Digital and data solutions

SMART Incentive Trial

The SMART Trial: Enhancing Young Driver Safety and Sustainability using Technology and Data is an experimental research project examining whether personalised driver safety feedback, combined with financial incentives and information about carbon emissions, can influence driving behaviour in young drivers.

The project uses smartphone-based telematics to provide real-time and post-journey feedback, scoring driving behaviour and linking safer, more efficient driving to incentives.

Young drivers continue to be overrepresented in motor crashes in NSW, particularly crashes resulting in death or serious injury. Improving young driver behaviour has the potential to reduce the incidence and severity of motor crashes, improve road safety outcomes and lower costs in the NSW Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Scheme.

This research also explores how driving behaviour affects vehicle emissions, supporting broader sustainability objectives while improving safety outcomes for scheme users and the community.

This project will examine:

• Whether personalised safety feedback combined with financial and emissions-related incentives leads to sustained improvements in young driver behaviour.
• Which types of incentives are most effective in reducing risky driving.
• The potential for telematics-based feedback to reduce motor crashes, vehicle emissions and CTP scheme costs.

The findings will inform whether the technology and incentive model can be scaled for broader use across NSW to support safer, more sustainable driving.

All participant data was de-identified and managed in accordance with NSW privacy legislation. Data is collected and used in accordance with strict privacy and consent requirements.

Partners:

• University of Melbourne
• Monash University
• Transport for NSW

Project  commenced: January 2024

Expected project completion: April 2026

My Whiplash Navigator

My Whiplash Navigator is an online toolkit developed through a SIRA co-funded research collaboration between the University of Sydney, the University of Queensland and the Motor Accident Insurance Commission. It aims to support assessment, treatment and recovery for people with a whiplash injury.

For people with a whiplash injury, My Whiplash Navigator offers easy-to-understand, evidence-based information and answers to common questions. It includes a self-guided exercise program with step-by-step instructions, plus online modules to support recovery by building confidence and helping with factors that can affect how someone feels and functions after an injury.

For healthcare professionals, the toolkit brings together practical, up-to-date guidance on how to assess and manage whiplash, in one place. It also includes six interactive online training modules to support stress inoculation training for people who may be at risk of slower recovery.

My Whiplash Navigator has been co-designed with clinicians and researchers, people with lived experience, and Australian regulators.

Partners:

• The University of Sydney
• The University of Queensland
• Motor Accident Insurance Commission

Project  commenced: November 2022

Expected project completion: October 2026

Further resources

• Visit the My Whiplash website

AAMI Driver Telematics Smartphone App - Suncorp

This research project examines whether smartphone-based telematics, combined with financial incentives, can encourage safer driving behaviour among young drivers in NSW. Using data from the AAMI Safe Driver smartphone app, the study explores how driving behaviour data can be used to influence risk and inform more appropriate pricing within the NSW Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Scheme.

Young drivers remain over represented in motor crashes in NSW, particularly those resulting in death or serious injury. While CTP premiums reflect this higher risk, influencing driving behaviour in this cohort has proven challenging.

This research supports road safety priorities by testing whether digital tools and incentives can reduce risky driving, improve safety outcomes for scheme users, and support a fairer, more risk-reflective approach to CTP pricing.

The project will assess:

• Whether young NSW CTP insurance customers are willing to share telematics data in exchange for incentives
• Whether telematics data and financial incentives lead to safer driving behaviour and sustained change over time
• The appropriate size of incentives needed to influence behaviour based on age and driving risk
• Whether telematics data can be used as a rating factor to better reflect risk in CTP pricing

Findings will inform whether a telematics-based rating factor could be introduced in the NSW CTP Scheme and support safer driving outcomes across the community.

Partners:

• Suncorp (AAMI) - Research partner
• SIRA

Project  commenced: February 2024

Expected project completion: March 2027

Completed projects