer or their consultant. On roadworks, it is often the contractor or the traffic management company.

Whoever commissions it, the audit team must be independent of the design. The auditors should not have designed the project or be checking their own work. Austroads Part 6 sets out this independence, and road authorities look for it when they review the report.

After the report is issued, the client and designer respond to each finding. They either accept it and nominate a treatment, or decline it with reasons. The auditors don't redesign the project, so independence holds through close-out.

What the auditor needs from you

Send what you have. A good auditor will tell you if anything is missing. Typically that means:

• Drawings or design package for the stage being audited
• Design report and design speed
• Crash history, for existing roads
• Traffic volumes, where relevant
• Site access details and any night inspection requirements
• The traffic management plan (TMP) or traffic guidance scheme (TGS), for roadworks audits

Also tell the auditor which stage the audit is for and who will review the report. That shapes the scope.

Road safety audit, Safe System assessment or compliance audit?

These three are often confused. They answer different questions.

• Road safety audit: an independent review of a specific design or road at a defined stage, reported against Austroads Part 6. It looks for where crash risk remains, even on a design that meets every standard.
• Safe System assessment: a separate exercise that looks at how well a design aligns with Safe System principles. Some projects ask for both, so check which one your brief calls for.
• Compliance audit: asks whether what is on the ground matches what was approved, such as a traffic management setup against its TGS. See our compliance audits service.

A design can be fully compliant and still carry crash risk. That is why a compliance check doesn't replace an audit.

Talk to a Senior Road Safety Auditor

Not sure whether your project needs an audit, or which stage? Send us your permit, conditions or brief. We'll read it and tell you what it calls for.

Fresh Engineering's audits are led by a Senior Road Safety Auditor with 15+ years in Victoria, on projects from council works to North East Link, the West Gate Tunnel and the Level Crossing Removal Program. We also hold TMD Cat 1, 2 & 3, so roadworks audits are covered too. We work across Melbourne and regional Victoria.

See our road safety audit service, read what drives the cost of an audit, or send us your project details. You can also call 0492 930 492, Mon–Fri 9am–5pm.

Frequently Asked Questions