A new centre to improve road safety in rural and remote areas of Australia using cutting edge automated vehicle (AV) research and training has been officially launched by QUT today (Friday September 26.
The Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Automated Vehicles in Rural and Remote Regions (AVR3) is a national initiative based at QUT’s Kevlin Grove campus. It will build skills and capability to test and deploy safe, socially acceptable AVs on rural, regional, and remote public roads - areas that make up 82 per cent of Australia’s road network and face some of the nation’s most pressing transport safety challenges.
Led by Professor Sebastien Glaser, the centre brings together 20 researchers from five Australian universities in collaboration with industry and government partners.
“These rural, remote and regional public roads are vital for moving goods like food from farms to consumers, yet they’re often long, isolated, and exposed to wildlife, harsh weather, and poor connectivity,” Professor Glaser said.
“Manufacturing, agriculture, mining, and defence industries face significant challenges of driver shortages, rising costs, long distances, rough roads, and environmental impacts.
“Driver fatigue, limited access to emergency services, and rough terrain all contribute to higher crash risks. Our centre is focused on developing AV systems that can safely operate in these conditions, and training a workforce that understands both the technology and the human factors involved.
“Automated vehicles are starting to prove they can provide a real step change in road safety, but in Australia, we are a long way behind the likes of the US, China and Europe. Every year we delay this technology will cost us.”
AVR3 Co-Director Professor Ronald Schroeter added that regional communities were often left behind in transport innovation, with most AV research focused on urban “robotaxi” models which don’t face the same challenges as a vehicle navigating a dirt road in outback Queensland.
“We’re flipping that narrative. This centre is about equity in innovation, ensuring rural and remote Australians benefit from safer, more reliable transport solutions,” Professor Schroeter said.
“We’re not just building technology though; we’re building trust. AVs must be socially acceptable and reliable, especially in communities where transport is a lifeline.”
The centre will integrate Safe System thinking into AV design and deployment, ensuring that safety is embedded at every level — from vehicle control systems to infrastructure and policy.
“By bringing together technology providers, regulators, governments and end users, we’re creating a collaborative environment to solve real-world problems,” Professor Glaser said.
“We’re working with partners across industry and government, including Ford Australia and Seeing Machines to the RACQ, farmers and all levels of government, to ensure our solutions are practical and scalable.
“The outcomes will reduce transport costs, increase capacity, boost supply chain efficiency, and most importantly, improve road safety for communities that depend on these roads every day.”
The launch of AVR3 followed AUTOMOTIVE UI ’25, the 17th International ACM Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications. Hosted by QUT from September 22-25, it was jointly co-chaired by Professor Schroeter and Associate Professor Rafael Gomez from the QUT School of Design, who said the event brought together more than 140 researchers in the field from Australia and overseas.
“AUTOMOTIVE UI ’25 proved to be an extraordinary gathering of global leaders in UI research in the automotive domain and was the first time it was hosted in Australia,” said Dr Gomez.
“Understandably, there was a strong focus on the Asia Pacific region, and we enjoyed presentations from industry and government representatives along with those from the world of academia. Keynote speakers included Tim Shih from Mobility Futures Alliance. He has 25 years of experience as a car designer in America, Europe and China so had a lot of knowledge to share.”
More information on the AVR3 and its research programs is available online: ARC Training Centre for Automated Vehicles in Rural and Remote Regions – AVR3.
Main image: Photo by Fabio Santo on Unsplash
Media contact:
Amanda Weaver
QUT Media
07 3138 2361 / 0407 585 901 (After Hours)
