Steering towards equal opportunity

At its core, the program encourages and rewards improvements in school attendance, behaviour, and academic achievement by helping students achieve their 100 hours of supervised driving with an ARTIE mentor.

In honour of National Reconciliation Week (27 May - 3 June 2024), 15 ARTIE mentors attended a driver training day hosted at RACQ’s Mobility Centre to continue building their knowledge behind the wheel.

RACQ General Manager Advocacy Joshua Cooney said the Club is passionate about reducing the State’s road toll and ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have access to more education and career opportunities as a result of gaining their licence.

“With more than 119 years of history in mobility and advocacy, it’s fair to say we live and breathe driver education and road safety,” Mr Cooney said.

“The program makes these students safer drivers and provides more options for future education and employment.

“The event at the Mobility Centre focused on upskilling the ARTIE mentors to become more confident when teaching students during their driving lessons.

“Our ongoing partnership with ARTIE, as well as hosting annual driver training days, is a key part of the Club’s commitment to providing more opportunities for First Nations people.”

The mentors spent the day with driver trainers learning everything from defensive driving techniques to performing safety checks on a car and changing a tyre.

Former Origin Greats (FOGS) Chief Executive Officer Andrew Peach said the program had seen positive results across Queensland.

“The ARTIE Academy Driver Licensing Program, with the support of RACQ, has been an important initiative for FOGS and has seen a 20% increase in attendance at participating schools since it started,” Mr Peach explained.

“The program has been able to reduce some of the hurdles associated with not having a driver’s licence, such as not being able to attend a job interview or access places of employment.

“The annual driver training days are important in developing awareness and knowledge around safe driving behaviours for our ARTIE mentors who are often young drivers themselves.

RACQ has donated seven vehicles to a number of regional and South East Queensland schools, as well as covering the cost of insurance, registration and servicing as part of the ongoing partnership.