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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 3 Hansard (10 April) . . Page.. 909 ..

MS HORODNY (continuing):

be conducted but leaves this to the discretion of the registrar. We would expect that the test given to people who have a certificate of competency would not need to be as extensive as the test given to learner drivers who have not used accredited driving instructors, but it should be an independent test nonetheless. We want the system of accreditation and competency-based training fully up and running and adequately evaluated before we even think about giving up the government testing of learner drivers.

The proposed accreditation process for driving instructors in the ACT is not as strict as the licensing process that is used in New South Wales for driving instructors. In New South Wales any person who wants to advertise themselves as a driving instructor must be licensed. To gain an instructor's licence in New South Wales a person must pass both theoretical and practical driving instruction tests, as well as undergo medical tests and a police check. In the ACT, however, anybody will still be able to advertise themselves as a driving instructor, whether accredited or not. Since this Bill has been introduced I have received information from sources within the driving instruction industry that has made me feel even more strongly that not only should independent testing remain but ACT driving instructors should all be licensed.

Other members would be aware of the recent publicity given to those driving instruction schools that have misleadingly advertised in the Yellow Pages that they are accredited, before the legislation has been passed. I understand that the two driving schools involved, City Cross and Arrow, were members of the steering committee for the introduction of the competency-based training and assessment scheme and should have known that the legislation had been delayed. Perhaps the prospect of getting 12 months of more attractive advertising in the phone book ahead of their competitors was too much of an opportunity to miss.

I have also heard some real horror stories about the behaviour of some driving instructors who have preyed on young and vulnerable people who have been overawed by the status of instructors. They have employed intimidation tactics and sexual harassment and have played up to the communication weaknesses of people from non-English-speaking backgrounds. It must be understood that young people and people from non-English-speaking backgrounds do not often question what is being done to them. They are susceptible to manipulation.

There appear to be three types of driving instructors. Firstly, there are those who know what they are doing and genuinely care about their responsibilities to their students. Secondly, there are instructors who are not good instructors but mean well and treat their students in a friendly manner. These instructors could end up giving certificates of competency out of pity for their students who may not quite make the grade, or the instructor may fold under pressure from an overbearing or impatient parent. The third type, whom I am most concerned about, is those who are manipulative and conniving and prey on vulnerable students to their own advantage. I have been advised of numerous cases of students paying for up to 60 lessons, and in one case up to 78 lessons, to achieve a driving competence that would normally take only 10 lessons. A 58-year-old Greek widow was led along for over 60 lessons. The lessons commenced by the

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