Australia’s road toll has risen again in 2025, with New South Wales recording its highest annual death count in eight years. The NSW government announced on Friday that 355 people died on the state’s roads in 2025, 28 more than in 2024 and the highest since 2017, when 392 fatalities were recorded.
Nationally, provisional data indicates that road deaths increased for the third consecutive year. In the 12 months to November 2025, there were 1,332 deaths across Australia, according to the national road safety data hub. Accumulated state and territory totals suggest the final figure for the calendar year will be slightly above the 1,300 deaths recorded in 2024, which itself was up from 1,258 in 2023.
Speeding remained the biggest killer, contributing to 134 deaths nationally. NSW Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison urged drivers to avoid distractions, drugs, and alcohol, and to reduce speed. “It doesn’t have to be extreme speeding to be deadly, even a few kilometres over the limit can be the difference between a near-miss and a funeral,” she said. The government noted that many fatalities occurred at speeds less than 10 km/h above the limit.
Queensland experienced the second-highest number of deaths after NSW, with 302 recorded by 24 December – the same as in 2024 – and an additional four over Christmas, taking the total to a 16-year high. In Victoria, 288 people died, four more than the previous year. Tasmania recorded 44 road deaths, a 42% increase on 2024, while Western Australia (181), South Australia (87), the Northern Territory (38), and the Australian Capital Territory (9) all saw reductions compared with the prior year.
Experts pointed to several factors behind the rising toll, including increased SUV use, mobile phone distraction, deteriorating road quality, and speed limit settings on rural roads. Transport researcher Mathew Hounsell from the University of Technology Sydney noted that “heavier vehicles, with larger fronts” and improved acceleration have eroded past safety gains. About two-thirds of NSW road deaths occurred in rural and regional areas, and cyclist deaths rose from five to 15, including three e-bike riders.
