New cars sold from 2029 will require additional electronic safety assist features to be eligible for sale in Australia.

The regulatory change will see emergency lane-keeping systems required on all passenger cars and light goods vehicles in Australia from March 1, 2029.

The expansion of mandatory driver assist features will also see requirements for autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems expanded to include cyclist detection, adding to the vehicle and pedestrian detection already required.

A staged rollout would see newly introduced models to the Australian market required to have the technology from March 1, 2028, with all vehicles – including those previously introduced – required to comply by March 1, 2029.

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During the consultation phase for the proposal, the Federal Government cited data from the Monash University Accident Research Centre, which indicated 42 per cent of fatal crashes on Australian roads were the result of unintended lane departures.

The new Australian Design Rule requirement (ADR 107/00) has been aligned with similar international requirements and was developed in conjunction with United Nations Regulations, matching European Union and UN requirements for the operation and implementation of emergency lane keeping systems.

The requirement applies only to passenger cars, utes and vans with a Gross Vehicle Mass of under 3.5 tonnes, leaving ‘heavy commercial-class’ utes like the Toyota LandCruiser, Ineos Grenadier, and American pick-ups like the recently reclassified Chevrolet Silverado exempt.

Regulations for those vehicles, along with light trucks, still require AEB with vehicle detection and, from 2028, will need a lane-departure alert, but not the emergency-steering capability required on lighter vehicles.

Along with the requirement to have the new safety systems fitted, regulations also provide a framework for the operational parameters of the systems to achieve full compliance. The alignment of Australian regulations with those overseas should mean, in theory, fewer hurdles for automakers to achieve compliance.

AEB was first made mandatory on all new light cars in Australia from March 2025, and the requirement for pedestrian recognition was added from August 2026. Proposals to mandate lane assist technology started in 2021, initially planned for a 2024 introduction, but were held back to better align with international regulations.