❓ The Attorney General outlines practical measures, including open days in regional communities, to address fine defaulting and unlicensed driving among Aboriginal people, highlighting positive outcomes from pilot programs.
AnsweredQoN 545Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FINE DEFAULTING AND UNLICENSED DRIVING — REGIONAL ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES
Can the Attorney General please advise what practical measures the government is taking to tackle the issue of fine defaulting and unlicensed driving in regional Aboriginal communities? Mr C.C. PORTER
Can the Attorney General please advise what practical measures the government is taking to tackle the issue of fine defaulting and unlicensed driving in regional Aboriginal communities? Mr C.C. PORTER
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for his question. Each week he demonstrates in this place his ongoing interest in Indigenous and juvenile justice, and I am very pleased about that. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.C. PORTER : I would like to briefly inform the house about how the Western Australian Aboriginal Justice Agreement has evolved to provide some very good practical outcomes. These are sometimes matters of some perplexity and detail. The Aboriginal Justice Agreement was an initiative of the previous government. I think $10.8 million was devoted to it over four years in 2006–07, largely in response to the recommendations of the Mahoney inquiry. I put that program under review when I came to office and met with the Aboriginal justice committee, which, in my view, was straying into areas that had become so theoretical that we could not measure some of the impacts that they were having. The challenge that I put to the committee at the very first meeting was to ask it to focus on practical, measurable outcomes in local communities. I particularly wanted to focus on fines and unpaid fines and driving and unlicensed driving. The committee very much rose to that challenge. In conjunction with the Department of the Attorney General, it arranged open days. The pilot of those open days occurred in Laverton. A range of government departments physically sent representatives to Laverton. There was a day on which people could come and have their problems dealt with. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. Mr C.C. PORTER : I have actually been there. What occurred on that day was quite remarkable. The committee received 200 inquiries ranging from licence applications, fines enforcement, payment of vehicle registrations, firearms payments and a range of other inquiries as well as practical driving assessments. Quite amazingly, at that pilot day, 70 community members—Indigenous people who were interested in dealing with their fines—worked out time-to-pay arrangements. That is a considerable improvement because each of those 70 people would have been liable to lose their licence if their fines had continued to be unpaid and they could have been picked up for driving without a licence, which could have spiralled into a situation in which they could have eventually demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that required imprisonment. Having 70 community members access time-to-pay arrangements on one day was quite remarkable. A total of 100 attendees benefited from advice from a range of agencies, there were 13 new applications for drivers’ licences and on this one day six applicants completed the practical driving assessment, four of whom successfully completed the graduating driver’s training licence to complete their licence. So we provided a service in which people got their licence on that very day. There were registration renewal payments. That demonstrated that the committee rose to the challenge of doing something that was measurable, practical and to the benefit of the Indigenous community, and it was quite a remarkable result. There was a second day at the same location. There was an open day in Leonora. Just to give another example, there were 19 applications for drivers’ licences at the Leonora open day. I know that the member for Murray–Wellington is heading a committee that is looking into the issue. We hope to have something before Parliament by the end of this term of Parliament about the rules surrounding driver’s licences. In the meantime, this government is doing something very practical within the existing system to repair the problem and enable individuals to apply for drivers’ licences within the system. Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
Mr C.C. PORTER replied: I thank the member for his question. Each week he demonstrates in this place his ongoing interest in Indigenous and juvenile justice, and I am very pleased about that. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.C. PORTER : I would like to briefly inform the house about how the Western Australian Aboriginal Justice Agreement has evolved to provide some very good practical outcomes. These are sometimes matters of some perplexity and detail. The Aboriginal Justice Agreement was an initiative of the previous government. I think $10.8 million was devoted to it over four years in 2006–07, largely in response to the recommendations of the Mahoney inquiry. I put that program under review when I came to office and met with the Aboriginal justice committee, which, in my view, was straying into areas that had become so theoretical that we could not measure some of the impacts that they were having. The challenge that I put to the committee at the very first meeting was to ask it to focus on practical, measurable outcomes in local communities. I particularly wanted to focus on fines and unpaid fines and driving and unlicensed driving. The committee very much rose to that challenge. In conjunction with the Department of the Attorney General, it arranged open days. The pilot of those open days occurred in Laverton. A range of government departments physically sent representatives to Laverton. There was a day on which people could come and have their problems dealt with. