Town Talk | DECA: Local dream to global impact

In 1970, more than 1000 lives were lost on Victorian roads. The Victorian Government, led by Henry Bolte, became the first in the world to make seat belts compulsory.

Eric Montgomery was in the police force, and too many times had visited family homes with bad news. The seat belts could and would save lives; however, they wouldn’t reduce the number of accidents. Only education would do that. Eric began his campaign.

An important meeting

In 1971, an exceptional opportunity presented itself — and Eric never missed an opportunity. Then-state Member for Shepparton Peter Ross-Edwards’ government car had broken down, and he needed a lift to Seymour in a hurry. Highway Patrol Sergeant Eric Montgomery put his hand up. Who could pass up a captive audience?

It was an important meeting because, as Eric has been quoted, “Peter’s parliamentary contacts were important”. However, the fact that this radical new idea got through parliament without ever becoming political was vital. Nothing was more important than our young people’s safety, and Eric was a passionate and persuasive man.

Early in 1972, he had a meeting — in Peter’s office — with Premier Rupert Hamer. The plan he showed the premier was a rough sketch, but he was invited back. In Shepparton, Eric had been talking to anyone who would listen, and the people of our city were very supportive. Eric’s dream was now a shared one.

With the newly formed board of the Goulburn Valley Driver Training Complex, he made a formal deputation to the premier, which was successful.

There were many conversations necessary to write this story; during one of them, a gentleman said, “Eric Montgomery was one of a kind and light years ahead of his time”. And all of his skills would be necessary to make his dream a reality.

To teach our young people to drive safely in any conditions and circumstance, they would need land, funding, staff and buildings. At that time, Wanganui Rd was the city border. It was a rough dirt road with countless potholes. (In fact, it wasn’t sealed until the then-Prince Charles and his charming wife were scheduled to inspect the complex.) The land offered had been a sewage farm, but “Who cares?” said Eric.

There were three buildings on the site. The larger one became the main building, with offices, classrooms, a lounge area and showers. One of the smaller ones was used by the instructors and the other served as a small shed.

They planned everything to be ready by May 1974 — and then the flood came, peaking at 12.09m. The opening of the complex had to be postponed.

What did it cost?

They needed $250,000, and it was made up as follows: $130,000 from the state government; $80,000 in donations in cash or kind, $20,000 which was a special government grant; $10,000 from the Road Safety and Traffic Authority; and $10,000 from Shepparton City Council.

The flood damage totalled $17,000. This was covered by special flood damage compensation from the state Government.

A simple principle

The complex was opened on November 1, 1974, and was based on a simple principle: It would teach people to be better drivers by using simulated road conditions and road hazards. To do this, the area was divided into five main sections, covering the needs of children on bicycles or tricycles, everyday town drivers, an advanced area for higher-speed driving, an anti-skid area and a motorcycle space.

Noel Wood

And here, I should introduce you to Noel Wood, a member of the original team of instructors. It has been suggested that he is the “last man standing”. He was employed at the facility from January 1974 until 1996, when he resigned to start his own successful business, from which he retired in 2014. All of which means that he has spent 40 years instructing others. The first thing I noted when I spoke to Noel was that he must have been a passionate teacher committed to his job because that passion remains today.

We have only met briefly, but I’ve lost count of the hours we have spent on the phone.

Although he wasn’t feeling well that day, he delivered material to me in a giant plastic container — in which, he explained, I should find answers to my questions. He didn’t tell me it would take me a couple of weeks to read it all!

Although I had (I thought) an understanding of what DECA was about, I had had no dealings with the organisation. However, as I began to understand the breadth of the work that was undertaken and the obvious benefits to our city, I found myself immersed in what I was reading. Perhaps the passion was contagious?

The early days

Noel told me about the dedication of the instructors, who spent many unpaid hours working on the site itself. They might have been painting something, putting pipes down or working on sprinkler systems; they had bought into Eric’s dream and didn’t care how long they worked or what they worked on. Noel said he had counted 107 hours of unpaid work and didn’t begrudge a minute of it.

Danny Glasgow was seconded from the Victorian Police Driving School. His job was to ensure that the instructors received the Vic Roads instructor licence.

