Volunteers with drive: Allara Creative co-founder Ruth Oettle gives the team the thumbs up before learner Farishta (surname withheld on request) heads out on the road. Photo: Allara Creative.
A near-tragic motorbike crash outside Canberra Hospital in 2021 shifted Matt’s thinking.
Heading through a green light in his first year out of Marist College, the L-plate rider was T-boned by a car on the Yamba/Hindmarsh Drive intersection.
The other driver had run a red light; both vehicles were travelling 80 km/h.
“The accident was rough,” Matt (surname withheld) quips.
“Fortunately, a trauma nurse was on the scene and I was resuscitated.
“I was in a coma for a couple of weeks, then had post-traumatic amnesia, where you can’t lay down any memories.
“After that, I was mentally fine. I just had a broken leg.”
Instead of harbouring anger and holding a grudge, the 18-year-old from Turner made a life-changing choice to help others.
As we mark National Volunteer Week 2026 (18-24 May), Matt’s story and decision to join this growing brigade of community contributors provides a fitting lead-in to this year’s campaign.
Under the theme Your Year to Volunteer, 2026 recognises those already contributing and invites others to consider playing their part.
The motivation to volunteer remains universally personal.
For Matt, the crash provided focus.
“The experience opened my eyes,” he says.
“No matter what you do on the road … no matter how safe you think you are … travelling under the speed limit … going through a green light … others make it a dangerous place.
“It emphasised [to me] the need for safety on our roads, watching out for others, making sure everyone is doing the right thing and what you do doesn’t put others at risk.”
After taking six months off following the accident, changing and completing his new degree at the University of Canberra and entering the full-time workforce as a software designer, Matt lasered in on lending others a hand.
But where do you look?
“I had some spare time and had volunteered through school. But how do I find a volunteering opportunity now? So I went on to Volunteering ACT, saw an Allara Creative ad [via Allara Drives], and thought, ‘that’s an awesome opportunity’.
“Allara was looking for supervising drivers to help L platers, particularly migrants and Muslim refugees, because often no one in their family has a full licence or a car.
“I thought I could donate a couple of hours a week to do that. It was also a good opportunity to help them learn English.”
Allara Creative runs sessions for learners who don’t speak fluent English so they can better understand the basics of road rules. It also connects learners with supervisors and supplies a car if needed. Photo: Allara Creative.
Matt needed to be a fully licensed driver, apply for a Working With Vulnerable People (WWVP) card and catch up on some road rules to make sure he was up to speed with everything in the learners’ manual.
He says his volunteering role now helps young drivers “get on the road, be safer, build confidence in themselves, and help them understand what they should look out for to be safe”.
The similarities between the informal job description and his feelings after the crash aren’t lost on the now-23-year-old.
“I’m helping learner drivers get home safely every day.
“It’s flexible hours. I might do one one-hour session a week, sometimes four, and I work with the learners to best suit both our schedules.”
Six months in, he’s making a positive mark behind the volunteering wheel.
Allara Creative co-founder and CEO Jess Wright describes Matt as “an incredible and engaged volunteer who has made a real difference to our driving program and to those he supports”.
“He approaches each session with enthusiasm and patience,” she says.
“His involvement helps us continue providing free practice driving sessions to refugees and asylum seekers who often don’t have access to someone who can supervise their required hours.
“Volunteers like Mathew are essential to making this work possible. The program depends on community members giving their time, and we value their contribution and the role they play in supporting learner drivers to gain independence and road safety skills.”
The drivers have only glowing praise for their supervisor. One learner who had failed her initial driving test was teamed with Matt at the 11th hour for the first time. She passed her licence the next day and immediately sent a letter of thanks.
“It feels great to be able to give that opportunity to someone and allow them to realise all the work they’ve put in,” Matt says.
“To be able to find 100 hours of learner driving [in the ACT] when you don’t have a car, you don’t have a family member you can do it with … How do you manage that?”
As for those considering joining the volunteer ranks?
Matt says volunteering gives him cause to appreciate “most things” and encourages others to offer something of themselves to meet their own needs.
“It’s fantastic to be in a situation where I can pass on such important skills to others.
“Everyone’s in such a bubble. It’s not until you reach out and try something that you can understand more about the community you live in.
“This allows me to ensure the roads are a safer place for my family members, my friends, the learners and me.”
To start volunteering, visit Volunteering ACT or GoVolunteer.
