REMOTE AREA TRAINING PROGRAM

This program was initiated three years ago to address driver-training needs of people in rural and remote communities. Aboriginal people in the past have been over represented in road fatalities and road trauma. In 1998, Aboriginal people counted for 27 percent of the population of the Northern Territory but accounted for 54 percent of road fatalities. Education was seen as one way of addressing this alarmingly high proportion. The challenge was how to bring viable Driver Training to rural and remote communities. Driver training has been almost non existent in these areas for decades. The necessities to drive in such communities lead many to drive without proper training and without a driver's licence. The purpose of this program is to increase participation of people living in these areas in formal driver training programs and to provide communities with the means and strategies to assist them achieve these goals. The program not only delivers driver instructor training but also facilitates delivery in all areas of driver training in remote areas of the NT. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E208180.