More Melbourne streets to get 30km/h speed limits

An 18-month trial of 30km/h speed limits in more parts of Melbourne will begin later this month, following the introduction of slower speed zones by Yarra City Council in 2018 and the City of Melbourne in 2020.

The move by Stonnington Council, supported by the Department of Transport and Planning, will see 30km/h speed limits in place of existing 40km/h zones from Monday, October 19, 2026, through to Sunday, April 23, 2028.

It includes the bustling Chapel Street in South Yarra, an iconic hot spot for nightlife, between Toorak Road and Dandenong Road. It will also include streets in Prahran, Toorak, Armadale, Malvern and Glen Iris.

“Areas included in the trial are near schools, key bike routes and shopping precincts where there are more vulnerable road users, including children and pedestrians,” said a statement by Stonnington Council.

“The trial will help us understand how lower speed limits work in different neighbourhoods and how they may impact safety, travel times, congestion and the way people use local streets.”

Stonnington Council said community feedback, which can be submitted on its website, will be considered alongside road traffic data and safety data to evaluate if the lower limits should become permanent after the trial.

The council said there were more than 1500 crashes within its boundaries between 2020 and 2024, including seven fatalities and 564 serious injuries. The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) population figures for the council show it had a population of 114,789 as of 2025.

“Research shows that when a person walking is hit by a vehicle travelling at 30km/h, their chance of surviving is around 90 per cent. At 40km/h this drops to 60 per cent, and at 50km/h to around 10 per cent,” the Stonnington Council website said.

It follows the expansion in 2024 of a 30km/h speed-limit trial in the nearby City of Yarra, which borders Stonnington, after an initial trial began in Fitzroy and Collingwood in 2018.

“As part of this trial, we have looked at Victorian government crash data from other areas where a 30km/h speed limit has been introduced,” Stonnington Council said.

“The data shows a 51 per cent reduction in all crashes and a 70 per cent reduction in serious crashes in those locations.”

According to Australian Government data, fatal crashes in zones with a speed limit of 40km/h or less saw the greatest increase over the past 12 months, jumping from 28 to 50 fatal crashes for a 78.6 per cent rise.

While Victoria has been a pioneer of 30km/h speed limits in residential areas, 30km/h zones elsewhere include precincts in New South Wales such as Liverpool in Sydney, as well as in Wollongong and Newcastle.

Western Australia trialled 30km/h zones as part of its Safe Active Streets Pilot Program, which looked to reduce the number of cars in quieter residential zones and encourage more bicycle and walking trips.

A report published online in March 2026 found the WA program delivered positive outcomes, although it did record drivers in some areas not driving slower, suggesting further measures may be needed to reduce vehicle speeds.

Australia’s national road toll fell 1.1 per cent to 1313 deaths over the past 12 months, but vulnerable road-user deaths rose 1.0 per cent to 509, from 504 in the previous 12-month period.

Australia remains off track against the National Road Safety Strategy 2021-30, which aims to halve annual road deaths from a 2018-2020 baseline average of 1142 to 571 or fewer by 2030, on the way to its Vision Zero goal of no deaths or serious injuries by 2050.

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