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Child restraints in Australia have incorporated upper tether straps since their introduction in the mid 1970s. A new Australian Design Rule (ADR) for child restraint anchorages in vehicles was developed to facilitate installation, interchangeability between vehicles, and reduce the likelihood of misuse. The aim was to write the new ADR to be as least design restrictive as possible while still achieving these objectives. This was achieved by: Tightly specifying the mating interface between the child restraint clip and the vehicle anchor bracket. Recommending clearance requirements around the vehicle anchorage point to allow the installation of the anchor bracket and subsequently the clip to the bracket. Following this first stage, manufacturers will be required to install one anchor bracket to the vehicle at time of manufacture from 1994.

A new Australian Design Rule (69100) for a full frontal impact test was developed using Australia's high seat belt wearing rate and US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 as the basis. This Design Rule sets performance requirements by way of injury parameters measured by instrumented dummies. The research included testing seven passenger car models to gauge current performance. This was followed by an occupant restraint optimisation program on one of these car models to provide an indication of potential for injury reduction. This work examined the effect on dummy kinematics (and its effect on injury potential) of emerging restraint technology such as buckle pretensioners, webbing clamp retractors, energy absorbing steering wheels and airbags.

The seat belt wearing rate in Australia is over 95% in the front seats. All new passenger cars will be required to comply with Australian Design Rule (ADR) 69 for full frontal impact occupant protection by 1996. ADR 69 has similar injury criteria to US FMVSS 208 except that the test is done with dummies restrained by the vehicle's lap sash seat belts. Vehicle manufacturers have indicated that the majority of passenger cars will be fitted with at least driver's side airbags to demonstrate compliance. The two largest selling Australian family cars are now fitted with driver's side airbags as standard equipment. This paper reports on a series of offset crash tests in support of the work being done by the European Experimental Vehicle Committee to develop a harmonised offset frontal crash test procedure to address non-full frontal crashes. There is a need for a full frontal rigid barrier crash test in addition to the offset deformable barrier test requirement.