❓ WA Parliamentary Question on Notice regarding seatbelt-related fines issued by AI cameras, including the number of infringements, review processes, and impact on drivers. The government provides data on infringements issued and withdrawn, revenue collected, and ongoing reviews, but defers court-related data to the Department of Justice.

I refer to various news articles - such as those written by Ben Harvey, Jessica Evensen, and Jenny Schon, concerning the significant number of seatbelt-related fines for WA drivers resulting from infringements and alleged infringements captured by AI cameras, and I ask:(a) how many AI cameras activated for this use are installed in:(i) the North Metropolitan area;(ii) the South Metropolitan area;(iii) the East Metropolitan area; and(iv) across regional WA;(b) in total, and for each region in (a), how many infringements have been issued since the introduction of the seatbelt-infringement AI technology;(c) how many infringements have been issued which relate to children wearing seatbelts incorrectly;(d) is it correct, as reported in the Ben Harvey article on 26 February, that the State Government recommends that children and other vulnerable passengers sit in the back ("A State Government spokesperson said cameras only picked up the front seat of the car and it was recommended that children and other vulnerable passengers sit in the back.");(e) in relation to (d), why should children and other vulnerable passengers sit in the back;(f) is the State Government reviewing these arrangements, such as the suggestion in the Ben Harvey article around "changes to the law which gave concessions to drivers with elderly or juvenile passengers" (noting the earlier concern listed in the article about neuro divergent children, and an alleged incident involving a panic attack);(g) how many seat-belt related infringements have progressed to court since the beginning of the period canvassed in (b);(h) how many of the infringements in (b) have been paid;(i) what was the dollar value amount of (h);(j) how many seat-belt related infringements in (g) have been overturned by the courts;(k) how many seat-belt related infringements in (b) have been withdrawn as a result of an appeal made to the issuer of the infringement (i.e., excluding the courts process);(l) since the publication of the concerns around AI failures of accuracy, has the Minister instructed any reviews of issues infringements, or a higher level of manual review moving forward;(m) in relation to (l), what changes have been made;(n) in relation to (i), has this process resulted in any infringements being cancelled, and if so, how many;(o) how many drivers have had their licence cancelled or suspended as a result of an infringement issues for seat-belt offences captured by AI cameras; and(p) in relation to (b) how many demerit points in total does this represent?

(a) There are currently eight multifunction safety camera trailers operating in Western Australian – 4 in Perth, 2 based in Albany and 2 based in Geraldton. These trailers are generally deployed up to 200km from their base location but may operate outside that range on a needs basis. Additionally, there are two fixed locations on the Kwinana Freeway north bound, near Salter Point and South Perth. (b) As of 30 March 2026, 49,510 seatbelt related infringements have been issued from incidents captured by the new safety cameras. (c) The safety cameras cannot determine if the person captured is under the age of 18. (d-e) As per the Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure’s Seats and seatbelts webpage, drivers are legally responsible for ensuring that children are suitably restrained in a vehicle: Additionally, Kidsafe Australia’s National Best Practice Guidelines document, Safety of Children in Motor Vehicles , which was produced with the help of funding from the Road Safety Commission, recommends that children 12 years of age and under are safest in the rear seat. (f) As part of the $80 million road safety package announced by the Cook Labor Government in December 2025, the Road Safety Commission is undertaking a broad review of penalties and infringement policies with a view to moving to a more flexible framework that is focused on behaviour change. (g) Data related to court proceedings is the responsibility of the Department of Justice. (h) As of 30 March 2026, 15,959 seatbelt infringements have been accepted by the driver. (i) $8,777,450, which, as per the Road Safety Council Act 2002, will be paid into the Road Trauma Trust Account to be used to fund road safety projects. (j) Data related to court proceedings is the responsibility of the Department of Justice. (k) As of 30 March 2026, 2,712 infringements have been withdrawn. (l-n) The Road Safety Commission is undertaking a broad review of penalties and infringement policies with a view to moving to a more flexible framework that is focused on behaviour change (o-p) When a driver’s record exceeds their permissible number of demerit points, they will be issued an Excessive Demerit Point Notice and their licence may be suspended. However, demerit points are not automatically applied to a driver’s record – for example, if a driver elects to have a matter heard by the court, demerit points will only be applied if the court outcome has recorded a conviction for the traffic offence. Hence, as data related to court proceedings is the responsibility of the Department of Justice, a response cannot be provided.