Teaching your kid to drive any time soon? Thinking of getting your own licence? Well, you’re in luck: the Federal Government has $16 million worth of free driving lessons for you.
keys2drive is the government-backed program that gives eligible learner drivers — and their supervisors — an explanation of the government’s preferred teaching approach for learner drivers, as well as an actual driving lesson with an accredited instructor. And it’s getting a further $16 million in funding out of this year’s Budget.
The keys2drive program, which was developed by the Australian Automobile Association with $17 million in funding from government in its first five years, gives tens of thousands of free driving lessons to Australia’s L-platers and their supervisors every year. The continued funding will go on to make more of the first-time lessons available to learners.
The goal of the program is to strive for P-platers that don’t have an accident in the first six months of solo driving. The $16 million allocated in the 2017 Budget should go a long way to improving those early-stage accident rates, we hope.
From the AAA: “The $16 million of new funding provided to the keys2drive program has the strong backing of Australia’s motoring clubs, and the AAA looks forward to working with the Government to understand how its proposal of co-funding might operate.”