Acusensus and the ACT: From first detection program to territory-wide enforcement, addressing multiple road safety challenges

27 Oct 2026

Last week the ACT Government signed the largest contract Acusensus has won to date: a territory-wide traffic enforcement agreement worth approximately $63 million over an initial five years, and up to $210 million over 15 years if both options are exercised.

This technology is designed to make roads safer in ACT, and is ultimately where we believe road safety needs to progress towards everywhere. We started with a program that tackled one safety issue, and it has since evolved into a long-term collaboration that addresses multiple road safety challenges.

Acusensus was founded on a simple belief: nobody should die on our roads. Every part of this contract is measured against that.

At a glance

• Contract value: approximately $63 million (excluding GST) over an initial five-year term, with two further five-year options taking the potential total to $210 million.
• What the ACT gets: mobile phone and seatbelt detection, red-light, speed and average speed enforcement across fixed sites, multifunction trailers and vehicle-based units. Previous contracts were for mobile phone and seatbelt detection only, beginning in 2022 and 2025, respectively.
• Software: mid-office software the Territory will use for adjudication.
• Timing: a staged rollout of the replacement and expanded solutions, expected to start in mid-2027.
• Context: the ACT joins Western Australia in using the full Acusensus multifunction enforcement solution.

Where we started in the ACT

Acusensus began with a loss. Our founder and managing director’s friend, James Rapley, was struck and killed by a distracted driver while riding a bicycle. That loss was the motivation for starting this company, but it is not the only reason why we keep going.

We founded Acusensus in 2018 to solve problems the road safety technology industry had largely ignored. We delivered the world’s first mobile phone detection program in New South Wales and, in two other world firsts, we automated seatbelt enforcement in Queensland, and deployed a combined enforcement program in Western Australia, encompassing distracted driving, seatbelt and speed enforcement in a multifunction unit. Our programs with the ACT followed.

In November 2022 the ACT Government announced that Acusensus had been selected to supply and operate mobile phone detection cameras for Canberra. The program began with two fixed cameras and three transportable cameras that move between sites. It was designed with a warning period before infringement notices, because the aim was always to change behaviour, not to issue notices.

The case for the program was clear in the ACT’s own numbers: ACT Policing was issuing an average of 911 infringements and 260 cautions a year for mobile device use, but the government said the real rate of offending was likely to be much higher. That gap is the problem, because a police officer can only observe and prosecute so many offences, while our technology can operate around the clock in all weather conditions and in locations that might not be safe for on road policing.

In November 2025 the ACT expanded the same program to include seatbelt detection. Mobile phone use and seatbelt non-compliance are two of the Fatal Five behaviours and some of the leading behavioural causes of road deaths and serious injuries. The ACT was now addressing both from the same Acusensus Heads-Up system.

This initial program helped to deliver an improvement in compliance and reducing dangerous driving behaviours, but more work is needed to work towards achieving Vision Zero.

What the new 2026 contract means for the ACT

The new Master Services Agreement speaks to the evolution of our relationship with the ACT. Through service to both the client and the public, and dedication to the mission of road safety, we have grown beyond being a specialist detection technology vendor.

Acusensus will provide, operate and maintain enforcement cameras across the Territory, and supply the mid-office software the ACT will use to adjudicate. The solution includes:

• Multifunction trailers that can detect mobile phone use, seatbelt non-compliance, speed, average speed and vehicles of interest from one unit.
• Trailer-based and vehicle-based speed enforcement.
• Fixed-site red-light and speed cameras.

The ACT Government has said these contracts will replace ageing infrastructure and support the Territory’s road safety objectives. For people in Canberra, this means:

• One system for efficiency. Red-light, speed, average speed, mobile phone and seatbelt enforcement will sit within a single program. That makes it simpler for the Territory to run, and simpler to explain to the public.
• Enforcement that follows the risk. Transportable multifunction trailers can be easily set up and packed down, so that enforcement can be moved to where it is needed in order to achieve the road safety objectives.
• Clear roles. The ACT Government owns and runs the enforcement program, including penalty settings, site approvals and every decision to issue an infringement. Images that are likely to contain an offence go through multiple stages of human review, where an ACT Government Officer’s final review determines if a notice should be issued.
• Privacy by design. For distracted driving and seatbelt enforcement programs, Acusensus’ AI is used only to filter images likely to contain an offence. Images identified as not likely to contain an offence are automatically deleted.

