IN a bid to reduce road trauma in Western Australia, the state government launched the Road Safety Commission on Wednesday.
Road Safety Minister Liza Harvey said the commission replaced the Office of Road Safety and moved it out of Main Roads to become a stand-alone department.
The Road Safety Commission will be responsible for guiding and implementing government policy to help reduce road trauma and managing the Road Trauma Trust Account.
"This elevates the commission's status and reaffirms the government's priority to address road trauma in Western Australia," Mrs Harvey said.
The minister said creating the stand-alone department was the key recommendation of the Browne Review into road safety governance in WA.
"The position of Road Safety Commissioner will now be the equivalent of the other heads of departments that the commissioner will be dealing with on road safety issues," she said.
Mrs Harvey said the government had now embarked on an extensive executive search for a permanent Road Safety Commissioner.
"We have appointed Kim Papalia, who has more than three decades experience with WA Police, as acting commissioner," she said.
"Mr Papalia is currently restructuring the former Office of Road Safety to create the Road Safety Commission and working to implement the recommendations of the Browne Review."
The Minister said although the rate of fatalities had dropped about 25 per cent since the introduction of the government's Towards Zero road safety strategy in 2008, the state government would remain relentless in further reducing road trauma through safer roads, enforcement and education.