Getting your P's in Queensland

So you already have your Learners licence and now you want to proceed to getting your P’s, but not quite sure how to go about it?

Here it is the step by step process on how to do that:

Step 1

Meet the requirements

1) If you are under 25 years of age, you must:

b) Be 17 or older

c) Have passed the written road rules test

d) Have had your learners logbook approved with 100 hours of supervised driving (including 10 hours of night driving between sunset and sunrise)

• After completing 100 hours of supervised driving, you need to send your logbook to any post office in QLD and they will send it to QLD transport for you.
  You can locate a post office near you here.
• Allow 10 to 12 business days for your logbook to be approved by QLD Department of Transport and Main Roads if you send them your hard copy logbook.
• You can record your supervised driving on the free ‘Queensland Learner Logbook app’ which is available on Google Play and App Store.
  If you use the app, the approval process is faster.
• DTMR (Department of Transport and Main Roads) will contact you to let you know whether your logbook has passed. You can choose to be notified by Email or SMS.
• You can apply for a learner logbook exemption, if you meet some certain criteria. A fee of $42.90 applies to submit this application. Apply here

Note: For up to maximum of 10 hours with a professional driving instructor is counted triple times in your logbook, which means 10 hours of professional driving lessons equals 30 hours in your logbook.

e) Have held a Queensland or interstate learner licence for one year or more

f) Have a current learner licence (not suspended, cancelled, disqualified or expired

g) Complete the hazard perception test (Cost: $37.70):

• You must have held your learner licence for at least 6 months before you can take the hazard perception test. DTMR will send you an email to let you know when you can take the test.
• From 1 July 2021 you must pass the hazard perception test before you can take your practical driving test. 
• If you present for a practical driving test without passing your hazard perception test, your test will be cancelled and your test fee will not be refunded.

h) Make sure you have done lots of driving with a professional driving instructor and a supervisor

2) If you are 25 and over, you must:

a) Have passed the written road rules test

b) Have held a Queensland or interstate learner licence for one year or more

c) Have a current learner licence (not suspended, cancelled, disqualified or expired

d) Complete the hazard perception test (Cost: $37.70):

• You must have held your learner licence for at least 6 months before you can take the hazard perception test. DTMR will send you an email to let you know when you can take the test.
• From 1 July 2021 you must pass the hazard perception test before you can take your practical driving test. 
• If you present for a practical driving test without passing your hazard perception test, your test will be cancelled and your test fee will not be refunded.

e) Make sure you have done lots of driving with a professional driving instructor and a supervisor

Note: you are not required to complete a set number of supervised driving hours.

When you meet these requirements, you are ready to proceed to step 2.

Step 2

Pass the practical test

a) How is the test?

• The test goes for 30 minutes
• It is on the actual roads at different traffic situations with a variety of speed limits
• You can either take your own car or hire our car. If you take your own car, make sure your car is functioning well. If you hire our car, we need to have one hour lesson before the test as well.
• You must correctly display L plates on the car you are taking for the test

b) How to book the test?

• Practical test needs to be booked in advance. You can book it by:
  1) Booking online on your own by clicking here
  2) Paying the booking fee at a customer service centre and then booking your test by calling 13 23 80
  3) Booking by calling 13 23 80. You will then receive an email with the link for paying online.
  
  

c) Where to go for the test?

• The centres that you can go to for your practical driving test in Brisbane are as follows:
  Greenslopes (we recommend this centre), Toowong, Sherwood, Carseldine, Wynnum, Logan Central, Cleveland, Ipswich, Redcliffe, Caboolture & Strathpine.
  
  Note: You can find the contact details of these centres here. Please see which centres do the practical tests, as not all of them do.
  
  

d) What documents are needed for booking the test?

• Your current Australian driver licence.
• Your passport
• Your debit or credit card
• Your medicare card
  
  Note: If you are unable to provide any of these documents, check this link for a list of more acceptable documents that you can bring.
  
  

  On the day of your test, you also must:

  • Have the registration number of the vehicle you are using for the test
  • Have permission of the registered operator to use the vehicle for the test
  • Bring a currently registered and roadworthy standard test vehicle with correctly displayed L-plates
    
    

  Note: If you don’t meet these requirements, you will need to book and pay for a new test. If you hire a driving school car, you don’t need to worry about the driving test vehicle requirements.

e) What happens after the test?

• If you pass the test:
  
  1) You can choose to have your learners photo transferred to your new driver licence or get your new photo taken right there at the test centre
  
  2) You will be asked to pay for your licence:
  1 year licence:  $78.90
  2 year licence:  $110.00
  3 year licence:  $136.15
  4 year licence:  $157.55
  5 year licence:  $176.75
  
  3) You will be issued an interim driver licence which you can use to drive legally until you get your actual licence in the mail within 2 weeks.
  
  Note: If your test is on a Saturday and you pass the test, you will be given the test report indicating that you passed the test. You, then need to take that document to any QLD transport office and present it to them. Then, they will issue you with the interim licence which you can use to legally drive in Australia until you receice the actual driver licence in mail within maximum two weeks. Note that you cannot use the test report document to drive in Australia. That is NOT a driver licence.
  
  4) You must remove your L Plates
  
  

  5) If you are under 25, you will get a P1 Licence and you must display red P Plates correctly on your vehicle when you drive.

  6) If you are above 25, you will get a P2 Licence and you must display green P Plates correctly on your vehicle when you drive

• If you fail the test:
  
  1) Repeat step 2 again.
  
  2) If you fail the test for the first time, you can book the test for the next day, provided you can get an appointment in the centre you have in mind.
  
  3) If you fail the test for the second time, you can only take the test again after 7 days from the date of failure.
  
  4) If you fail the test for the third time, you can only take the test 28 days after the date of your last fail.

Note: In order to make sure everything runs smoothly and you can get your licence easily without any interruption to your work and social life, it’s best to take some driving lessons from a professional driving instructor, where they can correct your mistakes and make you ready for the test.

Failing even just once will only ruin your self-confidence and adds to your stress for the subsequent tries of the test.

Getting your driving licence is easy when you know how to operate a car, know the traffic rules and you pay attention to your surrounding while you drive.