Newsletter. Rotary Clubs fostering Youth Driver Awareness. RYDA Celebrates 10 Years

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1 Rotary Clubs fostering Youth Driver Awareness Welcome to the latest edition of the RYDA Newsletter - we hope that you enjoy reading our quarterly update on events and developments with the RYDA road safety education program. Newsletter Winter Edition, June 2011 RYDA Celebrates 10 Years Message from the Executive Chair, Terry Birss It is hard to imagine a more worthwhile project.. helping save the lives of our children When a group of Rotarians committed themselves to filling a vacuum in the education of senior school students at about the time when they would start driving, none of us would have imagined where, a decade later, their efforts would take them. Today, the RYDA Program is the pre-eminent national road safety program for youth. On Monday, 7 March 2011, 10 years to the day, at our Anniversary Gala Dinner, RYDA celebrated a decade of progress and development of our education program and recognition of those that had helped make it happen. It was a celebration of just what our society can achieve by working together and of our organisation that has been able to identify and pull together those crucial elements required for such a program to work and then make it happen. It was also an opportunity to publicly recognise and thank those that have supported RYDA from the original initiative of Rotary, to the foresight of our Founding Sponsor, BOC in encouraging us to accept the responsibility to take the Program national and across the Tasman, and providing both the trust and the financial support to enable us to do so. The evening gave RYDA and BOC an opportunity to celebrate the efforts of one particular Rotarian with the presentation of the annual BOC-RYDA Champion Award when Doug Rose was named RYDA Champion of the Decade. Pictured: (L-R) BOC s Managing Director and Executive Board Director, Colin Isaac accepts a recognition award from RYDA s Executive Chair, Terry Birss It was a marvellous evening full of the energy that marks the RYDA relationship with its stakeholders. We were pleased to welcome two new sponsors, NRMA and Kmart Tyre & Auto Service, the latter becoming the Founding Donor of the RYDA Foundation. On behalf of the Chairman of the RYDA Foundation I was privileged to announce that Sir William Deane AC, KBE had kindly consented to accept the position of Patron. Among the many special guests attending the night were Adrian and Joanne Matarazzo who gave an incredible gift to future students of the RYDA program by sharing the story of their precious daughter s short life in the Remembering Genevieve video. This video forms a key part of the Police session. The evening paid tribute to many who have helped in our mission to which I add the Board s appreciation of our outstanding staff and my personal thanks to my Board.

2 RYDA Gets a Big Tick of Approval Road safety education is a highly complex environment and knowing what initiatives work to keep young people safe is important. Recent changes such as new rules for probationary drivers, increase in penalties, changes to motor vehicle and road design, all play a key role in keeping us safe on the roads. So too have the great in-roads into road safety education; in particular the RYDA Program. It is intuitive, that providing quality, evidence based education programs to provide new drivers (and their passengers) with information in an age appropriate format and in a timely manner must make an impact on the driving habits of new drivers. RYDA has undertaken a preliminary review of the new RYDA Program by collecting student evaluations before and after the RYDA Program experience. Analysis reveals that the RYDA program is exceeding expectations and students are welcoming the new program with a big tick of approval. RYDA seeks to impact on the attitudes of students toward road safe behaviours. For example, on an issue as crucial as speeding, it is reassuring to note that the number of students who strongly disagreed with the statement Driving 5 km above the speed limit is OK because it doesn t make much difference doubled from pre to post program testing following the RYDA Program. The same result was recorded concerning appropriate seat belt use as well. The surveys also reveal an improvement in students knowledge from pre to post workshop evaluation. There was an overall improvement in knowledge across the six key domains of the Program but most significantly in issues concerning registration (32%) and driving-based skills such as avoiding collisions (23.1%). The new RYDA program is proving to be a great success; not just from the positive feedback received from students and teachers, but also for impacting on students attitudes and improving their knowledge around road safe behaviours.

