Bicycle helmets in Australia

Between 1990 and 1992, Australian states and territories introduced various laws mandating that cyclists wear bicycle helmets while riding after a campaign by various groups including the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS).

[5][6] In 1985, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Transport Safety recommended that cooperation of states and territories should be sought to "review the benefits of bicycle helmet wearing ... and unless there are persuasive arguments to the contrary introduce compulsory wearing of helmets by cyclists on roads and other public places".

[9] In 1987 the Victorian Parliamentary Road Safety Committee tabled a report in the Parliament of Victoria which included a recommendation for mandatory wearing of helmets.

[10] By 1989, just before the government decided to introduce compulsory wearing of bicycle helmets, an officially-commissioned survey showed that public support for it was 92% for children and 83% for all riders.

[11] Opposition was fragmented and ineffective; no major cycling groups opposed the law in public.

[21][22] One response has been to improve the availability of helmets to users of bicycle-sharing schemes,[23] while Brisbane City Council has suggested trialling helmet-free zones.