Transport Minister Rita Saffioti has today welcomed the Commonwealth Government's announcement of a program to assist job seekers to gain a driver's licence.
The Commonwealth has estimated the program could assist up to 330,000 individuals around the country.
This complements the McGowan Government's recent announcement of $4.9 million towards a pilot program to trial initiatives to identify barriers young people in regional Western Australia face in getting a driver's licence.
At the recent State Government Skills Summit, many industry representatives raised this as a barrier for many young people looking for employment.
A number of initiatives will be trialled over the pilot program to provide support to young people.
The State Government will work closely with local stakeholders to implement initiatives to address local issues including grants for driving instructors to purchase suitable vehicles, and partnering with not-for-profit organisations to expand currently successful supervised driving programs.
As stated by Transport Minister Rita Saffioti:
"I welcome the Commonwealth Government's announcement today of their program to support job seekers to gain their driver's licence.
"Not having a driver's licence can significantly limit employment opportunities and this is constantly raised with me as a major issue people face when they are looking for a job.
"We look forward to working with the Commonwealth on this initiative and implementing our own $4.9 million trial in regional WA."
