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Centre for Road Safety

  1. NSW Centre for Road Safety
  2. About the Centre
  3. Aboriginal projects
  4. Driver licences

Driver licences

A happy mother with her smiling daughter who proudly holds an L-plate.

Opportunity and empowerment

The Driver Licensing Access Program helps remove the barriers that prevent disadvantaged Aboriginal people and other disadvantaged communities in NSW from entering the licensing system.

This program assists Aboriginal and other disadvantaged people to obtain and retain their driver licence and remain safe and legal drivers. Obtaining a driver licence contributes to improved access to education, employment, health and other community participation services.

We deliver Driver Licensing Access Programs that target Aboriginal communities in the Northern, Southern, Western and Greater Sydney regions.

If you need help to get your driver licence, get started by contacting your closest Driver Licensing Access Provider.

Free course for disadvantaged learner drivers

The NSW Government is offering 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 those who are financially disadvantaged to benefit from the road safety outcomes of the Safer Drivers Course.

The course helps young drivers on their L-plates prepare for driving solo when they graduate to provisional licences. The course teaches learners 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.

It's also designed to help you understand more about speed management, gap selection, hazard awareness and safe following distances, which your parents, supervising drivers or professional driving lessons may not have covered.

As well as becoming a safer driver, 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 outside the course. The course has been designed for a learner to attend once, so the 20 hours of bonus log book credit will only be deducted once.

To be eligible for a free place you need to:

  • Hold a valid learner licence
  • Be aged under 25 years
  • 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).

Visit the NSW Government website to find a Safer Drivers Course provider and speak to them about the free places.