Internal Emails That Make Reference To Safety Concerns Around Tesla Self-Driving Cars.

Written by Claude Haiku 4.5 from the extracted text on 27 Feb 2026. It can miss or misread redacted and scanned pages. Check the source before relying on it.

Internal Department of Infrastructure emails from May 2025 discuss safety concerns regarding Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features in Australia. The correspondence, involving multiple departmental staff members, notes that these driver convenience features either lack Australian Design Rule compliance requirements or were enabled through software updates post-sale. While acknowledging these systems do not technically qualify as automated driving systems under current regulations, the emails indicate departmental consideration of potential regulatory measures to address deployment risks. The documents reference vehicle recall provisions and regulatory frameworks (s47E, s47G, s47C, s47B), suggesting the department was evaluating the safety implications and regulatory gaps surrounding Tesla's advanced driver assistance systems operating in Australia. Some content relating to ministerial advice was redacted under FOI exemptions.