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Right: in Australia, a person can begin pilot training aged under 16 and can be issued a student pilot licence when he attains that age. Subsequently, provided he or she completes training satisfactorily, a full Private Pilot Licence is attainable at the age of 17. This situation is occasionally pointed out by those in favour of lowering the car driving age as an anomaly.

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Arguments in favour of lowering the driving age in Australia

1. 16- and 17-year-olds need to be able to drive for employment and to meet other transport needs.
It has been claimed that denying 16- and 17-year-olds the opportunity to obtain their licences is highly discriminatory as they have transport needs that are currently not being met. The situation is seen as particularly discriminatory in Victoria, as it is the only state that makes 18 the earliest age at which a young person can obtain a probationary licence. Critics of the current regulations note that in the Northern Territory young drivers aged 16 years and 6 months are able to obtain their probationary licences. They claim that young people across the country have transport needs which they should be able to meet for themselves.
Victorian MP James Purcell has claimed that this limitation is particularly unjust toward those young people living in country areas where there is poor public transport as it leaves them completely reliant on their parents to take them to and from work and to pursue their other community involvements.
Mr Purcell has argued that lowering the age in Victoria would allow 17-year-olds to be more independent. It would give them easier access to their schools, jobs and apprenticeships.
Mr Purcell has stated, 'Parents of students and apprentices in regional and rural Victoria are driving long distances, sometimes very early in the morning, to ferry their children who should be allowed to drive themselves.'
Mr Purcell has added, 'When you're limited with public transport it does become a big problem...' He said constituents in his western Victorian electorate, some on farms and in small towns, had lobbied him to bring about the change.
In the motion he moved in the Victorian upper house on December 9, 2015, Mr Purcell stated, 'In our patch of the woods we face a huge barrier to young people gaining meaningful employment. One of our biggest barriers is our public transport infrastructure, or more correctly the lack of it. Where I live rural towns and farming communities may have one or two return bus services to a regional centre - if they are lucky. Many outlying towns do not even have the privilege of a bus service. In addition to this, many members of our community in agriculture and trades-based jobs do not work 9 to 5. Their morning starts could be at 6.00 a.m. or earlier, but there is no metropolitan train coming every 10 minutes; there is only mum or dad to drive them to work, which could take an hour or more.'
The situation in Victoria is deemed particularly unjust as that state allows its young people to leave school at 17, yet denies them access to the independent transport which would assist them in holding down a job or getting additional work-related training.
In February 2015 high school student Khalid Issa launched a petition calling on Road Safety Minister, Luke Donnellan, and VicRoads to 'allow Victorians to obtain their P-plates at 17 years old.. Within three days it had attracted more than 18,000 signatures.
Khalid Issa stated, 'I'm definitely not alone in this. I have so many friends that just want to start a career a little bit early but they're kind of put on hold just because Victoria...has this rule.'
In a petition posted on change.org, Khalid Issa stated, 'I have personally met many young people that are looking for apprentice tradie work but are unable to due to not having a drivers' license and I myself am in this situation right now. I have employers contact me telling me that they cannot hire me because I don't have a driver's license.'
Khalid Issa added, 'The public transport in Victoria, is to say the least "unreliable", delayed and cancelled public transport is a common occurrence. This means many young people that only have public transport to depend on are being very disadvantaged; this, of course, can be relieved by lowering the driving age to 17 years old.'

2. 16- and 17-year-olds are not legally able to consume alcohol
It has been stated that lowering the driving age to 16- or 17-years-of-age across Australia would have the advantage of creating a buffer year or 18-month period during which young people would not be able legally to access alcohol yet would be able legally to drive. This should make it easier to separate the two activities. Currently the fact that the legal driving age is the same as the legal drinking age sends mixed messages to young people.
In a reader's emailed comment submitted to The Age on November 30, 2015, it was stated, 'Drive at 17.. yes ..it provides a sober year... to learn to be a better driver before being allowed to drink at 18.'
Victorian high school student Khalid Issa placed a petition on change.org in which he stated, 'Allowing 17 year olds to get their P Plates gives them the chance to have a full year of solo driving experience before they turn 18. This means that...that by the time they are 18 and are able to legally buy/drink alcohol they won't be on the roads totally inexperienced and they will know not to drink and drive.
Right now the laws are that at 18 you can get your P Plates and begin drinking alcohol at the same age. These two privileges don't go hand in hand, but if we allow people to get their P Plates at 17 they will have a full year of solo driving experience to know not to drink and drive.'
Australia has long recognised that what is necessary is to separate the age at which people begin driving from the age at which they begin to consume alcohol.
An Australian study conducted in 1987 stated, 'The major aim of any graduated licensing scheme is to separate these two steps [legal drinking age and minimum driving age] or reduce their combined effect.
This can be achieved by separating them in time or by imposing restrictions on drinking for young drivers.'
Australia has currently taken the second route, that is, across Australia, young people are legally able to drive at the same age as (or very near to) that at which they are legally able to drink, yet there are restrictions imposed on their licences to prevent them driving under the influence of any alcohol.
There are those who have suggested that it may be more effective to lower the legal driving age so that young drivers are not legally able to consume alcohol under any circumstances for a number of years after the age at which most have gained their drivers' licences. The 1987 report just quoted further noted, '[T]he Federal Office of Road Safety model suggests a starting age for young drivers of 16 years, to give a time separation from the legal drinking age. The model assumes greater parental control at the earlier age, which may curtail the possibility of illegal or private drinking and driving.'

