"It's a national disgrace," said leading researcher Rebecca Ivers who moderated a session on Indigenous injury rates around the world at Safety2016, an international conference in Finland.

"Why don't we have people running around hysterical about this tragedy?" asked Dr Ivers, the director of injury division with the George Institute for Global Health.

The rate of Indigenous road deaths in Australia ranges from 20 to 25 per 100,000, while fatalities in the rest of the community average about 5.4 per 100.000. Dr Ivers said the road toll for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders had dropped from around 50 per 100,000 a few years ago.

It is now hovering at the same level as some of the poorest countries in the world. In Sudan, the road fatality rate is 24.3 deaths per 100,000 and in Eritrea it is 23.3 per 100,000. In Libya, which has one of the worst road tolls, about 73 people in 100,000 die on the roads every year.

Programs such as Driving Change did more than than help Indigenous people get their drivers' licenses, Patricia Cullen, a research fellow with the George Institute said.

She recalled a young father who tried 10 times to get his learner's licence and failed. He became so discouraged that he decided to drive unlicensed.

"He was caught unlicensed driving three times, and the magistrate issued him an ultimatum, get licensed or go to prison. Because of the Driving Change program, he was able to get his learner's and then provisional licenses. He is now working and says the program has changed his life and his family's," said Ms Cullen.

Less than 50 per cent of the eligible Aboriginal population holds a driver licence compared with 70 per cent of non-Aboriginal people.

The new program was "very practical".

It provided drivers with mentors, located a car in the community, often paid outstanding fines for unlicensed driving (a major contributor to the high rate of Aboriginal incarceration) and helped drivers get documentation, such as birth certificates, required to get a license.

"It has a huge impact on individuals and communities," said Ms Cullen. "It is not only about reducing transport injuries: It is about people getting jobs, it is about getting kids to school, accessing health care, and being able to socialise."

Sarah Hopkins, Chair of Just Reinvest NSW and Managing Solicitor, Justice Projects at the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT said that Australia couldn't afford to keep doing what we are doing: "The social and economic costs are too high. A smarter approach is urgently needed – and that is what justice reinvestment provides."

Since 2013, Just Reinvest NSW has been working in partnership with the Bourke community to develop a justice reinvestment framework. The Maranguka Justice Reinvestment Project is the first of its kinds in Australia.

"What is different about what is happening in Bourke is that decisions about what needs to happen aren't being made in Sydney or in regional offices. They are being made on the ground in Bourke. Community leaders have made decisions about what needs to happen, informed by data and research, and most importantly, broad community input," Ms Hopkins says.

Julie Power attended Safety 2016 with support from the ICFJ-WHO Safety 2016 Reporting Fellowship Program and Bloomberg Philanthropies.