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. Mr C.C. PORTER : I have actually been there. What occurred on that day was quite remarkable. The committee received 200 inquiries ranging from licence applications, fines enforcement, payment of vehicle registrations, firearms payments and a range of other inquiries as well as practical driving assessments. Quite amazingly, at that pilot day, 70 community members—Indigenous people who were interested in dealing with their fines—worked out time-to-pay arrangements. That is a considerable improvement because each of those 70 people would have been liable to lose their licence if their fines had continued to be unpaid and they could have been picked up for driving without a licence, which could have spiralled into a situation in which they could have eventually demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that required imprisonment. Having 70 community members access time-to-pay arrangements on one day was quite remarkable. A total of 100 attendees benefited from advice from a range of agencies, there were 13 new applications for drivers’ licences and on this one day six applicants completed the practical driving assessment, four of whom successfully completed the graduating driver’s training licence to complete their licence. So we provided a service in which people got their licence on that very day. There were registration renewal payments. That demonstrated that the committee rose to the challenge of doing something that was measurable, practical and to the benefit of the Indigenous community, and it was quite a remarkable result. There was a second day at the same location. There was an open day in Leonora. Just to give another example, there were 19 applications for drivers’ licences at the Leonora open day. I know that the member for Murray–Wellington is heading a committee that is looking into the issue. We hope to have something before Parliament by the end of this term of Parliament about the rules surrounding driver’s licences. In the meantime, this government is doing something very practical within the existing system to repair the problem and enable individuals to apply for drivers’ licences within the system. Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
I thank the member for his question. Each week he demonstrates in this place his ongoing interest in Indigenous and juvenile justice, and I am very pleased about that. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.C. PORTER : I would like to briefly inform the house about how the Western Australian Aboriginal Justice Agreement has evolved to provide some very good practical outcomes. These are sometimes matters of some perplexity and detail. The Aboriginal Justice Agreement was an initiative of the previous government. I think $10.8 million was devoted to it over four years in 2006–07, largely in response to the recommendations of the Mahoney inquiry. I put that program under review when I came to office and met with the Aboriginal justice committee, which, in my view, was straying into areas that had become so theoretical that we could not measure some of the impacts that they were having. The challenge that I put to the committee at the very first meeting was to ask it to focus on practical, measurable outcomes in local communities. I particularly wanted to focus on fines and unpaid fines and driving and unlicensed driving. The committee very much rose to that challenge. In conjunction with the Department of the Attorney General, it arranged open days. The pilot of those open days occurred in Laverton. A range of government departments physically sent representatives to Laverton. There was a day on which people could come and have their problems dealt with. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. Mr C.C. PORTER : I have actually been there. What occurred on that day was quite remarkable. The committee received 200 inquiries ranging from licence applications, fines enforcement, payment of vehicle registrations, firearms payments and a range of other inquiries as well as practical driving assessments. Quite amazingly, at that pilot day, 70 community members—Indigenous people who were interested in dealing with their fines—worked out time-to-pay arrangements. That is a considerable improvement because each of those 70 people would have been liable to lose their licence if their fines had continued to be unpaid and they could have been picked up for driving without a licence, which could have spiralled into a situation in which they could have eventually demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that required imprisonment. Having 70 community members access time-to-pay arrangements on one day was quite remarkable. A total of 100 attendees benefited from advice from a range of agencies, there were 13 new applications for drivers’ licences and on this one day six applicants completed the practical driving assessment, four of whom successfully completed the graduating driver’s training licence to complete their licence. So we provided a service in which people got their licence on that very day. There were registration renewal payments. That demonstrated that the committee rose to the challenge of doing something that was measurable, practical and to the benefit of the Indigenous community, and it was quite a remarkable result. There was a second day at the same location. There was an open day in Leonora. Just to give another example, there were 19 applications for drivers’ licences at the Leonora open day. I know that the member for Murray–Wellington is heading a committee that is looking into the issue. We hope to have something before Parliament by the end of this term of Parliament about the rules surrounding driver’s licences. In the meantime, this government is doing something very practical within the existing system to repair the problem and enable individuals to apply for drivers’ licences within the system. Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.C. PORTER : I would like to briefly inform the house about how the Western Australian Aboriginal Justice Agreement has evolved to provide some very good practical outcomes. These are sometimes matters of some perplexity and detail. The Aboriginal Justice Agreement was an initiative of the previous government. I think $10.8 million was devoted to it over four years in 2006–07, largely in response to the recommendations of the Mahoney inquiry. I put that program under review when I came to office and met with the Aboriginal justice committee, which, in my view, was straying into areas that had become so theoretical that we could not measure some of the impacts that they were having. The challenge that I put to the committee at the very first meeting was to ask it to focus on practical, measurable outcomes in local communities. I particularly wanted to focus on fines and unpaid fines and driving and unlicensed driving. The committee very much rose to that challenge. In conjunction with the Department of the Attorney General, it arranged open days. The pilot of those open days occurred in Laverton. A range of government departments physically sent representatives to Laverton. There was a day on which people could come and have their problems dealt with. