Safety workshops aim to reduce high Aboriginal
road casualty rate

Craig Cawood from the Northern Territory
Road Safety Council was in Katherine

The Northern Territory (NT) Road Safety Council have successfully negotiated with the WA Police Service and the Health Department of Western Australia to modify and adapt the W.A. Aboriginal Road Safety and Awareness Program for use in the Northern Territory. The WA program recently won a W.A. Road Safety Council award in the indigenous category for Best Practice in Reducing Road Trauma.
A week long inservicing workshop was held in Katherine recently. The workshop facilitators were from Western Australia and included Senior Constable Hugh Tollan, Road Saftey Section, W.A. Police Service and Tracey Pratt, Office of Aboriginal Health, Health Department of W.A. Both were involved in the planning, development, implementation and evaluation of the original Aboriginal Road Safety and Awareness program in W.A.
The W.A. Aboriginal road safety program has been selected because of its successes to date which include:
o greater intersectoral/collaboration and working in partnership across government agancies and departments and the non-government sector.
o increase in Aboriginal women obtaining drivers licences
o better co-ordination of road safety programs in WA.
o Aboriginal road safety is accorded a high priority program for both Health and Police in WA;
o an increase in the development of community based programs statewide; and
o a statewide award winner for Best Practice in Reducing Road Trauma for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
BACKGROUND
Participants in the workshop were encouraged to develop local road safety programs for implementation in their own areas, in partnership with relevant stakeholders.
The NT presents particular challenges for improving road safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The key factors that cause road crashes include drink driving, non use of restraints, fatigue, incorrect loading habits of open load spaces, poor trip planning and unroadworthy vehicles.
Aboriginal people make up about 28% of the total NT population, but are over represented in fatalities as a result of road trauma.
Fatalities
% of total fatalities for Aboriginal people:
1992 - 59.3%
1993 - 54.5%
1994 - 43.9%
1995 - 47.5%
1996 - 30.1%
1997 - 43.3%
Injuries
% of total injuries for Aboriginal people:
1992 - 23.7%
1993 - 22.8%
1994 - 18.3%
1995 - 21.9%
1996 - 24%
Aims and Objectives
o Raise awareness amongst the target group about the high rates of road traums amongst Aboriginal people in the targeted regions.
o Provision of appropriate support and advice for Aboriginal communities to develop their own road safety programs.
o Implementation of train-the-trainer workshops involving Aboriginal Community Police Officers, Aboriginal Health Workers and other relevant participants in the targeted regions.
o Encourage community members (particularly women and young unlicensed drivers) to obtain their drivers' licences.
o Use suitable methods (for example community surveys) to obtain ideas about community perceptions of the priority placed on road safety, contributing factors and appropriae educational stragies.
o Develop an appropriate community based education program targeting contributing factors to road trauma in the targeted regions.
Strategies and Timelines
Following community consultation in June, community based education programs will be developed for presenting to the communities between June and November 1998.
From December through to April 1999 there will be an evaluation of these community based programs.
Further information can be obtained by contacting Craig Cawood, Aboriginal Road Safety Promotion Officer, at the Northern Territory Road Safety Council. Phone: 8924 7187 or Fax: 8924 7077.