What other Australian jurisdictions have seen gives us good reason to be confident about the direction the ACT is taking with their expanded program.

What our programs have shown across Australia

We support the ACT joining the group of states across Australia that have already invested in technology that has been proven to save lives. We hold enforcement contracts in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT. Each one has taught us that dangerous driving behaviour is reduced when enforcement happens anywhere, anytime.

• New South Wales. In 2019 we delivered the world’s first mobile phone detection program, and in July 2024 the program expanded to include seatbelt detection. Mobile phone use at detection sites has fallen sharply since launch, from 1 in 82 drivers to 1 in 1200.
• Queensland. Queensland runs the world’s first combined automated mobile phone and seatbelt program. Monash University Accident Research Centre modelling attributes $18.7 million to $48.8 million in annual community trauma cost savings to the seatbelt program alone, with an estimated 5.6 to 15 lives saved each year.
• Western Australia. WA was the first jurisdiction in the world to use integrated multifunction enforcement together with mobile point-to-point average speed detection in 2025. As highlighted in our FY26 Annual Report, Western Australia Road Safety Commissioner Adrian Warner said, “This integrated approach combining enforcement together with community education has seen a 78% reduction in the rate of seatbelt offences…This is safer driving behaviour change at scale.”

These programs were led by the jurisdictions themselves. Our role is to provide the solution, and the results belong to the road safety agencies and police services that run them.

Why multifunction enforcement, and why the Fatal Five

The Fatal Five are the behaviours behind most road deaths and serious injuries: speeding, mobile phone use, seatbelt non-compliance, fatigue, and drug or alcohol impairment.

Before Acusensus, speed was the only one of the five with a technology-based intervention that did not rely on police being in the right place at the right time. Mobile phone use, seatbelt use, fatigue and impairment were judged in a split second, for a fraction of vehicles. Mobile phone distraction alone is estimated to kill 100,000 people a year worldwide.

That is why we built multifunction enforcement. One Acusensus unit can detect mobile phone use, seatbelt non-compliance and speed at the same time, with mobile average speed and vehicle of interest detection available alongside. We deployed distracted driving detection at scale in 2019, seatbelt non-compliance in 2021, and brought three of the Fatal Five together in one unit in 2025.

We believe multifunction enforcement is where road safety camera programs need to go if we are serious about tackling speeding, distraction and seatbelt non-compliance (three of the Fatal Five), for three reasons:

1. The behaviours overlap. A small group of drivers offend on several fronts at once. From our detection experience across programs, we estimate that around 0.6% of vehicles have a driver who is distracted, speeding and unrestrained at the same time. On published risk estimates, these drivers may be around 30 to 40 times more likely to be killed than a compliant driver. Enforcing one behaviour at a time deters only part of the risk they carry.
2. Greater efficiencies with each deployment. One deployment from one vehicle or system detects and addresses several behaviours at once, so agencies can cover more ground from a single unit when it comes to road safety.
3. It is working in the field. Since Western Australia began deploying Acusensus Multifunction in February 2025, the rate of offences detected has dropped across all three behaviours: seatbelt offences by 85 per cent, mobile phone offences by 88 per cent and speeding by 51 per cent (WA Government, May 2026).

Speed is one factor among several in road deaths. Enforcement that addresses only one behaviour leaves the others in place. We continue to develop detection for the remaining two of the Fatal Five.

What comes next

The staged rollout in the ACT is expected to begin in mid-2027. Between now and then, we will work with the ACT Government on planning, deployment and the transition from the existing program.

We are proud of the team that has built this relationship, and grateful to the ACT Government for its trust. As I said in our announcement, we are proud to continue supporting the ACT’s Vision Zero road safety objectives.

Our mission remains the same: to get everybody home safe, every day.

About Acusensus

Acusensus (ASX: ACE) is an organisation founded with a simple but compelling belief, that nobody should die on our roads. We build the technology that detects the Fatal Five dangerous driving behaviours – speeding, mobile phone use, seatbelt non-compliance, fatigue, and drug or alcohol impairment – and supports the enforcement programs that change them. We delivered the world’s first mobile phone detection program in New South Wales and the world’s first automated mobile device and seatbelt program in Queensland. Today we run 18 long-term contracts across 14 jurisdictions on four continents, working with governments, road authorities and police services to help reduce road trauma.