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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-03-24 Daily Xml
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APY Lands

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (16:06): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation questions about driver's licences on the APY lands.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: The minister would be aware that we passed in this place a bill allowing for special licensing conditions and provisions to obtain driver's licences on the APY lands, owing to the impracticality of the existing system for those living in remote communities. More Anangu obtaining and holding their driver's licences keeps people on the right side of the law and increases chances of employment in many cases. My questions to the minister are:

1. Has the number of driver's licences issued to residents of the APY lands increased in the 12 months since the amendment to the act has been operational?

2. Has the number of recorded incidents of unlicensed driving in the APY lands decreased in the past 12 months?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (16:07): I thank the honourable member for his important question and interest in this area. As the honourable member pointed out in his question, we did pass, as a parliament, legislation about driver's licences and, as he pointed out in his question, it is a very real issue. The ability to drive increases the prospect of people obtaining employment, which in remote Aboriginal communities is one of the best ways to overcome disadvantage.

In 2013, the government commenced a 90-day Change@South Australia project. The APY lands driver licensing project was one of these projects. Its aim was to make changes that would support Aboriginal people in remote communities who want to obtain their driver's licence. As the honourable member pointed out, in November 2013 the Motor Vehicles (Driver Licensing) Amendment Bill passed this place. A working group was formed by the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure to manage the implementation of the new arrangements.

Membership of this working group was drawn from relevant government agencies, together with representatives from the governing bodies of the APY and MT lands. The group met for the first time in April 2014, and again in May and November 2014. Importantly, though, the government does not want this legislative change to impact on road safety or current competency-based testing standards. Existing conditions and penalties which apply to learner permits, provisional licences and full licences are intended to be the same.

The new program, On the Right Track Remote, is in the inception start-up phase, and so I am informed that no exemptions have been issued yet. Two Aboriginal program support officers have been now appointed to facilitate delivery of the program on the lands. The first driver training services to be delivered under the new program, I am informed, took place in mid February this year in Mimili. Other program support work is also underway, including a tender to establish a panel of providers to deliver training services and testing on the lands. Another initiative in this area is an Austroads trial. Austroads is the association of Australian and New Zealand road transport and traffic authorities. Austroads has been undertaking a number of national projects to address the same issue that the legislative change sought to address, that is, low driver-licensing rates of Aboriginal people living in remote communities.

One such project is to be trialled soon on the APY lands and is aimed at young people aged between 16 and 19 years of age. It involves the delivery of a teaching package that combines the learner and provisional stages of driver licensing using techniques which are specifically tailored for young Aboriginal people. DPTI is leading the Austroads trial and is obtaining planning and implementation advice from the working group that is implementing the new legislative arrangements. A learning-to-drive toolkit which makes the pre-learner phase of driving more accessible for young Aboriginal people is another Austroads initiative that is being used by TAFE SA on the APY lands.

In addition to these two driver licensing initiatives, the Minster for Road Safety announced on 16 June 2014 the translation of road rule refresher videos into two Aboriginal languages for people living on the APY lands. This is about providing equal access to government services for Aboriginal people who do not speak English, or for whom English is a second language. I hope some of this information has been of use to the honourable member. However, as to very specific numbers, I do not have them in front of me but I will endeavour to bring them back and let him know what the answers are.

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