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. Mr C.C. PORTER : I have actually been there. What occurred on that day was quite remarkable. The committee received 200 inquiries ranging from licence applications, fines enforcement, payment of vehicle registrations, firearms payments and a range of other inquiries as well as practical driving assessments. Quite amazingly, at that pilot day, 70 community members—Indigenous people who were interested in dealing with their fines—worked out time-to-pay arrangements. That is a considerable improvement because each of those 70 people would have been liable to lose their licence if their fines had continued to be unpaid and they could have been picked up for driving without a licence, which could have spiralled into a situation in which they could have eventually demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that required imprisonment. Having 70 community members access time-to-pay arrangements on one day was quite remarkable. A total of 100 attendees benefited from advice from a range of agencies, there were 13 new applications for drivers’ licences and on this one day six applicants completed the practical driving assessment, four of whom successfully completed the graduating driver’s training licence to complete their licence. So we provided a service in which people got their licence on that very day. There were registration renewal payments. That demonstrated that the committee rose to the challenge of doing something that was measurable, practical and to the benefit of the Indigenous community, and it was quite a remarkable result. There was a second day at the same location. There was an open day in Leonora. Just to give another example, there were 19 applications for drivers’ licences at the Leonora open day. I know that the member for Murray–Wellington is heading a committee that is looking into the issue. We hope to have something before Parliament by the end of this term of Parliament about the rules surrounding driver’s licences. In the meantime, this government is doing something very practical within the existing system to repair the problem and enable individuals to apply for drivers’ licences within the system. Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.C. PORTER : I would like to briefly inform the house about how the Western Australian Aboriginal Justice Agreement has evolved to provide some very good practical outcomes. These are sometimes matters of some perplexity and detail. The Aboriginal Justice Agreement was an initiative of the previous government. I think $10.8 million was devoted to it over four years in 2006–07, largely in response to the recommendations of the Mahoney inquiry. I put that program under review when I came to office and met with the Aboriginal justice committee, which, in my view, was straying into areas that had become so theoretical that we could not measure some of the impacts that they were having. The challenge that I put to the committee at the very first meeting was to ask it to focus on practical, measurable outcomes in local communities. I particularly wanted to focus on fines and unpaid fines and driving and unlicensed driving. The committee very much rose to that challenge. In conjunction with the Department of the Attorney General, it arranged open days. The pilot of those open days occurred in Laverton. A range of government departments physically sent representatives to Laverton. There was a day on which people could come and have their problems dealt with. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. Mr C.C. PORTER : I have actually been there. What occurred on that day was quite remarkable. The committee received 200 inquiries ranging from licence applications, fines enforcement, payment of vehicle registrations, firearms payments and a range of other inquiries as well as practical driving assessments. Quite amazingly, at that pilot day, 70 community members—Indigenous people who were interested in dealing with their fines—worked out time-to-pay arrangements. That is a considerable improvement because each of those 70 people would have been liable to lose their licence if their fines had continued to be unpaid and they could have been picked up for driving without a licence, which could have spiralled into a situation in which they could have eventually demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that required imprisonment. Having 70 community members access time-to-pay arrangements on one day was quite remarkable. A total of 100 attendees benefited from advice from a range of agencies, there were 13 new applications for drivers’ licences and on this one day six applicants completed the practical driving assessment, four of whom successfully completed the graduating driver’s training licence to complete their licence. So we provided a service in which people got their licence on that very day. There were registration renewal payments. That demonstrated that the committee rose to the challenge of doing something that was measurable, practical and to the benefit of the Indigenous community, and it was quite a remarkable result. There was a second day at the same location. There was an open day in Leonora. Just to give another example, there were 19 applications for drivers’ licences at the Leonora open day. I know that the member for Murray–Wellington is heading a committee that is looking into the issue. We hope to have something before Parliament by the end of this term of Parliament about the rules surrounding driver’s licences. In the meantime, this government is doing something very practical within the existing system to repair the problem and enable individuals to apply for drivers’ licences within the system. Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