3 RYDA Drives into Victoria RYDA is now a truly national road safety education program following the conduct of our first program in Victoria on March 22. Rotary District Governor Iven Mackay from the Melbourne based District 9800 was present to see an enthusiastic 145 students from Aitken College in Greenvale participate in a very successful RYDA Program. The first RYDA Program in Victoria was organised by a multi-club RYDA Committee under the leadership of Paul Tanti from the Rotary Club of Tullamarine. The local organising committee also had the benefit of great support from Bruce Cameron (Rotary Club of Keilor East) and Cameron Horder (Rotary Club of Keilor) who had both attended our RYDA District Leaders meeting held in Sydney last year. To help mark the special occasion at Aitken College we were very pleased to welcome local representatives from our Founding Sponsor BOC David Press (General Manager Sales, South Eastern) and Brenda Burr (Administration Coordinator) who were excited to see that young people in Victoria will now have the opportunity to participate in the potentially lifesaving RYDA Program. Victoria based Toyota Australia staff Katarina Persic (Public Affairs Manager) and Vesna Benns (Corporate Manager Corporate Affairs) also visited to see the program in action and to extend their congratulations to RYDA Australia Limited and the local Rotary Clubs for taking the initiative to make RYDA available to schools in Victoria. We look forward to working with Rotarians from the 70 Rotary Clubs in District 9800 to help make the RYDA Program available to students in Melbourne and regional centres across Victoria.

4 Changes at RYDA s National Program Office Michael Cullen, RYDA s State Manager for Queensland has left RYDA to pursue a new challenge with Volunteering Qld. We wish Michael every success in his new role. Facilitator Training Videos Production is completed on RYDA s training videos which are now available for viewing on-line. These videos have been recorded to act as a companion to the RYDA Facilitator s Manual, demonstrating the format and presentation style of each session. All registered RYDA facilitators are asked to view these videos prior to conducting their session. We thank the many people involved in putting these videos together, including our facilitators, Sydney Classic Productions and the students from Port Hacking High School. The videos are proving to be an invaluable training tool. To access the videos, please your name, the venue at which you are conducting your session and the session title to facilitator@ryda.org.au so that we can send you a link and password. As the RYDA Program is now rapidly expanding around the country, with approximately 70 venues operating in every Australian State and the ACT, the time has come for the appointment of a National Program Venue Manager who will be based in the National Program Office in Sydney and provide focused assistance and support to venue coordinators around the country. Josh Donohoe has accepted the position and will commence with RYDA on 15 June Josh comes from a background in youth and not for profit organisations and was most recently employed by Camp Quality as a Project Manager. To support and drive continued growth in the Brisbane Metropolitan area (Chandler, Ipswich and Gold Coast) we are pleased to announce that Tahnia Cook has been appointed as Metropolitan Program Venue Coordinator. Tahnia has extensive experience working with youth programs and as a former facilitator of RYDA s My Wheels and Plan B. We welcome Tahnia and Josh to the RYDA team. and the ipad goes to... The winner of RYDA s first annual National Bumper Sticker design competition was announced in March. The prize (a highly revered Apple ipad) was awarded to Alice Probert from Sydney s Roseville College at her school assembly in March. Alice, who attended RYDA at Sydney Olympic Park said that she wanted to promote the lifesaving messages she had learned at the Program. My friends and I are glad we attended the program. The consequences of distracted drivers made a big impact on me, so that became the theme of my design. The winning design was voted on by members of Founding Sponsor BOC s staff, Rotary volunteers, RYDA facilitators and staff. Alice s design stood out because it was simple, bold and made clever use of the broad topics communicated during the program.

