The National Guidelines for the Safe Restraint of Children Travelling in Motor Vehicles

These guidelines were developed through a partnership between Kidsafe Australia and Neuroscience Research Australia, supported by a panel of child road safety experts. They were approved by the National Health and Medical Council of Australia in November 2020. Full details are available from: http://www.neura.edu.au/crs-guidelines

The aim of these guidelines is to provide parents, carers, and road safety practitioners with clear advice on optimal use of child restraints and seat belts by children aged 0-16 years when travelling in motor vehicles, to minimise their risk of injury in the event of a crash.

The laws in all Australian states and territories outline the minimum child car restraint requirements for all children up to the age of 16 years. The available evidence shows that there is more that can be done above and beyond these minimum requirements, to minimise injury to child passengers, by encouraging best practice child restraint use. This resource sets out what can be done by those responsible for transporting children in motor vehicles to ensure their optimal safety.

This resource contains a lot of detailed information that people who are responsible for children travelling in motor vehicles should take the time to read. To help digest it all, the overview page (see page 5) provides a summary of the 10 most important things that can help keep a child safe in the event of a crash. Copies of all the Best Practice Guidelines publications, videos and social media messaging visit the Kidsafe www.kidsafe.com.au/crguidelines or NeuRA websites http://www.neura.edu.au/crs-guidelines.