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Mobile speed cameras remain a hot-button issue for motorists – despite the fact they've been used in Australia since 1985.
These days they can be, and are, absolutely anywhere and can detect a speeding vehicle from hundreds of metres away.
But where are they exactly and why are they at certain locations and not others? Plus, where are you most likely to be snapped by one?
What are mobile speed cameras?
Mobile speed cameras are cameras used by police to catch speeding motorists and are typically installed in an unmarked vehicle or on a tripod just outside it.
Unlike fixed speed cameras – which typically sit atop a pole at junctions to detect cars going through a red light – mobile units are rotated through certain locations that have been assessed and approved by specialist traffic police.
How do mobile speed cameras work?
Mobile road safety cameras use radar to check the speed a vehicle is going and the direction it’s travelling in and then compare it to the set speed limit for that road.
If a vehicle is speeding, it will trigger the camera and create an image of the speed detection.
The image may capture other vehicles too, but the technology knows which car was in the wrong by putting it in a yellow triangle so an infringement notice is only sent to that driver and not others passing by.
How can you spot a mobile speed camera?
Australia's states and territories put their cameras in different makes and models of vehicles; however, on the whole, they are medium or large SUVs and are usually white (but not always).
Up close you can spot them because you can see the camera equipment set up in the rear window and the window itself is tinted.
So are there signs for mobile speed cameras? In some states yes, but not in others.
New South Wales was forced to reinstate signs next to its camera cars in 2023 after removing them two years earlier in an effort to reduce the number of road deaths in the state.
During the time the signs were away, however, the road toll increased.
In Victoria, police don’t use signs at all – a common criticism from motorists.
Camera vehicles in Queensland can also be both marked or unmarked.
How close do mobile speed cameras get you?
The increasingly sophisticated technology can catch a speeding vehicle from around 200 metres away.
Depending on the set-up, they can detect vehicles travelling in both directions from either side of the road if it’s a multi-lane carriageway, or only in one direction if it’s a single-lane road.
The latest cameras used by Victoria Police, for example, can enforce over six lanes of traffic in either direction and can detect multiple vehicles simultaneously.
Where are mobile speed cameras most likely to be located?
Most of the states and territories told Drive that camera car locations are chosen based on factors such as a site’s recent history of speed-related crashes, areas with complaints from residents about excessive speeding, or areas that have been identified by police themselves to be a problem location.
While some states publish lists of where their mobile speed cameras are going to be each day/week/month, others don’t and go by the 'anytime, anywhere' mentality.
Additionally, the guidelines specify that:
In Victoria, a list of speed camera locations is published monthly and can be found here.
The top spot where drivers were caught speeding between January and March 2024 – based on the latest numbers VicPol was able to give us – was Park Street in Parkville between McVean Street and Dollman Street in Melbourne’s north-west.
However, according to police, speeding infringements detected by both fixed and mobile cameras decreased by 13 per cent when compared to the previous quarter (October - December 2023) and by seven per cent versus the same period last year (October - December 2022).
In New South Wales, mobile speed cameras can “detect speeding across the road network by moving around various locations at various times, at a scale and network spread to support the perception of ‘anywhere, anytime’ enforcement”, Transport for NSW told us.
A list of locations can be found here.
According to the government, there were 52,055 fines issued in October 2024 alone by a combination of fixed and mobile cameras, equating to almost $20,000.
In the Australian Capital Territory, mobile speed camera vans can be placed at more than 900 locations that must meet a range of technical, health and safety criteria.
This includes that they must:
In the ACT, mobile speed camera vans have a large automated reflective sign on top of them to notify motorists that their speed has been checked.
In South Australia, cameras are “used at selected sites that meet technical and legal requirements and have passed through a site selection process”, South Australia Police (SAPOL) told Drive.
Locations are selected after an assessment by the Traffic Intelligence Section based on factors such as places where deaths and serious injuries have occurred, there have been complaints about dangerous or poor driving patterns, or people exceeding the limit by 30km/h or more.
SAPOL said officers also take into consideration the spread of its safety cameras, time of day and road conditions such as bike lanes, clearways or road works.
The locations are updated weekly for SA for both metropolitan and regional areas, which can be found here.
According to the Northern Territory Police, it has been using mobile speed cameras since 1998, placing them at locations near speed-related crashes, areas of high crash reports, and those known to have high amounts of speed-related traffic offending.
On top of that, police said areas where speeding is reported by the public, officers will carry out enforcement there too – particularly in places such as main roads and school zones.
The NT doesn’t publish a list of locations, saying they can be “anywhere, anytime” and that includes remote areas such as Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs.
Western Australia Police also doesn’t share a list of spots online where you’ll find mobile cameras, but the Department of Transport does publish the information weekly in local newspapers and broadcast on regional radio stations.
WA also uses crash sites as a determining factor in deciding locations, as well as complaints and school zones. Additionally, places where more than 15 per cent of road users are exceeding the posted speed limit can be chosen too.
In Tasmania, the Department of State Growth says mobile camera site selection is based on several factors including crash history, road safety infrastructure and operational speeds.
Again, cars can pop up anywhere and at any time, rather than there being a set list because the state does not publicly release specific mobile speed camera locations.
However, the department was able to tell us that the mobile speed camera location with the largest number of fines issued between 1 January and 1 October 2024 was the Tasman Highway in Sorell.
And you can suggest where one should go here.
According to a recent report by Drive based on data shared with local news outlet Pulse Tasmania, the 16 speed cameras in action across the state generated 53,249 tickets between October 2023 and October 2024 equalling roughly $7.12 million.
In Queensland, all speed and red light camera sites are chosen based on:
There are up to 3500 mobile speed camera sites located throughout Queensland, which are “deployed to these sites randomly to increase the unpredictability of when and where they will be enforcing, encouraging motorists to follow the speed limit”, the government website claims.
As with a number of the other jurisdictions, enforcement can be anywhere at any time; however, the government does have a list of active locations you can find here.
A born-and-bred newshound, Kathryn has worked her way up through the ranks reporting for, and later editing, two renowned UK regional newspapers and websites, before moving on to join the digital newsdesk of one of the world’s most popular newspapers – The Sun. More recently, she’s done a short stint in PR in the not-for-profit sector, and led the news team at Wheels Media.
