The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Ms Sonia Hornery): The question is that the House take note of the report.
Mr GREG WARREN (Campbelltown) (10:27): As Chair: On 29 May the Joint Standing Committee on Road Safety tabled the report entitled Religious exemptions for the wearing of helmets. The law in New South Wales is that you must wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle or bicycle, with no exceptions. However, members of the Sikh community have raised concerns that wearing a helmet conflicts with a core tenet of the Sikh faith: the requirement to wear a turban. For that reason, the committee began its inquiry into religious exemptions for the wearing of helmets.
We looked at the risks and benefits of religious exemptions from mandatory helmet laws, and how to support safe participation in active transport by members of the Sikh community. We listened to members of the Sikh community, road safety experts and health professionals, with the aim of hearing all perspectives and striking the right balance between participation and safety. We heard that wearing a turban has deep significance for practitioners of the Sikh faith. Members of the Sikh community told us that the turban symbolised honour, spirituality, self-respect, responsibility and a commitment to keep the tenets of the Sikh faith. We also heard that wearing a helmet in place of a turban conflicts with the requirements of the Sikh faith.
Further, and based on careful consideration of what we heard, our report recommends that the current mandatory motorcycle helmet laws in New South Wales should be maintained. Health and road safety experts told us that helmets significantly reduce the risk of serious injury and death. We also heard that there is no safe speed or safe environment to ride a motorcycle without a helmet. I acknowledge that mandatory helmet laws may restrict members of the Sikh community from being able to ride a motorcycle. I deeply respect their faith, and I deeply respect their traditions and culture. However, the risks are too high and, on balance, the committee concluded that the mandatory helmet laws should remain in place.
We heard mixed evidence about exemptions for the mandatory wearing of bicycle helmets. Most Australian States and Territories have some form of religious exemption from bicycle helmet laws in place. Some States, such as Queensland, submitted to the committee that it had not encountered any issue stemming from the exemption. On the other hand, health and road safety experts were strongly opposed to introducing bicycle helmet exemptions, for reasons of rider safety. Having considered the range of evidence, the committee recommended that Transport for NSW review our bicycle helmet laws and study how bicycle helmet exemptions have worked in other Australian jurisdictions as part of the review.
We heard that some work has been done to develop helmets that are compatible with wearing a turban or reinforced cloth turbans that provide greater protection. For example, there is currently a New South Wales‑approved helmet for children that fits on top of the patka. However, there is currently no product available for adults that meets the New South Wales safety standards. We also heard mixed evidence on whether such new technology would meet Sikh religious requirements or provide an adequate level of protection. On the basis of what we heard, we recommended Transport for NSW investigate new technologies as they continue to develop.
The fundamental role of the Staysafe committee is to keep the people of New South Wales safe on our roads, and that role forms the basis of each recommendation in the report. I and other members of the committee have the utmost respect for the Sikh community and other communities of faith in New South Wales. Many of the Sikh stakeholders that attended the public hearing have been recognised for their volunteer work and philanthropy. I thank them, and the broader Sikh Australian community in New South Wales, for the valuable contribution they have made to our State.
On behalf of the committee, I sincerely thank all inquiry participants who took the time to prepare a submission or give evidence at the hearing. I also thank my fellow committee members for their invaluable input and all the committee staff for their support. I am delighted that I am able to commend this report to the House. At the end of the day, we were trying to find a balance, but it is a road safety committee. Its key priority is keeping people safe in every way we can on New South Wales roads. I commend the report to the House.
Mr WARREN KIRBY (Riverstone) (10:33): I take note of the report entitled Religious exemptions for the wearing of helmets undertaken by the Joint Standing Committee on Road Safety—the Staysafe committee. It was a particularly challenging inquiry because we had to balance the known benefits of wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle—or, indeed, a bicycle—versus the religious tenets observed by, particularly, the Sikh community. For the Sikh community, the wearing of a turban—or a dastar—is far more than a fashion choice or an item of clothing. As it was so well put by Mr Amar Singh, the president and founder of Turbans 4 Australia:
Our turban is part of our body. It's an extension of who we are, not just a hat or a cap that we put on occasionally.
For Sikhs, a turban symbolises important values, including equality, honour, spirituality, self-respect, responsibility and a commitment to keep the tenets of the Sikh faith. The challenge is that helmets simply do not fit over the top of dastars. So we found ourselves in a situation where we are trying to balance the safety needs of people on roads in New South Wales with the religious requirements of people within our community. Through the inquiry, we discovered that mandatory motorcycle helmet laws were introduced in 1971 and that, though they initially had exemptions for religious reason, these were removed in 1991, which means that in New South Wales there are absolutely no exemptions when it comes to wearing helmets while motorcycling. That is the case for all Australian jurisdictions, where there are no exemptions for religious reasons for wearing helmets while motorcycling.
However, some jurisdictions have exemptions for wearing pushbike helmets. We found that the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania all have exemptions. So we did recommend that consideration be given to exemptions for pushbike riders, but not for motorcycle riders. Some international jurisdictions have religious exemptions, including the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and India, but there are others that are stridently against that. We heard that many of these nations are moving toward mandatory helmets because helmets significantly reduce the likelihood and severity of head injuries and the risk of death for motorcyclists and users of active transport. This has implications across the broader road network. It may not necessarily be the person who is choosing to go without a helmet who is affected by this. It may be others who are involved in accidents and then the ongoing challenges they entail.
The issue is not limited to that. Other laws are impacted by this broader issue. OH&S laws are particularly challenging when it comes to this. The cost of insurance premiums may rise. So the committee decided on balance that the current laws should remain and that there should be no exemptions for motorcyclists. However, Transport for NSW is considering other designs that may be more appropriate for turbans and also for pushbike riders.
Report noted.
