Supported by the Australian Government through the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, the program is designed to offer successful candidates an opportunity to engage with and learn from senior road safety leaders and policymakers to effect meaningful change within their community.
The ACRS Future Leaders Program is a pilot program providing an opportunity for road safety’s next generation of talent to gain exposure to multidisciplinary experiences and learn to effect change within the community.
The purpose of the ACRS Future Leaders Program is to establish a platform for increased exposure to policymaking and advocacy and create experiential and networking opportunities for early to mid-career road safety professionals.
Pilot Program Timeline
2025 Future Leaders
Dr Amie Hayley is a Rebecca L. Cooper Al and Val Rosenstrauss Research Fellow at the Centre for Mental Health and Brain Sciences at Swinburne University, establishing herself as an international leader in the field of impaired driving research and the use of intelligent technologies to help reduce road trauma.
With more than a decade of experience at the National Road Safety Agency in Argentina and the World Health Organization (WHO), Maria Eugenia Keller is now pursuing a PhD at CARRS-Q dedicated to improving speed management policies and practices by analysing them through systems thinking tools and lenses. Her research interests encompass unveiling the social and public health impacts of road transport systems, enhancing decision-making through evidence-based approaches, the economics of road safety, exploring innovative governance methods, and applying systems thinking lenses to complex policy issues.
Dr Jamie Mackenzie is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at CASR, with a degree in Mechatronic Engineering and a PhD investigating the effects of Electronic Stability Control (ESC) braking interventions on high speed rural road crashes, completed in 2015. Jamie played a pivotal role in establishing the ACRS Early Career Networking sessions at the ARSC in 2016, leading to the formation of the Early Career Network, and has held the office of Chair of the South Australia Chapter Committee since 2019.
Melanie Suitor is the Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer for Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils in central NSW, a role she has held and shaped for over 20 years. During this time she has planned, implemented, monitored and evaluated over 100 community road safety education programs, she is a level 2 Road Safety Auditor and an authorised child restraint fitter. She was a driving force behind the establishment of the ACRS Local Government Network and has held the inaugural chair of the Network since late 2022.
2025 Future Leaders Corporate Partnerships
The Australasian College of Road Safety (ACRS) invites organisations within our Corporate Membership to join us in supporting our pilot Future Leaders program, operating now and throughout 2025.
Our Future Leaders program is designed to offer our four successful candidates opportunities to engage with and learn from senior road safety leaders and policymakers to effect meaningful change within their communities. Recognising the transdisciplinary nature of road safety, and the great diversity within our membership, one of the elements we would like to include in the program is providing our Future Leaders with opportunities to experience aspects of road safety from outside their day-to-day work.
Can you help?
Would your organisation be able to provide:
- Work, site, or field visit experiences?
- Mentorship opportunities?
- Engagement with the goals of our Future Leaders for 2025?
Our 2025 Future Leaders’ Goals
Based across Adelaide, Brisbane, central NSW, and Melbourne, ACRS Future Leaders are seeking connections, engagement and opportunities in the following areas:
- Research implementation and leveraging research for change
- Vehicle safety, fleet safety, and regulation testing
- Policy change and advocacy
- Community behavioural change
- Intelligent speed adaptation
- Australian Design Rules (ADRs)
- Community engagement with research and policy outcomes
- Professional development opportunities in leadership, communications and effective mentorship.
If your organisation is interested in providing any of these opportunities, please email the Future Leaders Project Manager, Michelle Thomas at michelle.thomas@acrs.org.au.
Acknowledgement
The ACRS Future Leaders Program was funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.