Right: Victorian Senator James Purcell has suggested in Parliament that the state's minimum age for holding a driver's licence be lowered to sixteen. Mr Purcell, a regional MP, claims that the ability to legally drive a car is necessary for the youth of rural districts to gain and keep employment.
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Background information
(Most of the information below was drawn from two sources.
The first source is the Wikipedia entry titled 'Driving licence in Australia'. The full text of this entry can be accessed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_licence_in_Australia
The second is Law Stuff-Know your rights-cars and driving-licences. The full text can be accessed at http://www.lawstuff.org.au/qld_law/topics/cars-and-driving/licences)
Driving licence in Australia
A driver's licence (or driver licence) is required in Australia before a person is permitted to drive a motor vehicle of any description on a road in Australia. The responsibility for the regulation and enforcement of road use, including light vehicle driver licensing is the responsibility of the state and territory governments.
Learners' permit
All Australian states and territories require the learner driver to acquire a learners' permit. This permit will only be given after a learners' test has been passed. Once the learner has a permit he or she may receive supervised instruction and driving practised with another fully licensed driver. This may include formal lessons from a driving instructor.
Most states and territories set a stipulated period during which the learners' permit must have been held, before the learner can be tested for a drivers' licence.
During this period most states and territories require the learner to keep a log of his/her driving practice so that he/she can demonstrate having driven in a range of conditions.
Driving age
The minimum driving age varies between States and Territories. It is 18 years in Victoria, 16 years and 6 months in the Northern Territory, and 17 years in the other states and the ACT. Interestingly, a number of states and territories, including South Australia, have recently considered raising their legal driving ages to 18 in line with Victoria. Learner drivers may drive, under qualified supervision, from 15 years and 9 months in the ACT and 16 years in the other states and the Northern Territory.
Graduated licence or provisional licence schemes
All Australian states and territories have a graduated licence or provisional licence scheme. This means that the new driver has restrictions imposed on the conditions under which he or she is able to drive. These restrictions vary from state to state. Those which apply in Queensland are listed below.
Special rules applying to P-platers (that is, those on a provisional licence)
If you are driving a car on a P1 licence:
You must display the red and white "P" plates on your vehicle. These requirements are the same as displaying "L" plates;
You must have ZERO alcohol or illegal or prescription drugs in your system while driving;
You must not use any functions of a mobile phone (including hands free devices or speaker phone) while driving. Passengers cannot use a phone in loudspeaker mode while you are driving;
You must not drive prohibited high performance vehicles;
If you are under 25, you may only carry 1 passenger under the age of 21 (who is not a family member) between 11pm and 5am.
If you are driving a car on a P2 licence:
You must display the green and white "P" plates on your vehicle. These requirements are the same as displaying the "L" and "P1" plates;
You must have ZERO alcohol or illegal or prescription drugs in your system while driving;
You must not drive prohibited high performance vehicles.