New Child Car Restraint LawsDoes your child have the proper one?
NSW, VIC, NT, TAS and QLD have already moved over to the new child car restraints laws, and WA will implement the new legislation from October 2010 with ACT following on in March 2011.
The new legislation aims to prevent deaths of babies and small children in cars due to either being unrestrained or injured due to being in the wrong restraints.
As a rule of thumb the following applies to all children under the age of seven. However some provisions will be made for children who are too big or too small for their allocated age-appropriate restraint recommendation (see the indicative weight chart below to help you).
- Children younger than six months must be secured in rearward facing restraints;
- Children between six months and four years must be secured in either a rear or forward facing restraint;
- Children between four and seven years must be secured in forward facing child restraint or booster seat;
- Children younger than four years cannot travel in the front seat of a vehicle with two or more rows;
| Age | Indicative weight | Child restraint |
| 0 to 6 months | less than 8kgs | Rearward facing baby capsule or infant restraint |
| 6 months to 1 year | 8 to 12kgs | Rearward or forward facing infant restraint |
| 6 months to 4 years | 8 to 18 kgs | Forward facing child restraint with built-in harness |
| 4 years to 7 years | 14 to 26kgs | Booster seat with H-harness or a booster seat with a secured adult seatbelt |
Unfortunately as with so many things, the child care restraints falls under State legislation rather than Federal so there is no one place to get your information. Best contact your local Roads and Traffic authority if you are in any doubt.
| New South Wales Queensland Western Australia Northern Territory |
Victoria South Australia Tasmania ACT |
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