❓ Ms Duncan asks about the state government's $5.5 million driver training initiative in remote and regional communities. The Minister responds, outlining the program's goals to reduce Indigenous incarceration rates due to licence offences and improve employment opportunities.
AnsweredQoN 221Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
DRIVER TRAINING — REMOTE AND REGIONAL
COMMUNITIES
221. Ms W.M. DUNCAN to the Minister for Regional Development:
Can the minister update the house on
the state government's recently announced $5.5 million initiative from
royalties for regions funding for driver training and education programs in
remote and regional communities?
COMMUNITIES
221. Ms W.M. DUNCAN to the Minister for Regional Development:
Can the minister update the house on
the state government's recently announced $5.5 million initiative from
royalties for regions funding for driver training and education programs in
remote and regional communities?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Kalgoorlie
for the question and acknowledge the enormous amount of work she is doing in
the remote parts of her electorate to try to provide better opportunities for
Indigenous people. This is an important initiative of the Liberal–National
government. Records show that at any one time there are more than 60 Aboriginal
people in Western Australian prisons whose most serious offence is driving
without a valid driver's licence. The new Minister for Corrective
Services has said that we want to do more to divert people away from being
inside the prison system. This program acknowledges that too many Aboriginal
people are in jail because of driver's licence–related
offences, and this program seeks to address that. The $5.5 million over four
years will help around 1 000 Aboriginal people obtain and keep their licences.
It is absolutely critical to look at areas where problems can be identified and
try to be preventative rather than reactive to the problem after it is caught.
If a person enters the jail system because of a licence offence, it quite often
starts them on a pathway of being back and forth through the justice system,
and we want to try to avoid that. We will work closely with the police, the
Department of Corrective Services and the Department of Aboriginal Affairs to
target particular areas where this is seen to be a problem. In the first
instance the program will start in the Kimberley, the Pilbara and the
goldfields–Esperance region, with driver training in Broome, Lombadina,
Kalgoorlie and Roebourne. It will then be extended to Fitzroy Crossing, Halls
Creek, Kununurra, Derby and the communities surrounding those towns. More
importantly, this is not just about diverting people from the justice system;
if a person does not have a licence in regional Western Australia, they do not
get a job. Too many people are ruled ineligible, and after having made the
decision, perhaps for the first time in multiple generations, to move into the
workforce, they find that without a licence or with a bad driving record,
getting a job becomes impossible. I hope this program will also put more people
into the position in which they can apply for and hold down a job.
We believe this program will have multiple benefits. The
Attorney General was in the north west just last week announcing the program.
As I said, 1 000 Aboriginal people will be targeted to be able to get their
licences, many of them for the first time, and if this proves to be successful,
we should look to expand it into other areas. Again, the Liberal–National
government looks to address problems before they become much greater.
for the question and acknowledge the enormous amount of work she is doing in
the remote parts of her electorate to try to provide better opportunities for
Indigenous people. This is an important initiative of the Liberal–National
government. Records show that at any one time there are more than 60 Aboriginal
people in Western Australian prisons whose most serious offence is driving
without a valid driver's licence. The new Minister for Corrective
Services has said that we want to do more to divert people away from being
inside the prison system. This program acknowledges that too many Aboriginal
people are in jail because of driver's licence–related
offences, and this program seeks to address that. The $5.5 million over four
years will help around 1 000 Aboriginal people obtain and keep their licences.
It is absolutely critical to look at areas where problems can be identified and
try to be preventative rather than reactive to the problem after it is caught.
If a person enters the jail system because of a licence offence, it quite often
starts them on a pathway of being back and forth through the justice system,
and we want to try to avoid that. We will work closely with the police, the
Department of Corrective Services and the Department of Aboriginal Affairs to
target particular areas where this is seen to be a problem. In the first
instance the program will start in the Kimberley, the Pilbara and the
goldfields–Esperance region, with driver training in Broome, Lombadina,
Kalgoorlie and Roebourne. It will then be extended to Fitzroy Crossing, Halls
Creek, Kununurra, Derby and the communities surrounding those towns. More
importantly, this is not just about diverting people from the justice system;
if a person does not have a licence in regional Western Australia, they do not
get a job. Too many people are ruled ineligible, and after having made the
decision, perhaps for the first time in multiple generations, to move into the
workforce, they find that without a licence or with a bad driving record,
getting a job becomes impossible. I hope this program will also put more people
into the position in which they can apply for and hold down a job.
We believe this program will have multiple benefits. The
Attorney General was in the north west just last week announcing the program.
As I said, 1 000 Aboriginal people will be targeted to be able to get their
licences, many of them for the first time, and if this proves to be successful,
we should look to expand it into other areas. Again, the Liberal–National
government looks to address problems before they become much greater.
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