Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Clearing House for Road Safety Material

Road injury is a major cause of mortality and morbidity amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The National Aboriginal Road Safety Working Group has acknowledged that there is a lack of information about the circumstances of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people s experience of road trauma. To combat this, it was decided to establish an internet-based clearing house to effectively share information about Indigenous road safety amongst stakeholders and the community.

In September 2003 the National Road Safety Strategy Panel accepted Western Australia s offer to develop a proposal for this project. A steering committee of representatives from Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has developed a tender for the development of the clearing house.

This paper describes the development of the project, noting particular issues which arose in the drawing up of the tender:
– Debate over the target audience for the clearing house;
– Issues relating to ensuring the accessibility of the clearing house.