In an Open Letter to Federal Transport Minister, Catherine King, and policy makers nationwide, Adam Rossetto, Australian General Manager, for e-mobility company, Ario, is calling for a united approach to safety standards:
An Open Letter: Enough is Enough, Let’s Make Safety the Standard
To Transport Minister Catherine King and Australian policymakers
Shared mobility entered our cities with a promise: Cleaner streets. Fewer cars. Greater freedom to move.
But Australia’s shared transport rollout is failing, and not because the technology doesn’t work, but because we’ve abandoned our responsibility to govern it properly.
Injuries are mounting. Footpaths are blocked. Councils are left to manage problems they didn’t create, without national guidance. And behind every incident is a person. A commuter. A pedestrian. A life disrupted.
This is no longer a local issue. It is a national one. Design standards vary. Rules shift from one state to the next and one postcode to the next. Local governments are left to pick up the pieces.
The current regulatory patchwork creates an impossible situation. In Sydney’s CBD, riders must wear helmets and observe 10km/h speed limits. Cross to Parramatta and the rules change. Travel to Melbourne and they change again. Some councils have banned some or all devices entirely, while others operate with different devices, different rules and minimal oversight. This postcode lottery for safety would be unthinkable for any other transport mode.
Recent data shows injuries have doubled in major Australian cities over the past two years. Emergency departments report severe head trauma, broken bones, and pedestrian accidents that were entirely preventable.
Local councils have been forced to navigate this regulatory maze alone. Some have implemented sophisticated safety requirements. Others lack the resources or expertise to develop appropriate frameworks. The result serves neither public safety nor innovation.
Meanwhile, the technology exists to address these challenges today. Pedestrian detection systems automatically slow devices when people are nearby. Helmet compliance monitoring ensures rider safety. Geofencing enforces speed limits in sensitive areas. Tandem detection prevents dangerous double-riding.
Some operators, like Ario, have integrated these safety innovations as standard features, demonstrating that advanced protection is both technically feasible and commercially viable. This kind of innovation should be part of the baseline, not the exception.
We believe the answer lies in national coordination.
We ask Catherine King to commission a full review by the National Transport Commission of e-mobility regulations under the Australian Road Rules. This means establishing clear standards on speed limits, helmet use, vehicle design and operator responsibilities. It means certifying imported devices to ensure they are safe and reliable. And it means working with states and territories to apply these standards across the country.
This approach has worked elsewhere. European nations have implemented national frameworks that balance innovation with safety. Australia has historically led the world in transport safety innovation. We have the expertise to get this right.
National standards would create a level playing field where operators compete on service quality rather than cutting safety corners. They would give councils clear guidelines instead of leaving them to experiment with public safety. Most importantly, they would ensure every Australian enjoys the same protection whether they’re in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, or regional centres.
We are already building to that benchmark. But safety should not depend on who operates the service or where it is deployed.
Australians deserve consistent safety protection in every city, every suburb, every street. It’s time for national standards that put safety first.
- Adam Rossetto, Australian General Manager, Ario.
