The Safe System approach has recently been adopted by Australia as the guiding principle for delivering road safety outcomes. This approach suggests (amongst other things) road users will make mistakes, and that they have a limited tolerance for surviving such events, or avoiding serious injury. Therefore, there is a need for a road system that is 'forgiving' of mistakes by road users. There is also a need to manage road users to ensure that they are alert and compliant. Although the vision for this approach is clear, the actions that might be taken to achieve it are less obvious. This paper presents details of the Safe System approach, including the road safety context in Australia, and details of the Safe System approach as adopted. It also summarises current thinking in Australia on specific aspects of this approach, including speed management within a Safe System context; the role of infrastructure in delivering Safe System outcomes, and the role of road users in this system. Each of these issues is discussed based on recent Australian experience.