---
title: Helping young Tasmanians make safer choices
date: 2026-06-03T00:00:00+10:00
author: Courtney Hayles
canonical_url: "https://maib.tas.gov.au/news/helping-young-tasmanians-make-safer-choices"
section: News
---
#  Helping young Tasmanians make safer choices 

 Posted 03 June 2026 | [Article,](https://maib.tas.gov.au/news?c=article) [Road Safety](https://maib.tas.gov.au/news?c=road-safety)

 

 

BodySafe is helping young Tasmanians think twice before taking risks, using real lived experience to spark honest conversations about road safety, injury prevention and personal responsibility.

 

 

 

 

  As young people approach driving age and begin navigating greater independence, the decisions they make on and off the road can have life-changing consequences.

For Year 10 students at Hobart High School, the BodySafe Education Program offered a chance to think differently about risk, responsibility and the real impact of serious injury.

“We thought despite the seriousness of the topic he was discussing, the way he talked casually and normally to us about it allowed for us to feel comfortable enough to contribute and comment, as well as really listen,” one student said.

Delivered by ParaQuad Tasmania and supported by the Motor Accidents Insurance Board Injury Prevention and Management Foundation, the BodySafe Education Program equips students in Years 9 to 12 with the knowledge, resilience and confidence to make safer choices before the stakes become irreversible.

Delivered free of charge to Tasmanian secondary schools and colleges, BodySafe is an interactive, evidence-informed program exploring risk-taking behaviours and the prevention of spinal cord injury and physical trauma.

The program is carefully aligned with the Australian Curriculum Health and Physical Education framework and TASC accredited courses, complementing and strengthening existing school health and wellbeing initiatives.

At the heart of BodySafe is a focus on real-world relevance.

Rather than relying only on statistics and cautionary messaging, the program encourages students to critically examine the moments, environments and pressures that lead to risk-taking, whether on the road, in social settings or in everyday life.

Through structured discussion, personal reflection and honest conversation, students are supported to build the awareness and decision-making skills that matter most when it counts.

What makes BodySafe especially powerful is its presenters, each living with paraplegia, quadriplegia or a physical disability, who deliver sessions with authenticity, empathy and lived experience.

Hearing directly from someone whose life changed in a single moment makes road safety and injury prevention real in a way no classroom resource or statistics sheet can replicate.

These conversations stay with students long after the session ends, shaping how they think about risk, consequence and responsibility.

In the past year alone, 2,647 students across Tasmania have taken part in the program, alongside more than 60 paramedic students at the University of Tasmania.

The program has also helped educate future first responders about the human impact of traumatic spinal cord injury, the importance of preventative measures in emergency care and the person living with spinal cord injury beyond the moment of crisis.

 

 

 

 ![Paraquad 2](https://maib.tas.gov.au/volumes/images/Images/Articles/_2048xAUTO_crop_center-center_70_none/14331/Paraquad-2.webp) 

ParaQuad Tasmania's BodySafe Coordinator Richard Jones.

### How to be involved

BodySafe is a free program provided by ParaQuad Tasmania to schools and colleges statewide.

Find out more here: [Programs - ParaQuad Tasmania](https://www.paraquadtas.org.au/programs/)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   [  ![BIAT 1](https://maib.tas.gov.au/volumes/images/Images/Articles/_600x600_crop_center-center_none/14332/BIAT-1.webp) 

 

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### Youth sign pledge to be safer for Road Safety Week

 
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 ![Image 18](https://maib.tas.gov.au/volumes/images/Banners/_600x600_crop_center-center_none/14234/Image-18.webp) 

 

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