MYLICENCE

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (14:42): Can the Minister for Road Safety advise the house about the initiative to add a MyLicence group to Facebook?

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland—Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing, Minister for Road Safety, Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Minister Assisting the Premier with South Australia's Strategic Plan) (14:42): MyLicence is an initiative of the government that was launched in June 2010 by the now Treasurer and former minister for road safety—a brilliant initiative, clearly—as an interactive website for new and young drivers, their parents and driving supervisors about road safety and licensing stages.

I am pleased to announce that MyLicence has joined Facebook to reach out to even more young South Australian drivers. The social networking site is being used to encourage young drivers to stay in touch with the latest road safety news. Despite steady falls in South Australia's road toll during the past decade, young drivers continue to be over-represented in road crashes. People aged 16 to 24 years make up 13 per cent of the population but account for 27 per cent of fatalities and 29 per cent of serious injuries. Also, young drivers have a significantly higher risk of death relative to the number of kilometres they drive compared to other driver age groups.

To combat this deadly toll, it is essential that our road safety messages reach young people in a way in which they can relate and in mediums that they use and access regularly. Through Facebook, the new MyLicence page can achieve that goal. The MyLicence page on Facebook will be an interactive page that provides important driving and road safety advice and regular updates on rules affecting learner and provisional drivers.

The page contains links to the MyLicence website for more information about licence stages and rules, links to the online learner theory practice test, the hazard perception test for provisional drivers, as well as broadcasting regular road safety video clips sent to MyLicence e-newsletter subscribers. This includes advice and tips about a wide range of road safety issues affecting young drivers today, including driving at dusk, leaving a safe braking distance and how to buy a safer car.

I encourage both young drivers and their parents to get online to take advantage of the new MyLicence Facebook page or subscribe to the website to receive the MyLicence e-newsletter.