Starting next week, on July 1, Aussies will need to familiarise themselves with the latest road rules in order to avoid getting fined or otherwise penalised, especially as fine quantities increase in a bid to curb the growing road toll.
While, nationally, speed limits will become stricter and mobile phone usage will be more harshly punished, Queensland also has some new rules of its own. Here are all the national and state-specific changes you need to know about.
National rules
The current camera systems used to detect mobile usage and seatbelt violations will be improved on with the rollout of AI-powered surveillance, which can monitor multiple vehicles across several lanes, throughout the whole country except for the Northern Territory.
This aims to better identify when drivers are holding or using their phones while driving, which can lead to fines of up to $1209 and up to five demerit points.
And don’t worry, although the system uses AI to automatically review and flag images in which a phone may be used, they are then reviewed by authorised personnel.
Queensland rules
Queensland is no stranger to strict rules, and traffic laws are no exception.
Although the government had previously frozen the cost of fines and registrations until September 2025, that will not be the case anymore and penalties will become more severe starting July 1, introducing a more than three per cent increase in fines and car registration.