Kirsty Kelly is quietly spoken, but in this interview she shares great insights with authority.

Since 2019, Kirsty has been CEO of the AITPM (Australian Institute of Traffic Planning in Management) which is Australia’s national association for transport professionals.

Under Kirsty’s leadership, the AITPM recently published a groundbreaking Policy Issues Paper: The Path to Net Zero: Decarbonising Australia’s Transport System. You can download the full paper here.

In this interview we discuss six highlights of the paper’s 22 recommendations. AITPM is a professional membership association, not a lobby group, but many of these recommendations are in alignment with the things that lobby groups are calling for.

Kirsty has taken a keen interest in sustainable urban development for many years. Prior to joining the AITPM she was CEO of the Planning Institute of Australia – the peak professional body for Australia’s urban and regional planning professionals.

Kirsty is a qualified urban planner who has practiced her profession both within local and state governments and in private practice. She’s also been a member of range of boards and advisory groups.

In the What’s Up? section that follows our interview with Kirsty, we mention two organisations:

Yarra Bug Podcast is an excellent long-running podcast that is also broadcast on 3CR community radio in Melbourne.

Camcycle is an advocacy organisation based in the small university city of Cambridge UK. Its dynamic CEO Roxanne De Beaux recently completed a speaking tour of Australia that we attended and we hope to have Roxy as a future guest on the Squeaky Wheel Podcast.

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Matt is a great communicator who not only gives many insightful comments, but does so with a smile on his face and a glint in his eye.

In our interview he covers a wide range of topics from the “D-Day Invasion” of cars that lands in every schoolground twice a day, through to “autobesity”, the need for better urban planning and more.

Matt is a leading transport researcher and renowned expert on urban planning who has spoken widely via local state and national media, plus given keynotes at many conferences

Until recently Matt was Deputy Director at Griffith University’s Cities Research Institute. He has secured five national research grants and led major transport collaborations with Brisbane City Council and Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads.

Matt grew up in Melbourne and graduated with a Bachelor of Planning and Design (hons) for the University of Melbourne. He then moved to Brisbane in the late 1990’s where he did his PhD in Urban Planning at the University of Queensland.

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Sara Stace is a city shaper, urban transport innovator, and bold advocate for better streets. With a career spanning 30 years across federal, state, and local governments, as well as the private sector, she has played a key role in shaping cities, land use, and transport policies. She's also recently started her on consultancy, Vivendi Cities.

In this episode, Sara discusses Better Streets Australia's campaign leading up to the 2025 Australian federal election. The campaign presents five key policy ‘asks’ and has already built a coalition of 100+ companies and non-profits.

Sara refers to Infrastructure Australia mid-way through our conversation and mentions that she was not sure of the minimum project value threshold before projects must be assessed by them. It is $250 million.

🔗 More about the World Cycling Alliance: here.

🔗 More on Better Streets: here.

🔗 Follow Sara’s insights on LinkedIn: here:

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