Queensland’s Motor Accident Insurance Commission (MAIC) today kicked off a Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance campaign geared specifically to First Peoples living in Queensland.
MAIC’s Insurance Commissioner, Neil Singleton, said NAIDOC week provides an important opportunity to reflect on ways we can ensure the Queensland CTP insurance scheme best supports First Peoples injured in car crashes in Queensland.
“We are committed to promoting greater road safety for all Queenslanders and MAIC is proud to launch this project to ensure Queensland’s CTP insurance scheme is respectful, safe and supportive for First Peoples injured in vehicle crashes through no fault of their own.
“Land-transport fatality rates for Indigenous Australians are 2.7 times higher compared to non-Indigenous Australians and MAIC wants to reduce the incidence of road trauma for First Peoples through culturally appropriate and relevant road safety initiatives,” Mr Singleton said.
The First Peoples’ CTP insurance initiative was developed in consultation with Elders, community members living with a disability and organisations across Queensland. MAIC and disability Elder Uncle Paul Calcott created a bespoke artwork that reflects the local connection to country and culture. This artwork was transformed into a poster, an animated video, and a feature video that tells the personal story of Aunty Robyn and her family who were involved in a tragic car crash.
Aunty Robyn, a descendant of the Kalkadoon people and an Elder in her local community tells the story of her own family that was struck by tragedy in 1982 that claimed the lives of her husband and, left one of her sons (Josh) and her daughter severely disabled, with her daughter eventually passing away at a very young age, and also left her other son with life-long impacts.
“Even though we made good choices and had the car set up correctly and were wearing seatbelts, the cause of the crash and the life-long impacts on my family was the result of someone else making a bad decision by drink driving and causing the car crash,” Aunty Robyn said.
“After the crash, I was told to put my son Josh into a home and to walk away and forget about him. But because we had CTP insurance, I was able to get the money to put Josh into a private nursing home to get the best care available and to be able to bring him home of a weekend.”
Through the funding made available from Queensland’s CTP insurance, Aunty’s son Josh was able to access dedicated support and rehabilitation to make him strong again.
“Josh slowly learned to be able to walk and talk again. Even though he is still fully disabled, he has gone on to learn art and is now a famous artist,” the proud mother said.
“This is why it is very important that you do register your car to make sure your CTP insurance is there to protect and support the people you love in case they are hurt by another driver’s bad decisions.
“If we didn’t have CTP insurance we would not have been able to get the support and help for my family,” Aunty Robyn said.
The artwork used in the initiative reflects the importance of being a responsible road user, through the eyes of proud Wiradjuri man, Uncle Paul Calcott who has also lived with a disability since he was a child.
“I’m honoured to have had the opportunity to develop this artwork for MAIC’s CTP initiative. The very first footprints on this land were those belonging to the First People of this country in this artwork the footprints are also used to show the journey of someone getting strong again after a car crash through the support of CTP insurance,” Uncle Paul said.
For more information or to view/download the videos/brochures please visit: maic.qld.gov.au/first-peoples-ctp/