Page 2961 - Week 07 - Thursday, 30 June 2011
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identify as exceeding the average speed limit will be destroyed automatically after 30 days. Images that are used in relation to offences are required by law to be retained for seven years.
The ACT’s point-to-point camera system will not, and cannot, be used to generate logs of drivers’ movements. This is because the cameras will not be linked directly with the ACT’s vehicle registration database. Vehicle registration information for a set of images of a particular vehicle will be retrieved by the traffic camera office only after the system has sent those images to that office because it has calculated that the vehicle’s average speed between detection points was excessive. Information about vehicle registration or driver licences is not shown on images taken by the cameras.
The only private or personal information used in the point-to-point camera systems is vehicle ownership information. This information is recorded by registration and licensing authorities as it an essential element of vehicle registration systems in Australia. Access to the registration and driver licence databases is restricted by law. Members of the public are not entitled to interrogate the system to find out who owns or drives a vehicle with a particular numberplate.
Section 9 of the Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Act 1999 and section 11 of the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Act 1999 restrict the purposes to which information held on the rego.act system can be used or disclosed. These sections specifically note that the Privacy Act 1988 also regulates the use and disclosure of that information.
When combined with new sections 29A and 29B of the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999, which are inserted by this bill in order to restrict access to, use of and disclosure of images taken by traffic cameras, these existing restrictions will ensure that the point-to-point camera system is not used for inappropriate purposes, whether by government agencies or members of the public.
The introduction of point-to-point speed cameras provides another tool to combat excessive speed on ACT roads. Like other speed reduction measures, it cannot and will not eliminate speeding completely. As is the case with fixed and mobile speed cameras, a proportion of drivers will continue to speed knowing that they will incur penalties.
However, point-to-point camera systems have been shown to be very effective at achieving sustained reductions in areas where they have been installed, with corresponding reductions both in crash numbers and the severity of crashes. I therefore urge members to support this bill and I commend it to the Assembly.
Debate (on motion by Mr Coe) adjourned to the next sitting.
Public interest immunity
Continuing resolution
MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (11.12): I move:
That the following continuing resolution be adopted:
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