3. 16- and 17-year-olds are under stronger parental supervision
It has been claimed that 16- and 17-yearold may well make better drivers than those a couple of years older because they are still under closer parental supervision. They are likely to still be living at home, attending school and to be more economically and psychologically reliant on their parents. It has been argued that this is likely to mean that that they are more disposed to have their driving behaviour moderated by their parents.
This point of view was put in an emailed reader comment published in The Age on November 30, 2015. The reader stated, 'At 18, most kids have left or are leaving school. They no longer are legally under the care or supervision of their parents.. .and they know it.
At 17, my children still take guidance from me. They can't legally drink, and they don't have the peer group pressures that overtake all of us in our first year out of school.
I'd much rather have my children's first year of driving be at an age where I still have an influence over their behaviour.
I watched my oldest go wild at the age of 18.... overtaken by the excitement of a first year out of school, and being able to go to a pub and party with friends.... how he survived on the road that year I'm not sure, but I'm certain he was a danger to himself and others.'
Similarly, a 1987 federal study stated, '[T]he Federal Office of Road Safety model suggests a starting age for young drivers of 16 years, to give a time separation from the legal drinking age. The model assumes greater parental control at the earlier age, which may curtail the possibility of illegal or private drinking and driving.'

4. 16- and 17-year-olds can be given graduated licences and the same amount of pre-licence driver experience
Those who argue that the driving age should be lower to 16 or 17 do not suggest that these young drivers should avoid an extended period of pre-driver education before they are able to be tested for their drivers' licence. They also want the same, if not stricter, conditions to apply to new drivers during their probationary period as part of a graduated licence scheme.
Mr James Purcell, a Victorian PM who is seeking to have the legal driving age in his state lowered to 17, has noted, 'Learner drivers (L plate) should still have to fulfil the safest number of prerequisite hours behind the wheel but they could also start earlier.'
Studies conducted in the United States have indicated that pre-driver education and a graduated licence scheme may be of greater significance in reducing the likelihood of accident and death than the age at which a driver is first able to acquire a licence.
Generally graduated licence schemes apply to 16- and 17-year-old drivers in the United States. Those who obtain their licence at 18 or older do not generally have to abide by a graduated licence scheme. A news report, published in October 2014 and drawing on the results of several studies of accident rates in different states of the United States concluded, 'Experience behind the wheel may matter more than age when it comes to the safety of young-adult drivers, according to two new studies by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. These results suggest that states could reduce road crashes, fatalities and injuries by extending graduated driver licensing (GDL) laws to novice drivers beyond age 17.'

5. 16- and 17-year-olds are not more reckless than other young drivers
It has been claimed that 16- and 17-year-old drivers are no more likely to recklessness or ill-judgement than other drivers under 25.
A 1994 study conducted by Monash University's Accident Research Centre concluded, 'Drivers who obtain a licence relatively early were no more reckless than those who are licensed when somewhat older.' The study did demonstrate that recklessness was a significant risk factor; however, though it was more likely to be a characteristic of young drivers, there was no evidence to suggest that one age cohort of young drivers was more likely to be reckless than another.
The same study also concluded that when respective levels of experience were taken into account, age did not seem to be the crucial determinant of accident involvement among young drivers. According to this study, what predominantly determined the likelihood of young drivers being in an accident was their lack of driving experience.
Supporters of 16- and 17-year-olds being able to receive a probationary licence argue that so long as these young drivers have the same enforced period of practice prior to seeking to obtain a licence and the same graduated licence requirements imposed on them after they have gained their licences they should be at no greater risk than other drivers under 25.