State's plan to expand speed camera usage stalls

Plans by the Victorian Government to expand average-speed camera enforcement across more of the state’s road network have fallen over at the 11th hour.

Proposed legislation passed in the lower house never reached its final vote in the upper house – with the bill lapsing as the government entered caretaker mode, ahead of the state election in late November 2026.

The new laws would have seen some restrictions on point-to-point enforcement lifted, opening up the use of mobile average-speed cameras, and with greater flexibility as to where they could be placed.

Authorities would have had the power to check the average speed of motorists across routes with different road names, allowing for longer enforcement zones.

Average speeds could also have been checked along thoroughfares with varying speed limits – for example, a freeway that changes from 100km/h to 80km/h, and back to 100km/h.

Those found to have been exceeding the speed limit throughout enforcement zones would have had at least 2km/h deducted from their calculated speed before fines were applied.

Included in the legislation was a proposal to change the way average-speed penalties were categorised, bringing them into line with current speeding laws.

While the now-expired bill may have meant more speeding fines for Victorians, the government had sought to introduce ‘double-jeopardy’ rules to save motorists from being prosecuted twice for the same offence – such as being pulled over by Highway Patrol for speeding through an average-speed enforcement zone.

In late 2025, the Victorian Government announced it would axe the position of Road Safety Camera Commissioner, which was designed to provide independent oversight for speed cameras across the state.

MORE: Victoria spending $28.3 million on next-gen speed cameras