Equal Opportunities for Young People in State Care

From 1 July 2007 the Queensland Government introduced a new graduated licensing system to reduce fatalities on our roads, particularly among young motorists. Young drivers aged 17-24 are twice as likely to be involved in fatal crashes than drivers aged between 25-59. That is why the Queensland Government introduced new laws to change the licensing system for young drivers.

The new changes introduced by Queensland Transport included the introduction of a logbook system to ensure learners get a good balance of experience before they drive solo on the road. Learner drivers are required to complete 100 hours of supervised on-road driving experience.

The extension of the learner period to 12 months and the completion of 100 hours of driving experience will expose learners to driving in various road conditions. During this time, they gain valuable experience, including driving at night. The requirement to accumulate 100 hours of supervised on-road driving experience before undertaking a practical driving assessment highlights the importance of the learner licence stage and ensures the learner accumulates extensive driving experience under a range of driving conditions before applying for a provisional licence.

Since the changes in law, many young people in state care face many barriers when trying to obtain their driving licence, such as foster carers not having enough time, residentials not having insurance for young people to drive company or youth worker owned cars and the average driving lesson costing $47 an hour and the likelihood of the Department of Child Safety providing an average of $4700 for each young person wanting to access there licence isn't high either.