The support of members of the Shepparton community was quite astonishing. The enthusiasm with which they helped get the show on the road was indicative of their interest. Businesses, service clubs and individuals offered money, time, labour and expertise. And it was ongoing; Ross Freer donated a car every year, and Alan Trevaskis of R.S. and A.R. Trevaskis gave two cars every year. Even the surrounding shires — from the Murray down to Seymour — banded together and contributed. The Ford Motor Company gave two cars every year. Mawsons and Youngs Earthmoving were also substantial contributors.

Within three years, the complex had developed and become part of the Victorian Education Department. When TAFE separated from the department, the complex came under the funding and administrative support of the TAFE board.

It was 1981, and this local community project had developed an international reputation and was one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world.

Astonishing growth

Among my reading was a 32-A4 page feature on DECA printed by this newspaper. There is no date on it, but it looked to me like the mid- to late 1980s. It details a powerful and successful organisation that would be about 12 years old. The change of name happened in 1985, and although this publication doesn’t mention it, it may have been published to help make the new name known.

The original name, of course, mentioned the Goulburn Valley, and, at this stage, the organisation was servicing Australia and overseas. The instructors travelled to Western Australia, Darwin, Sydney, Indonesia, Dubai, New Guinea and many other places. The Driving Education Centre of Australia was much more appropriate.

DECA offered courses for articulated and heavy vehicle drivers, those who towed a caravan, motorcycle safety, handling four-wheel drive vehicles of all types, driving for the disabled, bus drivers and, of course, children and young adults. There were also courses for ambulance drivers and those who drove fire trucks. It interested me that they were also instructing private instructors, which was not seen as ‘helping the opposition’ but was consistent with the goal of making the roads safer. And let’s not forget the Careful Cobbers, designed to introduce young ones to the road laws, traffic conditions and steering a vehicle. Some helpful little books for the children were written by Jenny Houlihan and illustrated by Jeff Anselmi.

And in 1988...

DECA was offered and accepted as a ‘chair’ on the Governing Council of the Safety and Health Hall of Fame International. SHHOFI, which isn’t much shorter than the full name, is based at Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg, in the United States.

The chair was offered to DECA in recognition of the organisation’s significant contribution to safety and health.

I find this extraordinary because I don’t remember reading or hearing about it. Certainly, my focus was elsewhere; this was the year the newspaper moved into a new building, 5km from the previous office. It’s not relevant right now, but there were several significant adjustments for the advertising department. I had my head down. However, I’ve checked with several people who were also unaware of DECA’s achievement.

Where was Shepparton?

Eric has been quoted as saying, “The future of DECA is where it has always been, in the hands of the community. I would like to see local support, which we have always enjoyed, expressed more in participation in our courses.”

He was also staying across the changes in car technology — aware that DECA would need to stay ahead of the game.

Ten thousand students each year were participating in five-day driving courses. I’m wondering how many of them were from the Goulburn Valley. Were we taking this facility for granted? Did we no longer feel ownership? Surely, we were all interested in the safety of our children.

However, it was estimated that DECA was generating $5 million for Shepparton’s economy — on an annual basis.

Land Rover

Noel and Danny took two days off to go to the Phillip Island race track, where Land Rover was introducing its first four-wheel drive. Of course, they had chats with appropriate people because they could smell an opportunity. Land Rover quickly saw the potential benefits of a driving course and donated two Land Rovers to assist.

The resulting course covered basic defensive driving aspects and also covered topics such as driving in sand, mud and deep water, ascent and descent techniques, obstacle negotiation, debogging and winching, the matching of vehicles and tyres to the terrain, highway driving techniques and environmental techniques.

Shell Distribution

Shell (Billiton) had a problem with vehicles having to drive through very long grass, which hid obstacles such as ant hills. The cost of the repairs resulting was approximately $120,000 a year. After DECA training, drivers learnt to avoid the unseen dangers and annual repair costs dropped to $9000.

And there was more. After two years of phase one of the course, Shell reported a 29 per cent reduction in tanker accidents and fuel savings of $1 million each year. It also reported improvements in morale, professionalism and fitness among its 400 tanker drivers.

Eric spoke about what was to come:

“We haven’t painted the future yet. The canvas is large, and the picture so big that we don’t know the size of the paintbrush needed,” he said

Eric’s ‘dream’ was now a national and international organisation. It has been suggested that he believed it should operate under the Federal Government and was working towards this goal. (I have no way of verifying this; however, it makes sense.)

He also talked about DECA’s many successes. For example, the Road Traffic Authority required all coach drivers carrying passengers in snow country to be endorsed by DECA, and all drivers with the Premier’s Department were required to train at DECA.