5 Rotarians in Hobart came up with a creative and fun way to raise funds for their RYDA Program this year when the The Rotary Club of Sandy Bay in District 9830 conducted the Hobart Kite Festival pledging all proceeds to RYDA. Children and families came from all around to fly their kites and no one was disappointed. The day was an outstanding success. The weather Gods were kind, the sun shone and there was more than enough breeze to make sure the kites were flying high with the majestic Mount Wellington as a back drop. The event received great publicity from the local media and featured on the evening news of two networks - both mentioning that proceeds were going to the then upcoming RYDA Program. Local radio station, 101.7FM sponsored a series of free advertisements for the event, plugging the RYDA Program along the way. It was excellent media coverage for RYDA. In the end, the Rotary Club of Sandy Bay raised over $1,000 for RYDA; more importantly it raised the profile of RYDA in the community. RYDA off to a flying start in Hobart Good Odds for RYDA Funding NSW registered clubs provide greatly valued support to community projects such as RYDA through the Community Development Support Expenditure (CDSE) scheme. The Rotary Club of Epping recently obtained funding from the Epping RSL Community Club to support local schools who attend the RYDA Program. At a recent RYDA day for students from Epping Boys High School, President of the Epping Community Club David Taylor presented a cheque for $10,000 to the RYDA Program the cheque was accepted by PDG Monica Saville from the Rotary Club of Epping and Greg Rappo from the RYDA National Office. Congratulations to Monica and her Club for securing this outstanding financial support for students to attend the RYDA program - other local RYDA committees are encouraged to apply for funding through the CDSE or similar schemes; full details and an application form are available from the Community Support link on the Clubs NSW website Bowling for RYDA The team from Eurobodalla on the New South Wales South Coast hit the greens again this year for their annual Bare Foot Bowls Tournament which was held in March. The Tournament was established in 2009 as a way of bringing the community together and raising awareness of and funds for the RYDA Program. Congratulations to the teams from The Rotary Club of Bateman s Bay for another successful event.

6 RYDA Sponsors - Helping to Deliver the Message RYDA Australia has been fortunate to secure the support of some of Australia s leading corporate citizens who include Kmart Tyre & Auto Service, Suncorp CTP Insurance, Toyota Australia, NRMA and of course our founding sponsor BOC. Through such support, the RYDA Program has been able to expand across Australia and into areas that simply did not provide quality road safety education to soon to be drivers and their passengers, the most at risk sectors of the driver population across Australia. This increased support has seen student numbers doubling over the last three years. In addition, a new, well researched and evidence based program has been developed, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to research and produce. There is good evidence that well meaning but poorly designed programs can do harm, and accordingly RYDA has undertaken solid research to ensure that students are getting a program of high quality that meets their educational needs. The results, as reported elsewhere, are very positive. Most significantly, the RYDA program has not increased its price to students in over 5 years, despite an increase in all other costs of the business including facilitator and venue costs. This is only possible due to the financial support received from our sponsors and ensures that we can get as many students as possible to attend the program. The Word Goes Out RYDA s new sponsors have been quick to promote the Program to their customers, staff and the broad community. The NRMA featured an article about RYDA in their publication, Open Roads which has a total circulation of 1,536,426 - Australia s largest circulating magazine that reaches over 58% of houses in NSW and ACT. Toyota have placed a RYDA information notice on their National dealer information website. The notice encourages dealers to seize the opportunity to participate in locals programs by providing vehicles for use in the Stopping Distances session. Such support from our corporate partners also helps offset the cost of the RYDA National Program Office which supports over 70 venues, produces and distributes program resources, and much more. On behalf of the students and schools who attend the RYDA Program we say thank you to our corporate and community partners for your ongoing support to make the RYDA Program the best it can be and available to all.

