In Western Australia, car learners under 25 must complete 50 supervised driving hours, including five at night, before their practical test. Learners aged 25 or older do not have to log hours for a first car licence. The headline’s claim that WA was resisting nationally standardised requirements refers to a position reported in March 2023—not a new 2026 announcement.
How many learner hours do you need in WA?
Transport WA’s current guidance requires car learners under 25 to record at least 50 hours of supervised driving before their test. At least five hours must be driven at night, between sunset and sunrise. The department describes 50 hours as a minimum and encourages practice across different road, weather and traffic conditions. Transport WA’s learner driver log book guidance sets out the requirement.
People aged 25 or older do not need to log hours when applying for a first car licence, according to the same guidance. This exemption is about recording the required logbook hours; it does not change other licensing requirements.
How to record supervised driving hours
Transport WA recognises two ways to record learner driving hours: its hard-copy logbook or Learn&Log, available within the ServiceWA app. Learn&Log can be used to record, submit and track hours. The former standalone app was decommissioned on 11 August 2025. Check the department’s current logbook instructions for the latest app and submission details.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches- Choose a recording method. Use a department-issued paper logbook or Learn&Log in ServiceWA.
- Record supervised drives as required. Keep the entries accurate and make sure the total includes five hours driven between sunset and sunrise.
- Submit or bring the record as instructed. Follow the current Transport WA process for your chosen format before your practical test.
Learner drivers must also display L plates at the front and rear of the vehicle. The requirement is set out in Transport WA’s learner guidance.
What did WA say about standardising learner hours nationally?
The claim that WA was not bending to calls for nationally standardised hours comes from a PerthNow report published on 20 March 2023. In that report, Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said: “Currently, there isn’t the keenness to go to that 100 hours.” PerthNow reported that the WA government considered its 50-hour minimum sufficient, while acknowledging that meeting it could be very difficult in some regional areas. This is a dated account of the government’s position at the time, not evidence of a fresh 2026 decision. PerthNow’s 20 March 2023 report.
The debate involved a practical trade-off. More supervised practice and driver education were advocated as ways to improve preparation and address road-safety concerns. At the same time, the report described how the hours could burden young people on low incomes who needed access to work or study, especially in regional and remote areas. These are arguments about policy and access, not proof that raising the minimum alone would reduce crashes.
The RAC’s case for more practice
PerthNow reported that RAC WA wanted more supervised practice and driver education. General manager of external relations Will Goldsby described the organisation’s view as “higher the better” and said, “We are way behind other States.” He linked the call for greater attention to driver education with concern about road trauma, while also acknowledging that paying instructors for extra hours could be a cost barrier. Those statements express the RAC’s position as reported in 2023; they do not establish the effect of a particular hours requirement on crash outcomes. PerthNow’s report.
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How WA’s rule compared with other jurisdictions in 2023
PerthNow’s 20 March 2023 article gave this snapshot of supervised-hour requirements: NSW and Victoria at 120 hours, Queensland and the ACT at 100, WA at 50, and the Northern Territory at zero. These are figures reported in that article in 2023, not a verified current comparison. The report did not establish a like-for-like account of night-hour rules, age exemptions, recording methods or test eligibility across all jurisdictions, so the figures should not be used as today’s national rules. PerthNow’s dated comparison.
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