Getting Your Licence in WA

The Graduated Driver Training and Licensing System in Western Australia is designed to provide a progressive learning experience that’s safe for you and other road users. New drivers have to complete a number of assessments and accumulate plenty of driving experience under different conditions before being allowed to progress to a provisional licence.

In this article, we’ll go through:

• The Licensing Journey in WA
• Learner’s Permit – Info & Restrictions
• Probationary Licence – Info & Restrictions

The licensing journey in Western Australia

1. You must pass a computerised multiple-choice theory test to get your learner’s permit. The test is about safe driving practices and road rules. To sit the test, you must be at least 16 years old.
2. Once you have your learner’s permit, you should try to get as much supervised driving experience as you can to prepare you for driving as a solo driver.
3. When you have held your learner’s permit for at least 6 months, you may take the Hazard Perception Test (HPT). The test will test your ability to detect and respond to hazardous situations.
4. To sit the Practical Driving Assessment (PDA), you must have passed the HPT and be at least 17 years old. For drivers under 25, you must also have completed a mandatory 50 logged hours of supervised driving (including 5 at night).
5. Sit and pass the PDA.
6. Receive your provisional licence!

Having A Learner’s Permit in Wa

You will receive a learner’s permit after passing the learner’s permit knowledge exam. It’s a bit tricky to pass the exam, which is why about 40% fail, so be sure to check out our practice tests and knowledge exam prep course. We’ve summarised the entire Driver’s Handbook into bite-sized chapters, so you can be certain the course contains everything you need.

Keep in mind that a learner’s permit comes with a bunch of restrictions. These are:

• Your Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) must be zero.
• You must not drive over 100 km/h
• Your demerit points limit is 4 (i.e. if you incur 4 or more demerit points, your learner’s permit will be disqualified for at least 3 months)
• Places where signs prohibit learners (e.g. Kings Park)
• You must have clearly visible ‘L’ plates on the front and rear of the vehicle

After you have held your learner’s permit for at least 6 months, you can progress to a provisional licence by passing the Hazard Perception Test and Practical Driving Assessment.

Having a Provisional Licence in WA

The provisional licence will be issued after you have passed the Practical Driving Assessment. You will have to use both red P plates and green P plates during the provisional period.

• Display red P plates during the first 6 months
• Display green P plates during the remaining 18 months

Given a good driving record, such as no suspensions or excessive demerit points, you will be automatically issued a full licence after 2 years.

Provisional Licence Restrictions

Restrictions for provisional licence holders:

• Your Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) must be zero.
• Demerit point restrictions apply until you have held a learner’s permit and/or provisional licence for periods adding up to 2 years. In most cases, this means the first 12 months of your provisional licence period.
• You must have clearly visible ‘P’ plates on the front and rear of the vehicle (red ‘P’ plates for the first 6 months, green ‘P’ plates for the remaining 18 months)
• Late night driving restrictions apply while on your red ‘P’ plates. This means you are not allowed to drive between midnight – 5 am (exemptions include driving for work, training or educational purposes).