A JOINT initiative between TIDE Indigenous Services and Birrang development is helping indigenous people in the Manning Valley secure driving licences.
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The Get Licensed, Get Legal program kicked off on Tuesday February 2 and will run for five weeks, three days a week on a flexible schedule.
Eliza Fleming, an Aboriginal youth worker and program co-ordinator at TIDE, said that between 15-20 people were already enrolled in the program.
"It gives them a lot of self confidence and something to strive towards."
Eliza said having a licence gives the attendants more access to jobs, health services, family, and therefore enables them to become better contributors to society.
The program helps with education about the requirements of having a licence, as well as ongoing support once they've acquired their licence.
TIDE will then work to pair those undertaking the program with mentors who will help them complete the 120 hours required on a learner licence before going for their provisional licence.
Birrang employment and training officer George Bullivant said that gaining a licence can "change lives."
"When you live in an area like this without much public transportation and without a licence, life can be very limited," George said.
George said that licences meant people could more easily reach employment and further education.
"Firstly it impacts the individual, then the family, then it becomes a generational thing," George said, referring to a family where the grandmother was the first to ever have her licence, followed by her son and then grandchildren.
The average age of those who do the course is 32, with the program helping 515 over the last 18 months gain a licence, George said.
The program will also run in Forster and Eliza urged anyone with interest in being a mentor to contact the TIDE office.