Drivers in parts of Melbourne will need to slow down to 30km/h from 19 October 2026, with Stonnington Council beginning a two-year trial across a number of high-traffic and residential streets. The trial will run until 23 April 2028 and covers 12 locations across suburbs including Prahran, Windsor, Toorak, South Yarra, Armadale, Malvern and Glen Iris. The affected roads include sections of Chapel Street, Toorak Road, Punt Road and several streets around shopping areas, schools and cycling routes.
The council says the trial is aimed at reducing road fatalities and serious injuries, particularly among pedestrians, cyclists and motorcycle riders. It follows changes to Victorian legislation that allow local councils to introduce lower speed limits on eligible roads.
Read more: More Melbourne streets to get 30km/h speed limits
Why is Melbourne trialling 30km/h?
Stonnington Council says crash data from the area between 2000 and 2024 recorded more than 1500 crashes, including seven fatalities and 564 serious injuries. Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcycle riders accounted for 60 per cent of fatal and serious injuries during that period. The council says lower vehicle speeds can significantly improve the chances of survival when a pedestrian is struck.
According to its October 2026 announcement, research indicates that a pedestrian hit by a vehicle travelling at 30km/h has about a 90 per cent chance of survival. At 40km/h, that falls to about 60 per cent, while at 50km/h it is around 10 per cent. The council also examined Victorian Government crash data from other areas where 30km/h limits had previously been introduced. It says those locations recorded a 51 per cent reduction in all crashes and a 70 per cent reduction in serious crashes. Those figures are cited by the council as part of the case for the Stonnington trial and do not represent the results of the new trial itself.
Which Melbourne roads will have the lower limit?
The 30km/h trial will affect a mixture of main roads and smaller streets. In Prahran, affected locations include Bendigo Street, Murray Street, Wrights Terrace, Spring Street, Chatsworth Road, Greville Street, Charles Street, Cromwell Street and Closeburn Avenue, as well as Chapel Street between Toorak Road and Dandenong Road. Chapel Street will also be subject to the lower limit through Windsor and South Yarra.
Other affected roads include Osborne Avenue in Glen Iris, several streets around Malvern, Hornby Street in Windsor, Canterbury Road and Brookville Road in Toorak, Cromwell Road and Surrey Road in South Yarra, and Northcote Road and Densham Road in Armadale. The changes are not a blanket 30km/h limit across the entire Stonnington municipality. The trial applies to the specified road sections only.
No speed cameras during the trial
Stonnington Council has confirmed that speed cameras will not operate as part of the two-year trial. That does not mean the new limits are optional. Drivers using the affected roads will still be required to follow the posted speed limit once the changes take effect. For Australian motorists, the practical change is straightforward: a journey that currently allows speeds above 30km/h on one of these roads will take longer once the new limits are introduced.
The trial will give the council an opportunity to assess how the lower limits affect crashes and road safety before determining what happens after April 2028. The move also puts Stonnington among Victorian councils adopting 30km/h limits on selected roads, rather than introducing the lower limit across an entire municipality.
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