RACQ donates keys of opportunity to regional students

RACQ has donated a Holden Cruze as part of its ongoing sponsorship of the Former Origin Greats’ (FOGS) ARTIE Drivers Licensing Program which supports First Nations students to become learner drivers and achieve their required 100 hours.

RACQ’s General Manager Advocacy Joshua Cooney said this initiative is close to the Club’s heart.

“We are Queensland’s largest Club with more than 118 years of history in mobility and advocacy. Driver education and road safety is in our DNA. We live and breathe it,” Mr Cooney said.

“Giving regional students access to a safe, reliable vehicle to finish their mandatory 100 hours not only makes them better drivers, but it also opens up more options for future education and employment.

“Our young regional and remote Queenslanders are some of our most vulnerable road users who need support, guidance and skills to make decisions that will keep them safe on the road.”

FOGS Program Manager Joseph Kadel said the Driver Licencing program is designed to help students at all stages of their learning journey.

“If their confidence levels aren’t high, then potentially we take them to an empty car park where they get to focus on the little things and getting their confidence up. If we teach someone who has 80 hours under their belt and their confidence is much higher, then we focus on the correct rules and ensure they can be safe on the road,” Mr Kadel said.

RSHS Principal Kirsten Dwyer said having access to the car will open the door to opportunities for students as they transition into adulthood.

“Those opportunities include access to work experience, to traineeships, to work placements and it’s just a real boost for our students,” Mrs Dwyer said.

“We have a very large senior cohort and there’s a large number of those students who don’t have access to a car or a driver who can assist them to get their 100 hours, so this is a fantastic benefit to our students.”

RSHS student and Indigenous Captain Dominick Tobane said having a provisional licence will help him fulfil his future aspirations.

‘I wish to be an actor, so having a licence will help me a lot to travel to a new place or to auditions or to classes,” Mr Tobane said.

“For us to get this car in our final year, it’s amazing. It means a lot because sometimes we struggle to get our hours up.”

Last year, 278 people were killed on Queensland roads which was only a slight improvement on the 2022 road toll of 297 lives lost. 

Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads Bart Mellish MP said the ARTIE program is a great boost for road safety.

“Being originally from a regional city myself, I know how difficult it can be to get up your driver training hours and this is a great initiative,” Mr Mellish said.

“We’re really happy to partner with RACQ on a range of road safety initiatives. This is just one example of some of the great things they do across the State.”

Mr Cooney said giving young people the tools to learn to drive safely was vital in reducing the road toll. 

“This is the seventh vehicle we’ve donated and the fourth for a regional school,” he said.  

“We don’t just provide the cars, we cover the costs of insurance, registration and servicing. Our annual funding also helps students pay licence and test fees as well as driving lessons.”

In 2023, 80 First Nations students in the Artie Driver Licence Program obtained their learners licence and 45 students earned their provisional licence.