7 Congratulations to RYDA on the achievements made in the ten years since inception March was a very memorable month at RYDA with both the 10 Year Anniversary celebrations occurring and the first-ever RYDA Victorian pilot taking place. The Victorian RYDA pilot brought the program even closer to being national and it is fitting this event occurred during the same month RYDA achieved its 10 Years. To mark the significance of the 10 year anniversary, a RYDA dinner was held on the 7th March. BOC a Member of The Linde Group was honoured to be there on the evening and to receive and to present an award. Colin Isaac, the BOC South Pacific Managing Director, proudly accepted a sponsor s award from Terry Birss, Chair of the RYDA Board. Colin noted the efforts of many have ensured that in only 10 short years, over 170, to 17 years olds have attended the RYDA youth driver safety awareness program. Suncorp Insurance Must Have Safer Queensland Roads Community Program Launch As part of their commitment to protecting Queenslanders and their way of life, Suncorp insurance are on a mission to make Queensland roads safer. To help them in the mission, they have appointed Craig Lowndes as their Safer Roads Ambassador. Suncorp launched their Must-Have Safer Queensland Roads initiative in April with a public event held in Brisbane s Queen Street Mall. RYDA was delighted to be given the opportunity to host a display at the event which was attended by Mr Lowndes, Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson and Suncorp Chief Executive Patrick Snowball. Graeme Bartram the BOC Human Resources Director, along with John Loughlin of the RYDA Board, was able to personally acknowledge the efforts of one of the people who have committed so much, by presenting the RYDA-BOC Champion of the Decade Award to Doug Rose. Doug s involvement with the program is truly inspiring. He was there when the original RYDA concept was proposed and has helped it expand over the last ten years. It was a delight to acknowledge Doug s work, and meet many of the individuals involved with the RYDA program at the anniversary event evening. We would like to congratulate the RYDA Board, the RYDA team, the Rotary District Chairs, the Rotary Volunteers, the Sponsors and the programme facilitators who together have achieved this truly significant 10 year milestone. Pictured (L-R): Three-time V8 Supercar champion, Craig Lowndes talks RYDA with long-time supporter, Rotarian Phil Robinson Royal Automobile Club of Tasmania signs up for RYDA The RACT has signed a three-year sponsorship agreement which will see them contribute $2 for every student who attends the RYDA program in Tasmania over the next three years. RACT spokesman, Vince Taskunas said the Club is a firm advocate of road safety education for students and the RYDA program is well-known as an influential course that is strongly supported by students, teachers and parents. He continued to say we would like to see every Tasmanian school student have the opportunity to experience a RYDA course, and this statewide sponsorship is a practical expression of our commitment to make that happen.

8 Contacting RYDA The RYDA Foundation and its Patron RYDA Foundation, formed in 2009, seeks to attract gifts and bequests from the philanthropic and corporate community to help stop the tragic loss of young lives on our roads. Donations to the Foundation are preserved in perpetuity whilst income from the fund is used to educate young Australians through its support of the RYDA Program conducted by RYDA Australia Limited. In March we were delighted to announce Kmart Tyre and Auto Service as the Founding Donor with a generous gift to start the Foundation. Also in March it was announced that Sir William Deane AC KBE QC has accepted the role of Patron of the RYDA Foundation. Sir William was born in Melbourne and graduated in Arts and Law from the University of Sydney before attending The Hague Academy of International Law and was called to the Sydney Bar in In 1966, Sir William was appointed Queen s Counsel. A former Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Sir William was appointed as a Justice of the High Court of Australia in On Australia Day 1988 he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia. Sir William was sworn in as the 22nd Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia in February In 2001, he was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize for his consistent support of vulnerable and disadvantaged Australians and his strong commitment to the cause of reconciliation. We are privileged to have Sir William as Patron and sincerely thank him for his support in the cause of helping keep young Australians safe on our roads. We thank all our sponsors for their continued generous support If you are interested in booking your school to attend a RYDA program, establishing a venue in your town or seeking any further information on the Program, please contact the National Program Office on: Ph: Fax: info@ryda.org.au Alternatively, if you have a specific query, please contact the appropriate RYDA team member. Executive Chair, Terry Birss Ph: (02) chair@ryda.org.au Director Policy & Research, Greg Cantwell Ph: (02) gregc@ryda.org.au Director Program Development, Greg Rappo Ph: (02) gregr@ryda.org.au National Operations Manager, Brooke O Donnell Ph: (02) brooke@ryda.org.au National Program Venue Manager, Josh Donohoe Ph: josh@ryda.org.au Program Venue Coordinator - Sydney Metro, Liane Leslie Ph: liane@ryda.org.au Program Venue Coordinator - Brisbane Metro, Tahnia Cook Ph: tahnia@ryda.org.au Office Administrator, Jane Ward Ph: (02) jane@ryda.org.au All accounts enquiries to accounts@ryda.org.au RYDA Australia Limited (ABN: ) Level 2, 10A Julius Avenue, North Ryde NSW 2113