Free Child Car Seat Safety Checks
North Sydney Council, in partnership with Transport for NSW, this year had limited number of free appointments available for residents to have their child car seats, harnesses and booster seats checked and installed by an authorised restraint fitter.
Registrations for vouchers are now CLOSED due to all the vouchers being used.
Find a TfNSW authorised restraint fitter
Safety guide showing five stages of child car seat use by age and height, including rear‑facing, forward‑facing and adult seatbelt recommendations.
Child Restraint Laws:
-
Children up to the age of 6 months must be secured in an approved rearward facing child car seat.
-
Children aged from 6 months to 4 years old must be secured in either a rear or forward facing approved child car seat with an inbuilt harness.
-
Children under 4 years old can't travel in the front seat of a vehicle with 2 or more rows.
-
Children aged 4-7 years old must be secured in a forward facing approved child car seat with an inbuilt harness or an approved booster seat.
-
Children aged 4-7 years old can't travel in the front seat of a vehicle with two or more rows, unless all other back seats are occupied by children younger than 7 years in an approved child car seat or booster seat.
-
Children aged 7-16 years old who are too small to be properly restrained by a seatbelt (see the five-step test) are strongly recommended to use either a forward-facing seat with an in-built harness for older children, an approved booster seat, or an approved child safety harness together with the vehicle’s seatbelt.
-
Children in booster seats must be restrained by a suitable lap and sash-type approved seatbelt that's properly adjusted and fastened, or by a suitable approved child safety harness that's properly adjusted and fastened.
Child car seats have shoulder height markers to show that your child fits in the seat properly. If your child is too small for the child car seat specified for their age, keep them in their current child car seat until it's safe for them to move to the next level.
If your child is too large for the child car seat specified for their age, they may move to the next level of child car seat/seatbelt.