Mr C.C. PORTER : I would like to briefly inform the house about how the Western Australian Aboriginal Justice Agreement has evolved to provide some very good practical outcomes. These are sometimes matters of some perplexity and detail. The Aboriginal Justice Agreement was an initiative of the previous government. I think $10.8 million was devoted to it over four years in 2006–07, largely in response to the recommendations of the Mahoney inquiry. I put that program under review when I came to office and met with the Aboriginal justice committee, which, in my view, was straying into areas that had become so theoretical that we could not measure some of the impacts that they were having. The challenge that I put to the committee at the very first meeting was to ask it to focus on practical, measurable outcomes in local communities. I particularly wanted to focus on fines and unpaid fines and driving and unlicensed driving. The committee very much rose to that challenge. In conjunction with the Department of the Attorney General, it arranged open days. The pilot of those open days occurred in Laverton. A range of government departments physically sent representatives to Laverton. There was a day on which people could come and have their problems dealt with. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. Mr C.C. PORTER : I have actually been there. What occurred on that day was quite remarkable. The committee received 200 inquiries ranging from licence applications, fines enforcement, payment of vehicle registrations, firearms payments and a range of other inquiries as well as practical driving assessments. Quite amazingly, at that pilot day, 70 community members—Indigenous people who were interested in dealing with their fines—worked out time-to-pay arrangements. That is a considerable improvement because each of those 70 people would have been liable to lose their licence if their fines had continued to be unpaid and they could have been picked up for driving without a licence, which could have spiralled into a situation in which they could have eventually demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that required imprisonment. Having 70 community members access time-to-pay arrangements on one day was quite remarkable. A total of 100 attendees benefited from advice from a range of agencies, there were 13 new applications for drivers’ licences and on this one day six applicants completed the practical driving assessment, four of whom successfully completed the graduating driver’s training licence to complete their licence. So we provided a service in which people got their licence on that very day. There were registration renewal payments. That demonstrated that the committee rose to the challenge of doing something that was measurable, practical and to the benefit of the Indigenous community, and it was quite a remarkable result. There was a second day at the same location. There was an open day in Leonora. Just to give another example, there were 19 applications for drivers’ licences at the Leonora open day. I know that the member for Murray–Wellington is heading a committee that is looking into the issue. We hope to have something before Parliament by the end of this term of Parliament about the rules surrounding driver’s licences. In the meantime, this government is doing something very practical within the existing system to repair the problem and enable individuals to apply for drivers’ licences within the system. Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. Mr C.C. PORTER : I have actually been there. What occurred on that day was quite remarkable. The committee received 200 inquiries ranging from licence applications, fines enforcement, payment of vehicle registrations, firearms payments and a range of other inquiries as well as practical driving assessments. Quite amazingly, at that pilot day, 70 community members—Indigenous people who were interested in dealing with their fines—worked out time-to-pay arrangements. That is a considerable improvement because each of those 70 people would have been liable to lose their licence if their fines had continued to be unpaid and they could have been picked up for driving without a licence, which could have spiralled into a situation in which they could have eventually demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that required imprisonment. Having 70 community members access time-to-pay arrangements on one day was quite remarkable. A total of 100 attendees benefited from advice from a range of agencies, there were 13 new applications for drivers’ licences and on this one day six applicants completed the practical driving assessment, four of whom successfully completed the graduating driver’s training licence to complete their licence. So we provided a service in which people got their licence on that very day. There were registration renewal payments. That demonstrated that the committee rose to the challenge of doing something that was measurable, practical and to the benefit of the Indigenous community, and it was quite a remarkable result. There was a second day at the same location. There was an open day in Leonora. Just to give another example, there were 19 applications for drivers’ licences at the Leonora open day. I know that the member for Murray–Wellington is heading a committee that is looking into the issue. We hope to have something before Parliament by the end of this term of Parliament about the rules surrounding driver’s licences. In the meantime, this government is doing something very practical within the existing system to repair the problem and enable individuals to apply for drivers’ licences within the system. Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
