Launch of the Indigenous Road Safety Community of Practice

The HealthInfoNet has recently created a new series of web pages to support the development of the Indigenous Road Safety Community of Practice (view webpages). The road safety web pages combine web-based information resources with additional electronic information services that encourage people to share information, knowledge and experience – even when they live in different locations and work for different organisations.

The aim of this integrated knowledge resource is to bring together information on Indigenous road safety, and to increase information-sharing among practitioners working in this area, in order to develop more effective and appropriate ways of reducing road trauma for Indigenous Australians.

The Community of Practice was launched on 2 December 2005. In Western Australia it was formally launched at the Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service in Perth. The Welcome to Country by Walter McGuire Senior was followed by presentations from:

• Iain Cameron, Executive Director of the Office of Road Safety;
• Professor Neil Thomson, Director of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet; and
• Leon Henry from the Drug and Alcohol Office of the Department of Health.

The decision to proceed with development of this resource was made in 2003 by the National Road Safety Strategy Panel, which recognised the need for better sharing of knowledge and information about Indigenous road safety – between jurisdictions and, often, between sectors within a single jurisdiction.

The development of the Comunity of Practice has been made possible with funds provided by the: Roads and Transport Authority of New South Wales (view website); Queensland Transport (view website); Western Australian Office of Road Safety (view website); South Australian Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure (view website); Northern Territory Department of Planning and Infrastructure (view website); and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (view website).

The road safety web pages include: a summary of road safety among Indigenous Australians; background information; information on policies and strategies, programs, projects and recommendations, lessons learned; resources; and publications, including a bibliography. They also include electronic services to support information sharing and networking among people who live in different locations and work for different organisations.

If you are working or studying in areas that deal with Indigenous road safety we invite you to become a member of the Road Safety Community of Practice and begin the information-sharing process (view Community of Practice information). For further information about joining the Road Safety Community of Practice or other queries please email Ineke Krom: i.krom@ecu.edu.au.

Other information

• View media statement Office of Road Safety WA (PDF – 14KB)
• View ABC news item
• View joint media statement of involved Ministers

We’d like to thank the launch participants who provided written permission for us to display their photos here