Getting help to gain a driver's licence is life-changing for disadvantaged people across New South Wales.
The roadblocks to obtaining a licence have prompted community groups, governments, police and Aboriginal elders, to push for a program that gets more people safely and legally on the road.
The driver's licence access program focuses on licensing enrolment support, learner driver mentoring and supervision, road safety, and access to roadworthy vehicles.
For Trista Latham, the community-driven program she went through at Raymond Terrace gave her confidence and freedom that had eluded her for years.
"I wouldn't have thought, two years ago … that all of this has happened the way it happened and I wouldn't have thought I would be this far already," she said.
She got her L-plates a while ago and, after being gifted a car and accruing her logbook hours, Ms Latham has just obtained her provisional driver's licence.
"I didn't have anybody to take me, and I was scared to drive in somebody else's car as well," Ms Latham said.
"It freaked me out a lot.
"And then to go and get lessons and say, 'We can do this', and I could go, 'OK cool, I can drive'."
Licence is a golden ticket
Driving was also on Caylum Rowling's agenda.
He did not own a car but got his P-plates a few months ago and went through the same program as Ms Latham.
"It is like a golden ticket; it has opened up so many pathways," Mr Rowling said.
"It has opened up more avenues that I can explore and more freedom."
He said two years ago he lacked the confidence to get behind the wheel.
"I was very, very nervous [and] not confident," Mr Rowling said.
"I wasn't looking forward, thinking I was going to crash at any moment, but now I want to drive as much as I can, wherever I can."
John Chambers from the Rotary Club spent 100 hours putting Mr Rowling through his paces.
"And when he got his licence he sent me the pictures — so that is what it is about," Mr Chambers said.
"He still has to find his car and some work, but now he has got his licence he is confident, and he has picked up."
Thousands have benefitted
The State Government's program has helped remove the barriers that have prevented Aboriginal people and other disadvantaged communities from entering the driver licensing system.
The Minister for Roads, Paul Toole, said since 2015, 7,500 participants had received their L or P-plates.
He said the program had been expanded to more than 100 communities, improving access to education, employment, and health services.
"For a lot of us, we take it for granted that we are going to have someone to mentor us, and we take it for granted that we are going to have a vehicle provided to us [when learning to drive]," Mr Toole said.
"This program is about creating opportunities."
George Shearer, Aboriginal engagement manager for Roads and Maritime NSW, said he had seen firsthand how the program was changing lives.
"We know of a 24-year-old on the Mid North Coast, when he achieved his licence, his partner told us that he is becoming more involved in parenting, he has gone on and got a job — so this is a life-changing experience," he said.
The Government said it delivered driver licensing access programs that targeted Aboriginal and disadvantaged people in the state's northern, southern, western, south-west, Hunter and Sydney regions.