Mr C.C. PORTER : I have actually been there. What occurred on that day was quite remarkable. The committee received 200 inquiries ranging from licence applications, fines enforcement, payment of vehicle registrations, firearms payments and a range of other inquiries as well as practical driving assessments. Quite amazingly, at that pilot day, 70 community members—Indigenous people who were interested in dealing with their fines—worked out time-to-pay arrangements. That is a considerable improvement because each of those 70 people would have been liable to lose their licence if their fines had continued to be unpaid and they could have been picked up for driving without a licence, which could have spiralled into a situation in which they could have eventually demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that required imprisonment. Having 70 community members access time-to-pay arrangements on one day was quite remarkable. A total of 100 attendees benefited from advice from a range of agencies, there were 13 new applications for drivers’ licences and on this one day six applicants completed the practical driving assessment, four of whom successfully completed the graduating driver’s training licence to complete their licence. So we provided a service in which people got their licence on that very day. There were registration renewal payments. That demonstrated that the committee rose to the challenge of doing something that was measurable, practical and to the benefit of the Indigenous community, and it was quite a remarkable result. There was a second day at the same location. There was an open day in Leonora. Just to give another example, there were 19 applications for drivers’ licences at the Leonora open day. I know that the member for Murray–Wellington is heading a committee that is looking into the issue. We hope to have something before Parliament by the end of this term of Parliament about the rules surrounding driver’s licences. In the meantime, this government is doing something very practical within the existing system to repair the problem and enable individuals to apply for drivers’ licences within the system. Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
I know that the member for Murray–Wellington is heading a committee that is looking into the issue. We hope to have something before Parliament by the end of this term of Parliament about the rules surrounding driver’s licences. In the meantime, this government is doing something very practical within the existing system to repair the problem and enable individuals to apply for drivers’ licences within the system. Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
Mr C.C. PORTER replied: I thank the member for his question. Each week he demonstrates in this place his ongoing interest in Indigenous and juvenile justice, and I am very pleased about that. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.C. PORTER : I would like to briefly inform the house about how the Western Australian Aboriginal Justice Agreement has evolved to provide some very good practical outcomes. These are sometimes matters of some perplexity and detail. The Aboriginal Justice Agreement was an initiative of the previous government. I think $10.8 million was devoted to it over four years in 2006–07, largely in response to the recommendations of the Mahoney inquiry. I put that program under review when I came to office and met with the Aboriginal justice committee, which, in my view, was straying into areas that had become so theoretical that we could not measure some of the impacts that they were having. The challenge that I put to the committee at the very first meeting was to ask it to focus on practical, measurable outcomes in local communities. I particularly wanted to focus on fines and unpaid fines and driving and unlicensed driving. The committee very much rose to that challenge. In conjunction with the Department of the Attorney General, it arranged open days. The pilot of those open days occurred in Laverton. A range of government departments physically sent representatives to Laverton. There was a day on which people could come and have their problems dealt with. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. Mr C.C. PORTER : I have actually been there. What occurred on that day was quite remarkable. The committee received 200 inquiries ranging from licence applications, fines enforcement, payment of vehicle registrations, firearms payments and a range of other inquiries as well as practical driving assessments. Quite amazingly, at that pilot day, 70 community members—Indigenous people who were interested in dealing with their fines—worked out time-to-pay arrangements. That is a considerable improvement because each of those 70 people would have been liable to lose their licence if their fines had continued to be unpaid and they could have been picked up for driving without a licence, which could have spiralled into a situation in which they could have eventually demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that required imprisonment. Having 70 community members access time-to-pay arrangements on one day was quite remarkable. A total of 100 attendees benefited from advice from a range of agencies, there were 13 new applications for drivers’ licences and on this one day six applicants completed the practical driving assessment, four of whom successfully completed the graduating driver’s training licence to complete their licence. So we provided a service in which people got their licence on that very day. There were registration renewal payments. That demonstrated that the committee rose to the challenge of doing something that was measurable, practical and to the benefit of the Indigenous community, and it was quite a remarkable result. There was a second day at the same location. There was an open day in Leonora. Just to give another example, there were 19 applications for drivers’ licences at the Leonora open day. I know that the member for Murray–Wellington is heading a committee that is looking into the issue. We hope to have something before Parliament by the end of this term of Parliament about the rules surrounding driver’s licences. In the meantime, this government is doing something very practical within the existing system to repair the problem and enable individuals to apply for drivers’ licences within the system. Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
