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RAA’s advocacy priorities by region
How we’re representing our members—and our State—each and every day
As the State’s largest member organisation, RAA represents nearly 800,000 South Australians and reaches into more than 70 per cent of households.
Our members are at the heart of everything we do, so we’re always looking for new ways to improve their lives. This is why we proudly take a leadership role to represent our members’ interests and stand for issues that affect the entire State of South Australia.
As the world responds to the challenges of COVID-19, our state has the unique opportunity to demonstrate strong leadership and convert our relatively positive response to the pandemic into long-term success.
We have consulted and engaged with industry, government and our members; and used open-source data, research and technical field work to test and develop our suite of advocacy recommendations: Six for the State.
People aged 16 to 24 have accounted for 21 per cent of the fatalities on South Australian roads over the past two years. That’s staggering considering they only make up 13 per cent of the population. The stats surrounding the safety of our smallest vehicle passengers is also concerning, with about 88 per cent of child restraints being fitted incorrectly.
We believe road safety education, along with improvements to infrastructure, can help reduce fatalities on South Australian roads. We run several community education programs to improve road safety, including Street Smart High and Years Ahead. To complement the State Government’s SA Road Safety Strategy to 2031, we would like the government to promote greater professional driving instruction through driving lessons and establish a child restraint fitting network and reform child restraint legislation.
Ninety-nine people were killed on SA roads in 2021 – six more fatalities than during the previous year.
Read RAA’s 2022-23 State Budget Submission Back to top
Our 2021 Risky Roads Survey revealed that the community are concerned about SA’s road network, with RAA receiving more than 2,000 nominations. Main South Rd at Aldinga and Horrocks Hwy to the state’s Mid North featured heavily in the top 10 riskiest roads. Meanwhile, the junction at Curtis Rd and Heaslip Rd at Angle Vale received the title of SA’s riskiest intersection.
We take into consideration the public’s concerns about infrastructure problems. That’s why we are recommending the State Government prioritises several projects to improve road safety. This includes:
Read RAA’s 2022-23 State Budget Submission Back to top
Adelaide was named one of the world’s most liveable cities in 2021. To further enhance this, we are calling for the Government to create a smarter, more connected city.
How can this be achieved? Among other initiatives, we would like to see a smooth transition to electric vehicles (EV) by scrapping stamp duty and improving EV charging infrastructure.
To help create a more connected city, the next State Government needs to offer alternative transport options, improved cycling infrastructure and on-demand bus services for the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu.
In particular, we recommending that a State Cycling Strategy should be developed, including a mapped metropolitan priority cycling network, underpinned by a $10m annual investment in the State Bicycle Fund. Cycling improves physical and mental health, reduces congestion and pollution, and creates safe, thriving neighbourhoods by supporting mobility options for non-drivers.
A smarter city also requires digital ticketing for public transport to make it more attractive for commuters. People should be able to plan journeys and purchase digital tickets via multiple app platforms.
Read RAA’s 2022-23 State Budget Submission Back to top
Urban development needs to be more sustainable to create a more liveable South Australia. We want all new housing developments to have adequate road and public transport links; and, when these areas are being designed, there needs to be infrastructure included that’ll meet the demand for electric vehicle charging.
We represent one in four South Australian homeowners, so we also want to help solve challenges around the impact of climate change and natural disasters. The challenge facing Adelaide is that many areas of land which are available for new development are also prone to natural disasters. For example, the Adelaide Hills faces bushfire risks, and the northern suburbs are flood-prone.
To meet this challenge, we are pushing the Government to develop a comprehensive plan to prevent flood risk on the Gawler River to protect new and existing housing developments in the northern suburbs.
Read RAA’s 2022-23 State Budget Submission Back to top
We are one of South Australia’s oldest travel providers and tourism experts in the state. COVID-19 has significantly impacted South Australia’s tourism industry, with border restrictions, lockdowns and uncertainty all playing a part.
Despite COVID-19, strong intrastate travel has seen South Australians opting to holiday within the state’s regions. This has revealed problems with infrastructure in regional SA and staffing issues for tourism operators.
We recommend that the next State Government invests in several initiatives to help the South Australian tourism sector bounce back from COVID-19. This includes committing to an ongoing regional tourism grant program to help improve local infrastructure and developing a whole-state strategy to deal with the growing skills shortage.
We are also calling for funding for a feasibility study for ARC, an iconic continuous walk, run and bike circuit showcasing the Adelaide Park Lands to promote Adelaide as a city to visit and stay in through becoming a unique and globally recognisable icon.
Read RAA’s 2022-23 State Budget Submission Back to top
In March 2021, real-time fuel pricing was introduced on a two-year trial, requiring all fuel outlets to report any price changes to a central database within 30 minutes of implementing them. Coinciding with this, we launched a real-time fuel pricing feature on the myRAA app, which has been accessed more than 2.4 million times.
Real-time fuel pricing has also had an impact on the Adelaide market, with price variations decreasing by 50 per cent in the first couple of months. We believe that real-time fuel pricing should be made permanent to help reduce transport costs for South Australians.