Fourteen community groups have received Government funding under a state-wide road safety program designed to help disadvantaged learner drivers gain on-road experience and obtain their car licences.

This morning at Goodwood Community Centre in my local electorate, I was pleased to announce $375, 000 for Learner Driver Mentor Program (LDMP) providers across Tasmania, in the second round of the Liberal Government’s $1.5 million election commitment (funded by the Road Safety Levy).

Goodwood’s Greenlight Learner Driver Mentor Program is one of the state’s highest performers, and has secured funding to buy a second vehicle which will help meet growing demand.

The program pairs volunteer mentors with disadvantaged Tasmanians to help them gain their licence, giving them greater social mobility and access to employment and educational opportunities.

The Learner Driver Mentor Program assists participants to meet licence requirements including accruing the recommended minimum of 30 hours of supervised driving experience for L1 and mandatory 50 hours for L2 stages.

Gaining this experience is vital in ensuring the state has responsible road users, however the Government understands the challenges some Tasmanians face in meeting the requirements, such as access to a car or supervisor or affording professional driving lessons.

LDMP’s across the state undertook over 1200 on-road hours in training last month, which is an excellent achievement for the program facilitators, volunteer mentors and learner driver participants.

Second round LDMP recipients include:

* Greenlight (Goodwood Community Centre)
* Top Gear (Migrant Resource Centre – Southern Tasmania)
* Top Gear (Jordan River Service Inc Bridgewater Community Centre)
* Gearing Up (Huon Valley Council)
* Ready Set Go (Clarendon Vale Neighbourhood Centre Inc.)
* Drive Time (Derwent Valley Community House)
* Jumpstart (Geeveston Community Centre Inc.)
* Wheels 4 Work (Ravenswood Neighbourhood House)
* Drive 4 Life (Migrant Resource Centre – Northern Tasmania)
* Northern Suburbs Community Centre
* Car Skills (Launceston College, Department of Education)
* Get In2 Gear (Break O’Day Council)
* Strive to Drive (Circular Head Aboriginal Corporation)
* Easy P’s (Devonport Chaplaincy Inc.)

The next round of funding will be administered in July 2016.

For details on the Learner Driver Mentor Program go to drivermentoringtasmania.org
Elise Archer, Liberal Member for Denison