I thank the member for his question. Each week he demonstrates in this place his ongoing interest in Indigenous and juvenile justice, and I am very pleased about that. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.C. PORTER : I would like to briefly inform the house about how the Western Australian Aboriginal Justice Agreement has evolved to provide some very good practical outcomes. These are sometimes matters of some perplexity and detail. The Aboriginal Justice Agreement was an initiative of the previous government. I think $10.8 million was devoted to it over four years in 2006–07, largely in response to the recommendations of the Mahoney inquiry. I put that program under review when I came to office and met with the Aboriginal justice committee, which, in my view, was straying into areas that had become so theoretical that we could not measure some of the impacts that they were having. The challenge that I put to the committee at the very first meeting was to ask it to focus on practical, measurable outcomes in local communities. I particularly wanted to focus on fines and unpaid fines and driving and unlicensed driving. The committee very much rose to that challenge. In conjunction with the Department of the Attorney General, it arranged open days. The pilot of those open days occurred in Laverton. A range of government departments physically sent representatives to Laverton. There was a day on which people could come and have their problems dealt with. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. Mr C.C. PORTER : I have actually been there. What occurred on that day was quite remarkable. The committee received 200 inquiries ranging from licence applications, fines enforcement, payment of vehicle registrations, firearms payments and a range of other inquiries as well as practical driving assessments. Quite amazingly, at that pilot day, 70 community members—Indigenous people who were interested in dealing with their fines—worked out time-to-pay arrangements. That is a considerable improvement because each of those 70 people would have been liable to lose their licence if their fines had continued to be unpaid and they could have been picked up for driving without a licence, which could have spiralled into a situation in which they could have eventually demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that required imprisonment. Having 70 community members access time-to-pay arrangements on one day was quite remarkable. A total of 100 attendees benefited from advice from a range of agencies, there were 13 new applications for drivers’ licences and on this one day six applicants completed the practical driving assessment, four of whom successfully completed the graduating driver’s training licence to complete their licence. So we provided a service in which people got their licence on that very day. There were registration renewal payments. That demonstrated that the committee rose to the challenge of doing something that was measurable, practical and to the benefit of the Indigenous community, and it was quite a remarkable result. There was a second day at the same location. There was an open day in Leonora. Just to give another example, there were 19 applications for drivers’ licences at the Leonora open day. I know that the member for Murray–Wellington is heading a committee that is looking into the issue. We hope to have something before Parliament by the end of this term of Parliament about the rules surrounding driver’s licences. In the meantime, this government is doing something very practical within the existing system to repair the problem and enable individuals to apply for drivers’ licences within the system. Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.C. PORTER : I would like to briefly inform the house about how the Western Australian Aboriginal Justice Agreement has evolved to provide some very good practical outcomes. These are sometimes matters of some perplexity and detail. The Aboriginal Justice Agreement was an initiative of the previous government. I think $10.8 million was devoted to it over four years in 2006–07, largely in response to the recommendations of the Mahoney inquiry. I put that program under review when I came to office and met with the Aboriginal justice committee, which, in my view, was straying into areas that had become so theoretical that we could not measure some of the impacts that they were having. The challenge that I put to the committee at the very first meeting was to ask it to focus on practical, measurable outcomes in local communities. I particularly wanted to focus on fines and unpaid fines and driving and unlicensed driving. The committee very much rose to that challenge. In conjunction with the Department of the Attorney General, it arranged open days. The pilot of those open days occurred in Laverton. A range of government departments physically sent representatives to Laverton. There was a day on which people could come and have their problems dealt with. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. Mr C.C. PORTER : I have actually been there. What occurred on that day was quite remarkable. The committee received 200 inquiries ranging from licence applications, fines enforcement, payment of vehicle registrations, firearms payments and a range of other inquiries as well as practical driving assessments. Quite amazingly, at that pilot day, 70 community members—Indigenous people who were interested in dealing with their fines—worked out time-to-pay arrangements. That is a considerable improvement because each of those 70 people would have been liable to lose their licence if their fines had continued to be unpaid and they could have been picked up for driving without a licence, which could have spiralled into a situation in which they could have eventually demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that required imprisonment. Having 70 community members access time-to-pay arrangements on one day was quite remarkable. A total of 100 attendees benefited from advice from a range of agencies, there were 13 new applications for drivers’ licences and on this one day six applicants completed the practical driving assessment, four of whom successfully completed the graduating driver’s training licence to complete their licence. So we provided a service in which people got their licence on that very day. There were registration renewal payments. That demonstrated that the committee rose to the challenge of doing something that was measurable, practical and to the benefit of the Indigenous community, and it was quite a remarkable result. There was a second day at the same location. There was an open day in Leonora. Just to give another example, there were 19 applications for drivers’ licences at the Leonora open day. I know that the member for Murray–Wellington is heading a committee that is looking into the issue. We hope to have something before Parliament by the end of this term of Parliament about the rules surrounding driver’s licences. In the meantime, this government is doing something very practical within the existing system to repair the problem and enable individuals to apply for drivers’ licences within the system. Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.C. PORTER : I would like to briefly inform the house about how the Western Australian Aboriginal Justice Agreement has evolved to provide some very good practical outcomes. These are sometimes matters of some perplexity and detail. The Aboriginal Justice Agreement was an initiative of the previous government. I think $10.8 million was devoted to it over four years in 2006–07, largely in response to the recommendations of the Mahoney inquiry. I put that program under review when I came to office and met with the Aboriginal justice committee, which, in my view, was straying into areas that had become so theoretical that we could not measure some of the impacts that they were having. The challenge that I put to the committee at the very first meeting was to ask it to focus on practical, measurable outcomes in local communities. I particularly wanted to focus on fines and unpaid fines and driving and unlicensed driving. The committee very much rose to that challenge. In conjunction with the Department of the Attorney General, it arranged open days. The pilot of those open days occurred in Laverton. A range of government departments physically sent representatives to Laverton. There was a day on which people could come and have their problems dealt with. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. Mr C.C. PORTER : I have actually been there. What occurred on that day was quite remarkable. The committee received 200 inquiries ranging from licence applications, fines enforcement, payment of vehicle registrations, firearms payments and a range of other inquiries as well as practical driving assessments. Quite amazingly, at that pilot day, 70 community members—Indigenous people who were interested in dealing with their fines—worked out time-to-pay arrangements. That is a considerable improvement because each of those 70 people would have been liable to lose their licence if their fines had continued to be unpaid and they could have been picked up for driving without a licence, which could have spiralled into a situation in which they could have eventually demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that required imprisonment. Having 70 community members access time-to-pay arrangements on one day was quite remarkable. A total of 100 attendees benefited from advice from a range of agencies, there were 13 new applications for drivers’ licences and on this one day six applicants completed the practical driving assessment, four of whom successfully completed the graduating driver’s training licence to complete their licence. So we provided a service in which people got their licence on that very day. There were registration renewal payments. That demonstrated that the committee rose to the challenge of doing something that was measurable, practical and to the benefit of the Indigenous community, and it was quite a remarkable result. There was a second day at the same location. There was an open day in Leonora. Just to give another example, there were 19 applications for drivers’ licences at the Leonora open day. I know that the member for Murray–Wellington is heading a committee that is looking into the issue. We hope to have something before Parliament by the end of this term of Parliament about the rules surrounding driver’s licences. In the meantime, this government is doing something very practical within the existing system to repair the problem and enable individuals to apply for drivers’ licences within the system. Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
Mr C.C. PORTER : I would like to briefly inform the house about how the Western Australian Aboriginal Justice Agreement has evolved to provide some very good practical outcomes. These are sometimes matters of some perplexity and detail. The Aboriginal Justice Agreement was an initiative of the previous government. I think $10.8 million was devoted to it over four years in 2006–07, largely in response to the recommendations of the Mahoney inquiry. I put that program under review when I came to office and met with the Aboriginal justice committee, which, in my view, was straying into areas that had become so theoretical that we could not measure some of the impacts that they were having. The challenge that I put to the committee at the very first meeting was to ask it to focus on practical, measurable outcomes in local communities. I particularly wanted to focus on fines and unpaid fines and driving and unlicensed driving. The committee very much rose to that challenge. In conjunction with the Department of the Attorney General, it arranged open days. The pilot of those open days occurred in Laverton. A range of government departments physically sent representatives to Laverton. There was a day on which people could come and have their problems dealt with. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. Mr C.C. PORTER : I have actually been there. What occurred on that day was quite remarkable. The committee received 200 inquiries ranging from licence applications, fines enforcement, payment of vehicle registrations, firearms payments and a range of other inquiries as well as practical driving assessments. Quite amazingly, at that pilot day, 70 community members—Indigenous people who were interested in dealing with their fines—worked out time-to-pay arrangements. That is a considerable improvement because each of those 70 people would have been liable to lose their licence if their fines had continued to be unpaid and they could have been picked up for driving without a licence, which could have spiralled into a situation in which they could have eventually demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that required imprisonment. Having 70 community members access time-to-pay arrangements on one day was quite remarkable. A total of 100 attendees benefited from advice from a range of agencies, there were 13 new applications for drivers’ licences and on this one day six applicants completed the practical driving assessment, four of whom successfully completed the graduating driver’s training licence to complete their licence. So we provided a service in which people got their licence on that very day. There were registration renewal payments. That demonstrated that the committee rose to the challenge of doing something that was measurable, practical and to the benefit of the Indigenous community, and it was quite a remarkable result. There was a second day at the same location. There was an open day in Leonora. Just to give another example, there were 19 applications for drivers’ licences at the Leonora open day. I know that the member for Murray–Wellington is heading a committee that is looking into the issue. We hope to have something before Parliament by the end of this term of Parliament about the rules surrounding driver’s licences. In the meantime, this government is doing something very practical within the existing system to repair the problem and enable individuals to apply for drivers’ licences within the system. Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. Mr C.C. PORTER : I have actually been there. What occurred on that day was quite remarkable. The committee received 200 inquiries ranging from licence applications, fines enforcement, payment of vehicle registrations, firearms payments and a range of other inquiries as well as practical driving assessments. Quite amazingly, at that pilot day, 70 community members—Indigenous people who were interested in dealing with their fines—worked out time-to-pay arrangements. That is a considerable improvement because each of those 70 people would have been liable to lose their licence if their fines had continued to be unpaid and they could have been picked up for driving without a licence, which could have spiralled into a situation in which they could have eventually demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that required imprisonment. Having 70 community members access time-to-pay arrangements on one day was quite remarkable. A total of 100 attendees benefited from advice from a range of agencies, there were 13 new applications for drivers’ licences and on this one day six applicants completed the practical driving assessment, four of whom successfully completed the graduating driver’s training licence to complete their licence. So we provided a service in which people got their licence on that very day. There were registration renewal payments. That demonstrated that the committee rose to the challenge of doing something that was measurable, practical and to the benefit of the Indigenous community, and it was quite a remarkable result. There was a second day at the same location. There was an open day in Leonora. Just to give another example, there were 19 applications for drivers’ licences at the Leonora open day. I know that the member for Murray–Wellington is heading a committee that is looking into the issue. We hope to have something before Parliament by the end of this term of Parliament about the rules surrounding driver’s licences. In the meantime, this government is doing something very practical within the existing system to repair the problem and enable individuals to apply for drivers’ licences within the system. Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
Mr C.C. PORTER : I have actually been there. What occurred on that day was quite remarkable. The committee received 200 inquiries ranging from licence applications, fines enforcement, payment of vehicle registrations, firearms payments and a range of other inquiries as well as practical driving assessments. Quite amazingly, at that pilot day, 70 community members—Indigenous people who were interested in dealing with their fines—worked out time-to-pay arrangements. That is a considerable improvement because each of those 70 people would have been liable to lose their licence if their fines had continued to be unpaid and they could have been picked up for driving without a licence, which could have spiralled into a situation in which they could have eventually demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that required imprisonment. Having 70 community members access time-to-pay arrangements on one day was quite remarkable. A total of 100 attendees benefited from advice from a range of agencies, there were 13 new applications for drivers’ licences and on this one day six applicants completed the practical driving assessment, four of whom successfully completed the graduating driver’s training licence to complete their licence. So we provided a service in which people got their licence on that very day. There were registration renewal payments. That demonstrated that the committee rose to the challenge of doing something that was measurable, practical and to the benefit of the Indigenous community, and it was quite a remarkable result. There was a second day at the same location. There was an open day in Leonora. Just to give another example, there were 19 applications for drivers’ licences at the Leonora open day. I know that the member for Murray–Wellington is heading a committee that is looking into the issue. We hope to have something before Parliament by the end of this term of Parliament about the rules surrounding driver’s licences. In the meantime, this government is doing something very practical within the existing system to repair the problem and enable individuals to apply for drivers’ licences within the system. Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
I know that the member for Murray–Wellington is heading a committee that is looking into the issue. We hope to have something before Parliament by the end of this term of Parliament about the rules surrounding driver’s licences. In the meantime, this government is doing something very practical within the existing system to repair the problem and enable individuals to apply for drivers’ licences within the system. Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
Mr B.S. Wyatt : Do you intend to move those pilots further around the state or stay in Leonora? Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
Mr C.C. PORTER : I am glad the member for Victoria Park asked me. After the success of Leonora, we have decided to have open days in the Pilbara region and Council of Australian Governments remote service delivery locations in the West and East Kimberley. Planning is underway and I hope to roll those out very shortly. If we can replicate the success that we have previously had, whereby large numbers of people in each of those communities enter time-to-pay arrangements, get their licences and renew their licences, that will make a significant long-term impact into the problem that we have experienced with respect to unlicensed drivers. It is a very successful initiative and one that we are rolling out across the state.
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