General frequently asked questions (FAQs)

An average of 48 young drivers and passengers die or are seriously injured on our roads every year. This is 48 too many.

The Tasmanian Government is committed to improving the safety of young drivers.

That’s why we have strengthened Tasmania’s Graduated Licensing System. Young people will now get more on-road driving experience and skills. This will keep new drivers and their passengers safer when they first get their Ps and start driving solo.

Tasmania now meets the “enhanced” model, which closely align us with Victoria and New South Wales who are at the forefront of safe practices for young drivers.

These GLS changes are primarily focused on drivers, but there are a couple of changes for motorcycle riders to provide consistency with new driver requirements and reduce the visits required to Service Tasmania and licence costs.

The Plates Plus platform can only be used to get a car learner licence.

New motorcycle P2 licence holders will also be required to display a green P2 plate and riders now have a single licence card for both their learner and provisional periods. Motorcycle riders are now also able to receive the Safer Driver Reward.

Consideration will be given to further changes from the review of the motorcycle Graduated Licensing System under the Towards Zero Strategy Action Plan (2020-2024).

See how the changes will affect you based on the stage you were at when the changes were introduced on 1 December 2020.

The Tasmanian Government removed the requirement for the L2 assessment in response to COVID 19. To further streamline the learner stage, the existing L1 and L2 periods have been replaced with a single learner period.

This saves Tasmanians time and money as they will no longer need to purchase two licences over the learner period, and it will reduce the visits to Service Tasmania.

There is no change to the minimum time you have to hold a learner licence, and for existing L1 and L2 licence holders there is no change to their earliest P1 testing dates.

International research and Australian evaluations show the more supervised driving experience a person gets, the safer they will be when they start driving on their own.

Gaining 80 to 120 hours of driving practice significantly reduces a learner’s risk of a crash when they start driving solo.

Driving is a complex skill and the more practice a learner gains, the safer they will be when they start driving solo. There is no substitute for on-road practice.

It was already recommended that L1 learners do at least 30 hours of supervised driving to make them road ready and capable of progressing through the next stages of the Graduated Licensing System.

Now there is one learner licence stage, combining the previously 30 hours recommended in L1 and mandatory 50 hours in L2 to create 80 mandatory hours for the single learner stage.

Rotary Clubs of Tasmania’s RYDA program is a one-day road safety course offered in schools through Tasmania.

RYDA is designed for Year 10 students. A licence provides independence, social mobility and a lot of responsibility. The program ensures students are aware of their responsibilities as a road user and teaches safe driving practices.

RYDA is offered at seven different locations throughout Tasmania, including Smithton, Queenstown and King Island.

Only students attending a participating school can participate in RYDA. You can contact your school to find out if they participate in RYDA.

The Tasmanian Government has provided additional funding for the RYDA program of $300 000 over four years.

The Government funds the Learner Driver Mentor Program (LDMP). LDMPs assist disadvantaged learner drivers who don’t have access to a supervisory driver or vehicle and who are not able to afford professional driving lessons to gain their supervised driving hours.

To find out more go to: https://drivermentoringtasmania.org.au/.

If you are an L1 licence holder or new learner your participation in the Rotary Youth Driver Awareness (RYDA) program will give you five hours supervised driving credit towards your compulsory hours. Participation will be counted from 2020 onwards.

Evidence shows that young drivers have an increased crash risk at night as it requires more skills, concentration and ability to identify risks. The safest time to develop these skills is during the learner period.

A minimum of 15 night-time hours will help improve young drivers’ skills and reduce their crash risk when they start driving on their own.

When a young driver gets their P1 licence the community expects them to be ready for different driving conditions. This change will ensure our young drivers have varied experience and are road ready when they get their Ps.

Young drivers are at the highest risk of a crash when they first start driving on their own (P1 stage).

P1 drivers have limited experience and still need to devote most of their attention to the task of driving. Removing distractions like peer passengers is one proven way we can help protect new drivers.

Targeting young people in this highest-risk group enables a balance between safety and social mobility. The restriction only applies to P1 drivers under the age of 25 and passengers who are aged 16-21 (inclusive). See the Peer Passenger Restrictions Factsheet for more information.

The restriction will only apply for 12 months while a driver is on their P1 licence. This is a small amount of time out of a lifetime of driving.

There are exemptions for peer passenger restrictions for young drivers on P1 licences under the age of 25.

Exemptions will apply for the following reasons:

• employment
• essential activities (e.g. education or medical purposes)
• family circumstances.

See the Peer Passenger Restrictions Factsheet for more information and example scenarios.

You do not need to complete an application to get an exemption, but you must be able to satisfy the police that you meet the relevant exemption criteria each time you drive – as a P1 driver, this is your responsibility. We have developed a Peer Passenger Exemption Form to help you to demonstrate you meet the exemption criteria.