CREATING better drivers and helping disadvantaged youth get a licence is the motivation behind a new PCYC Napranum program that will be used as a test case for remote areas.
Funding has been sourced for the PCYC’s Braking the Cycle program, a volunteer driver mentor program designed to support learner drivers without access to a supervisor or registered vehicle to complete their logbook hours.
PCYC Napranum manager, Sergeant TJ Baker, said it would be a success in the community.
“It has been run in other places with really good outcomes, but this is the first time it has been rolled out in a remote Indigenous community,” he said.
“If we can get in early and create good driving behaviours and stop people from breaking the law, it will solve a lot of longer-term problems.”
Rio Tinto Weipa’s community development fund donated $75,300 towards the program, which will help with the purchase of a vehicle and an operational budget.
Rio Tinto’s Dan Kelleher, who is acting chair of the CDF, said the local board was proud to support the program.
“The possession of a drivers licence is crucial for obtaining employment, while also enabling young people to learn key life-skills in the safe management of driving a vehicle.”
Sergeant Baker said recruitment for a program manager had begun and he expected the driver program to be operational soon.
“We will still be relying on local volunteers to take these young people driving,” he said.
