End to End Young Driver Training program given nod as finalist in road safety award

Bunbury-based End to End Young Driver Training program has been named a finalist in this year’s Western Australian Community Achievement Awards for its work in creating pathways for disenfranchised young people to get their driver’s licence. The program is a finalist in the Insurance Commission of Western Australia Regional Safety Award, aimed at recognising those promoting safe driving practices in regional communities. Run by the not-for-profit Investing in our Youth Inc., the service provides free driving education and practical lessons to people under 25 experiencing barriers to getting their driver’s licence. This can include those with a lack of family support, history with the justice system or homelessness. Program co-ordinator Raine Torrisi said it was “a little bit surreal” to be named a finalist. “It’s really nice to be able to go to work and enjoy the job that you do and then this is recognition of the whole group of people,” she said. “There are so many behind making our program the success that it is so it is nice to get that recognition, but we just keep going about doing what we do and and doing it really well.” As of July, the program had seen 248 young people inducted into the program since its beginning in 2020, with the help of volunteer driving instructors and community members. More than 100 of those clients have gone on to pass their practical driving assessment test at a first time pass rate of 54 per cent, much higher than the State average overall pass rate of 35 per cent. Ms Torrisi said the program made a big difference in people’s lives. “To be able to come to us and get their licence, it’s life changing,” she said. “We have young people who are assisting family members who are unwell so for them to be able to assist their family members to get to medical appointments whereas before it was relying on taxis, and that’s not a financially viable option long term. “For those young people to be able to step up and take over and be able to get their family to places that they couldn’t before, it’s massive.”