After years of general progress in reducing Australia’s road death toll, road deaths increased in 2015 and 2016, returning to 1,300 per annum. These were also years of relatively cheap fuel. In this seminar, Paul Burke will share research findings on the contribution of lower fuel prices to the rise in Australia’s road death toll. The seminar will also involve a discussion of whether Australia is on track to meet its road safety target for 2020. The research is part of a broader project on the importance of economic conditions for road safety in Australia and elsewhere.

Paul Burke is a Fellow in the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics at ANU Crawford School of Public Policy. His work focuses on the economics of energy, the environment, transport, and developing countries, particularly in the Asia-Pacific. Paul delivers executive training in Environmental Economics for non-economists, and was awarded an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award, 2016–2018. He holds a PhD in Economics from ANU.

The Crawford School Research Seminar (CSRS) is a forum for scholars from across Crawford School of Public Policy to share their research and receive input from faculty and doctoral candidates on works-in-progress.