Community

There is just three days to go until the 2022 Young Carer Bursary opens! The Young Carer Bursary Program (YCB) supports young carers to continue with their education. The program offers 1,000 bursaries of $3,000 each year. Our Young Carers Team have spent the last 12 months improving the application process and developing materials to support young carers, young carers’ family and friends, teachers and professionals to understand the application process and support services available. You can check out our new resources over the weekend in preparation for applications opening on Monday 16 August at 9:00am. While you are waiting for the applications to open:

• Read the YCB Information Pack for Young Carers available in 9 languages
• Listen to The Secret Life of Carers podcast featuring a young Kamilaroi carer
• Check out the Frequently Asked Questions that our team have created for the YCB
• Look at the social media kit and resources in the Organisation and Schools Information Pack
• Join the YCB Wait List
• Subscribe to our e-newsletter

Our new Young Carers Network (YCN) website will go live on Monday and this will be the engine of our new application process. As our portal is brand new, young carers will have to register even if they have had an account in the past. This will help us to have current information for young carers, as well as offering a new and improved application process. Since the beginning of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this further with young carers balancing online learning, increased caring commitments, and reduced social and community engagement opportunities. As we continue to experience lockdowns and restrictions, head over to our Caring through COVID project page and find out more about our live and on demand mindfulness sessions, The Secret Life of Carers podcast, the Personal Wellbeing Index self-assessment survey and our Understanding COVID 19 resource. Applications for the 2022 Young Carer Bursary Program open 16 August – 30 September 2021 and are open to young carers in high school, TAFE, university and other vocational training.

Vicroads - Learner Permit Tests  

All prospective learners from across the state are now able to sign up and enrol in the new Learner Permit Test Online (LPTO).  The LPTO equips learners with the road rules information and foundational road safety knowledge they need to obtain a learner permit and to be a safe driver. The LPTO has been informed by research in youth development and road safety behaviours and harnesses technology and contemporary education methods to deliver a more effective learning tool than the current paper-based system. While the LPTO has designed to be interactive and user-friendly, the involvement of supportive adults/supervisor drivers as the learner progress through the learning modules is encouraged. Some young people may need additional assistance to undertake the LPTO. This support could involve providing access to wifi or assisting with learning for learners with literacy or difficulties reading English.   

About the LPTO

The Learner Permit Test Online (LPTO) is a 4-6-hour interactive course and assessment that teaches new drivers about the road rules to follow when driving in Victoria and important ways to develop safe driving behaviours. Applicants can self-enrol and complete the course online using any compatible device. The LPTO is a competency-based course focusing on road safety (including safe systems, vehicles, speed, routes, drink and drug driving, seatbelts, fatigue and distractions) and road rules (including parking, hazardous situations, giving way, road signs, road markings, licence sanctions and sharing the road with others). The new test includes a mix of theory, interactive videos and visual graphics to reinforce road safety messages. Applicants move through ‘gated’ topics by reading road safety information and answering mini quizzes to check their understanding of the topic before they progress through to the final assessment.  The LPTO can be accessed through a myVicRoads account, allowing customers to complete the course at their own pace and attempt the final assessment when ready. When the online course and assessment has been successfully completed, learner drivers need to attend a VicRoads Customer Service Centre (once circuit breaker restrictions are eased) to confirm their identity, have their photo taken and complete an eyesight check.Learners will be able to access the course and assessment 12 months from when they enrolled.Outside of COVID-19 restriction periods, learners can still sit the Learner Permit Test in person at their nearest VicRoads Customer Service Centres. Learners requiring interpreter services support will need to attend the test in-person at a Customer Service Centre.

More information

To learn more about the course and how prospective learners can enrol, visit 

The Learner Permit Test Online.

Kind regards

Nicole Denton

Director Strategy & Policy, Road Safety Victoria at Department of Transport