The Nationals leader and Member for Murray Plains, Peter Walsh, is encouraging local football and netball clubs to get involved in the TAC Club Rewards Programs in 2022.
Mr Walsh says grants are now on offer for all AFL Victoria aligned clubs across the state – and describes the program as a win-win for the community.
“Road safety must be a constant in people’s minds and if we hammer safety messages home with teenage drivers – and drivers-to-be – it could be a lifesaver today, tomorrow or at some point in the future.”
He says local clubs have the opportunity to earn up to $10,000 in funding by promoting road safety to their community.
“The Nationals are passionate campaigners for safer regional and rural roads and road safety is an important issue that need lots of ongoing discussion,” Mr Walsh says.
“Road safety is about creating awareness, teaching people to drive to conditions and helping drivers to understand dangers involved,” he says.
“Unfortunately, our country roads are not maintained to the same standard as metropolitan roads and young people travelling long distances are at risk each time they get in the car to attend sport.
“It’s important to be proactively talking about the issues of speed, drink driving, fatigue, distractions, vehicle safety and young drivers through our local sporting clubs.”
Mr Walsh says local clubs can implement a program that they run each year to keep players, volunteers and officials informed around road safety.
He says programs delivered at the grassroots level are a great way to teach young people around risks and become better drivers.
“There are lots of initiatives clubs could deliver including information nights, posters, social media, mentoring of young drivers, shuttle buses, designated driver incentives, scoreboard messaging and hosting a road safety round,” Mr Walsh added.
“Clubs are only limited by their imagination to promote awareness of road safety, and all these initiatives help the club get in the running for a $10,000 grant,” he says.
“This opportunity also complements our current campaign to identify the worst roads in regional and rural Victoria so we can apply pressure on the government to start doing better road maintenance and upgrades for regional Victorians – you can support that by going to https://www.vicsworstroad.vote/
“I look forward to seeing our local football netball clubs embrace the road safety messaging and encourage our dedicated community volunteers to host a Road Safety round this year.”
Mr Walsh says grants can be used for new equipment, program delivery and uniforms.
Applications for the TAC Club Rewards Programs 2022 can be submitted online at https://aflvic.smartygrants.com.au/2022TACRewardsProgram