Many of DECA’s courses tie in well with TAFE. An efficient method of reaching as many students as possible was to train the teachers. Students would learn about getting their licence, maintaining their cars, registration and mechanical details.

Ongoing growth

The people at DECA were very good at what they did. I’ve been reading books filled with customer feedback, and so far, I haven’t found a criticism. And they were also constantly on the lookout for opportunities; no stone was left unturned. There were now offices in Melbourne and Sydney.

And then things changed

In May of 1989, Eric Montgomery resigned.

It is all very well for me to sit here and think that this situation could have been managed differently, that problems could have been talked through and resolved. I’m aware, however, that I’m suggesting a 21st-century solution to a 20th-century situation. Everyone is smart with hindsight, and the world and its people have changed a great deal in the past 35 years.

The outcome was that Eric was gone, and I was told that the staff, particularly the instructors, had lost their mojo for some time. If people are working for their pay packet alone, they are unaffected by leadership changes. But, if they are working for their leader, there is quite a different outcome.

Recovery

DECA and its staff were strong enough to pull through this period. The instructors were right in the middle of their studies to earn a Diploma in Technical Teaching from the Hawthorn Institute of Education. It was a four-year course, from which they graduated in May of 1991.

With 16 years of experience, Garry Elliott was now the operations manager of the Shepparton facility, and he explained that the studies were part of an ongoing program to update the instructors’ skills.

Ian Bushby was appointed managing director of the enterprise and, in Melbourne, Geoff Palamountain was managing a staff of 13 and an expanding business. The Sydney office was in the hands of Richard Kennedy.

In 1994, the fuel industry was the source of many clients for DECA’s industry program. They included Golden Fleece, Ampol Victoria and NSW, Mobil South Australia, Cootes Transport, Finemore’s Transport, Ampol, Shell and BP distributors Victoria-wide, and Woolman Petroleum.

Golden Fleece donated a tanker to DECA.

DECA also had clients in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand — mainly within the fuel and mining industries. The mining industry was seeking driver training for everything from small vehicles to 150-tonne dumping trucks.

There was also an increasing focus on customer service and sending the customer away with what they wanted.

Not for profit

DECA has been through various phases of being funded by the Education Department and then the TAFE system. In 1994, it became a totally independent company that was free from ties to the government or corporations. However, the Education Department was still funding Careful Cobbers and the student driving courses. DECA operated on a non-profit basis and had a staff of 50 in Shepparton alone.

When times are tough

However, around 2008, things started going wrong. It would be mildly amusing, but not accurate, to say the wheels fell off. Most of it was completely outside DECA’s control. For example, what would your child choose out of the following: Five days at DECA in Shepparton or five days in Canberra or central Australia.

Pretty stiff competition, wouldn’t you say? And yet this is how schools presented a life-changing, perhaps lifesaving, opportunity. The Education Department then withdrew its funding for Careful Cobbers and the student driving course — saying they were underutilised.

In addition, the government tightened up on a program to assist the unemployed into work — and another which took the instructors into workplaces to assist the employees in gaining qualifications. Some people (not DECA) had been doing the wrong thing — but this also had an effect.

It has been suggested to me that the ‘fire in the belly’ for sales to new clients was missing at this stage. I have not had that verified.

However, when things aren’t going particularly well, it’s difficult for people to regain momentum — and there were certainly some staff issues.

I’m sure I don’t have the full story here, but whatever the causes, Wodonga TAFE took over the management of DECA in 2013. Warren Peters now manages the Shepparton site, with a staff of six, and I have been assured that they are focused on re-growing the business.

But what saddens me is that no-one is talking about the original goal: teaching our young people to be better and safer drivers and saving lives. Today, the focus is on industry. Eric Montgomery passed away in 2021, but I’m sure this would have saddened him also.

Perhaps Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll should be encouraged to listen to just some of the stories I’ve heard recently.

Next week

If all goes to plan, we’ll be back to our regular Town Talk next week, as I meet with Jenny Houlihan. There have also been responses to the issue of the republic, which I’ll include if space permits. (Jenny has been busy in our city for a long time.)

May it be easy, my friends.

Marnie

Email: towntalk@sheppnews.com.au

Letter: Town Talk. The News. P.O. Box 204. Shepparton 3631.

Phone: Send a text to 0418 962 507. (Note: text only. I will call you back if you wish.)