Aboriginal projects

The Driver Licensing Access Program (DLAP) helps remove the barriers that prevent Aboriginal people and other disadvantaged communities in NSW to get a licence. 

The program helps Aboriginal and other disadvantaged people to obtain and retain their driver licence, and remain safe and legal drivers. Being able to drive allows improved access to education, employment, health and other community participation services. 

DLAP targets Aboriginal communities in the Northern, Southern, Western and Greater Sydney regions. 

If you need help getting a licence, start by contacting your closest DLAP provider. For further support, please contact a project officer from the Aboriginal Engagement team on 131 782 and select option 2. 

Get Licensed, Get Legal, Get Work is a training resource available to approved DLAP providers. 

The training resource includes a teaching guide and student workbook. The resource helps DLAP providers engage pre-learner drivers with low literacy and numeracy to learn about safe driving, road rules and how to take the Driver Knowledge Test. 

To find out more about Get Licensed, Get Legal, Get Work email us at towardszero@transport.nsw.gov.au 

We offer 1000 free places on the Safer Drivers Course each year to help young learner drivers from disadvantaged backgrounds and Aboriginal communities. The fee exemption allows you access to the road safety benefits of the Safer Drivers Course. 

The course helps learner drivers prepare for driving solo when they graduate to their P plates. The course teaches you how to reduce road risks and develop safe driving behaviour. It includes ways to cope with potential dangers, such as when you have mates in the car, or if you're running late. 

You’ll also learn about speed management, gap selection, hazard awareness and safe following distances, which your parents or guardians, supervising drivers or professional driving lessons may not have covered. 

You can earn a bonus of 20 hours of log book credit once you complete the course, so you only need to finish 100 hours of supervised driving. 

To be eligible for a free place you need to: 

• hold a valid learner licence 
• be aged under 25 years old
• have completed a minimum of 50 log book hours of actual on-road driving (excluding any 3-for-1 bonus hours) and should include night driving 
• hold a current Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card issued by the Department of Human Services – Centrelink 
• have been or are currently in Out of Home Care (OOHC) 
• be a current or former participant of a Driver Licensing Access Program (DLAP). 

Find out more about Safer Drivers Couse providers on the NSW Government website. 

We've partnered with the AFL NSW/ACT since 2014 to help reinforce the importance of road safety in a relatable and culturally sensitive environment for young Aboriginal people. 

The program encourages road safety awareness, leadership and wellbeing through workshops focused on decision-making, leadership principles, goal setting, and culture and identity workshops. 

The participants felt empowered to go back to their own communities and encourage others to make better decisions on our roads. 

We target townships with high rates of bike use to promote safe bicycle riding among Aboriginal youth. We help deliver Australian Standard helmets to the community and raise awareness of the road rules, safe places to ride, the dangers of not wearing a helmet and the importance of bike maintenance. 

We raise awareness in Aboriginal community health services about the safety benefits of correctly fitting and using child car seats. The program also increases the number of staff at Aboriginal community health services and carers that can correctly fit child car seats. Child car seats are also made available to community members who need financial assistance. 

With Aboriginal people over-represented in NSW crash statistics, targeted road safety messages form an important part of the Koori Knockout weekend. 

Each year, our road safety teams promote road safety messages around Plan B and Yeah... Nah. Plan B focuses on metropolitan areas, while Yeah... Nah is promoted in the regions as part of our push to save lives on country roads. 

We support Aboriginal calendar events such as NAIDOC Week, NSW Koori Knockout and the Yabun festival as key opportunities to engage with the Aboriginal community to discuss and promote road safety and driver licensing.

Greater Sydney 

Warren Lennon 
Phone: 0408 864 520 
Email: warren.lennon@transport.nsw.gov.au 

South Region (includes the South Coast from the Wollongong area south to Eden) 

Corey Bennett
Phone: 0403 705 615
Email: corey.bennett@transport.nsw.gov.au

North Region (includes Port Macquarie, north to the border and inland to Gunnedah) 

Iesha Timmins 
Phone: 0438 078 574 
Email: iesha.timmins@transport.nsw.gov.au 

West Region (includes Lithgow, north to Moree, west to Tibooburra and Broken Hill) 

Mark Hartwig 
Phone: (02) 6861 1657 
Email: mark.hartwig@transport.nsw.gov.au 

South Region (includes Young, Yass and south to the border, west past Hay and Balranald) 

Rodney Simpson 
Phone: 0407 276 092 
Email: rodney.simpson@transport.nsw.gov.au 

North Region (includes Gosford north to Taree, inland past Scone and Cessnock) 

Brendan Carter 
Phone: 0448 002 465 
Email: brendan.carter@transport.nsw.gov.au