Young driver laws

When you need legal advice

Get legal advice if you:

• have been charged with a driving or traffic offence
• need to apply for a certificate of exemption to a driving restriction, including late night driving or high-powered vehicle restrictions
• want to appeal a decision of the Department of Transport and Main Roads.

How to get legal advice

Statistically, young drivers under 25 on their provisional licence are twice as likely to be involved in fatal crashes than drivers aged 25–59.

Queensland’s young driver laws apply to drivers who:

• are under 25 at the time of the offence that leads to a driver disqualification, suspension or choosing a good behaviour driving period
• not on an open licence at the time of that offence 

Overview of young driver laws

If you’re under 25, you must:

• hold your learner licence for at least 12 months and get 100 hours of supervised driving experience, recorded in a logbook
• not use a mobile phone at all while driving—not even with hands free, bluetooth or on loudspeaker
• not have a supervisor or passenger using a mobile on loudspeaker while you are driving
• have a car provisional licence for 12 months before you can get a motorbike licence
• have no more than one passenger under 21 from 11pm to 5am
• not drive a high-powered vehicle.

Some of these restrictions stop applying once you are on a P2 provisional licence, or you can get exemptions, so they don’t apply to you. Conditions may apply to an exemption.

Using mobile phones

All drivers are banned from using hand-held mobile phones while:

• driving
• stationary (e.g. stopped at traffic lights) but not parked.

There are extra restrictions if you are:

• under 25 and on your learner or P1 licence
• any age, but on your P1 licence after being disqualified for an offence that happened when you were under 25.

In this case, it is illegal to use a mobile phone at all, even on:

• hands-free
• bluetooth
• loudspeaker.

Your passengers and supervisor are also banned from using mobile phones on loudspeaker. They can only use a phone where there is only a one-way conversation, so the driver is not distracted.

Peer passenger restrictions late at night

A peer passenger restriction means you are not allowed to drive with more than one passenger under 21 (except an immediate family member) between 11pm and 5am.

This applies to drivers who are:

• under 25 and on your P1 licence
• any age but on your P1 probationary licence (held in the 12 months after getting a new licence) following being disqualified for an offence that happened when you were under 25.

An immediate family member includes your:

• spouse (or partner)
• child, step-child, foster child or ward
• step-parent
• grandparent or their spouse (or partner)
• brother or sister (including a step-brother or step-sister).

If you are pulled over by police you may be asked to explain your family relationship to the other passengers in your car. It is enough for a police officer to believe on reasonable grounds that an immediate family relationship does not exist, and it is up to you to prove it does.

Late night driving restrictions

If you are a young driver and convicted of a traffic offence committed when you were on a P type licence and under 25, that results in you being disqualified from driving or choosing a good behaviour driving period, you will be subject to a late-night driving restriction when you reapply for your driver licence. This means you will not be allowed to drive between 11pm and 5am for one year.

The restriction starts when you return to driving after completing a disqualification or suspension period or on the start date of your good driving behaviour period.

Exemption

You can only apply to the Department of Transport and Main Roads for an exemption from the late-night driving restriction if:

• you need to drive in those hours to get to and from work or for your job
• it would cause you severe hardship if the exemption wasn’t granted.

Apply for late night driving exemption

High powered vehicle restrictions

A high-powered vehicle restriction means you are not allowed to drive what the law calls a ‘high powered vehicle’ on a road.

It is against the law for you to drive a high-powered vehicle if you are:

• under 25 and on your P1 or P2 licence
• any age but on your P1 licence after being disqualified for an offence that happened when you were under 25.

See the definition of a ‘high-powered vehicle’ and how to apply for an exemption on the Department of Transport and Main Roads website.

Appealing a Department of Transport and Main Roads decision

You can ask the Department of Transport and Main Roads to reconsider if they won’t:

• give you credit for supervised driving
• give you an exemption from keeping a logbook
• approve your logbook
• give you an exemption from the late-night driving restriction
• give you an exemption from the high-powered vehicle restrictions.

You have 28 days from finding out about the decision to ask for reconsideration and you must ask in writing. After that, if you’re still not happy you can appeal to a Magistrates Court.

How to get legal advice

We may give legal advice on laws about young drivers. 

Other places to get legal advice:

• Community legal centres
• Private lawyers

Last updated

25 June 2026

Last reviewed

22 June 2026