Subsidised driving lessons, fee waivers for specialty driving courses, driving instruction in schools and a program to increase the number of driving instructors in rural areas are all off the table following the NSW Government’s response to a parliamentary inquiry into “Support for Rural and Regional Drivers”.

The Parliamentary Committee began its inquiry in March 2021 to examine challenges faced by learner drivers in rural and regional areas to get the required training and experience to obtain a licence, as well as options for rural and regional learners to access driver training opportunities.

The review included two days of public hearings and attracted 54 submissions including from the Office of the Advocate for Children and Young People (OACYP). 

“Obtaining a Driver’s Licence is substantially more difficult for children and young people based in rural and regional areas…the inability to obtain a licence, or the suspension or cancellation of a licence, can contribute to and perpetuate disadvantage for young people with limited access to public transport," the OACYP said.

"It can also lead to unlicensed driving, which may result in fines, further suspensions, arrests and imprisonment”.

Bourke Shire Council also made a submission to the review.

“The limited financial capacity of many families and individuals often restricts prospective drivers from being able to afford the fees to commence the process for achieving a Learners Permit and then a Provisional Drivers Licence," they argued.

“Whilst it is acknowledged that inexperience takes time to overcome, the question is raised whether the existing 120-hour driver training regime provides sufficient exposure to the real dangers of fatigue, speed and outback roads."

In its report released in July 2022, the Regional and Rural Drivers Parliamentary Commitee recommended 'that Transport for NSW subsidise professional driving lessons for rural and regional learner drivers.'

Along with isolation, money is the centre of the issues around learner driving, Image: Australian Government.

Earlier this month the Government published its formal response to the Committee’s report stating that while it supported the idea in principle no commitments would be made to fund a subsidised scheme.

The Government’s response also did not commit to Committee recommendations to further subsidise all fees involved in obtaining learners and driving permits, make driving instruction part of school curriculum, fund local councils to have vehicles available for learner drivers to use for driving practice, review access to identification documents nor develop a program to increase the number of rural and regional driving instructors.

Mainul Hassan owner of Aus Driving School told the Western Plains App that most towns in our region did not have driving instructors and on this basis there should be more subsidies on offer.

“Many people on learners permits have to drive several hours to come into Dubbo for a driving lesson,” he said.

“For us to go out to a small town, like say Gilgandra just for one lesson just isn't feasible by the time you take into account travel time and petrol costs. So I think a subsidy would make sense. 

"Also if people are just taking lessons around their town, then they are not used to things like traffic lights and therefore when they do get a full licence they may have difficulty when driving around Sydney”.

“At the moment we offer discounts to some concession card holders down from $80 to $100 per hour to $65, but still many people complain that the cost is too high for them to have lessons,” he said.

Hassan told the Western Plains App his company’s driving lessons are booked up until February.

However, Geoffrey Cross, from Western Plains Driver training said he didn't think the driving lessons should be subsidised because there was a limit on how many things the Government could subsidise and he doesn't consider the cost of lessons to be excessive.

Mr Cross also said that schools already had a crowded curriculum and they shouldn't be expected to teach young people how to drive.

“If the Government really wants to look at changing policy, then it's the 90km per hour speed limit imposed on P Platers even on highways. This creates serious problems with the traffic. 

"It leads people to take risks on the road to get around them, so it creates danger for the P plater and for those trying to overtake” he said.

The Government has made commitments to:

• enlarge the existing Driver Licensing Access Program to support people in NSW who face an extra challenging in getting a licence,
• investigate a vehicle accessibility scheme to assist with the purchase or hire of safe vehicles for rural and regional learner drivers, and
• look at changing the Driver Knowledge Test for people who experience literacy and numeracy difficulties.

There are already some alternative supports in place for learner drivers in the Brewarrina, Bourke and Walgett areas who can apply for a Restricted P1 Licence for six months.