New South Wales and Victoria both ask for 120 supervised hours, including 20 at night, if you are under 25 in New South Wales or under 21 in Victoria. Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory ask for 100, including 10 at night. How many logbook hours you need depends on where you live and how old you are.
Those figures were read off Transport for NSW, VicRoads, the Queensland Government, the Department of Transport Western Australia, My Licence South Australia, the Department of State Growth Tasmania and ACT Government City Services, each checked on 28 August 2026. Western Australia asks for 50 hours including 5 at night. South Australia asks for 75 hours including 15 at night on the Vehicle On Road Test pathway. Tasmania asks for 80 hours including 15 at night for novice learners since 1 December 2020. The Northern Territory has no verified mandatory hours figure on its own pages.
Night hours sit inside the total, not on top of it. A New South Wales learner with 110 hours and no night driving still has 10 hours of driving left, not 30. The number of hours still to drive is whichever is larger: the hours still owed on the total, or the night hours still owed. Two jurisdictions require 120, two require 100, one requires 80, one requires 75, one requires 50, and one has no verified figure.
Night hours sit inside the total
In New South Wales the 20 night hours are part of the 120, from Transport for NSW, Using your Learner Driver Log Book, checked 28 August 2026. Victoria uses the same 120 including 20 at night, from VicRoads, Driving on your Ls, checked 28 August 2026. Night hours in both states are counted between sunset and sunrise. A 6 pm drive in June can count as night. The same clock time in December may not, because sunset has moved.
Queensland's 10 night hours sit inside its 100, Western Australia's 5 sit inside its 50, South Australia's 15 sit inside 75 on the Vehicle On Road Test pathway, and Tasmania's 15 sit inside 80 for novice learners since 1 December 2020, each from those agencies' pages checked 28 August 2026. The Australian Capital Territory puts 10 night hours inside 100, or 5 inside 50 if the learner licence was issued at 25 or over, from ACT Government City Services, checked 28 August 2026. The Northern Territory publishes no night hours figure.
The age at which the hours stop
New South Wales drops the logbook entirely at 25, from Transport for NSW, Using your Learner Driver Log Book, checked 28 August 2026. Queensland does the same at 25, though the Queensland Government learner logbook page, checked 28 August 2026, still recommends keeping one. Western Australia's 50 hours apply to learners under 25, from the Department of Transport Western Australia, checked 28 August 2026. Victoria is the one place where the requirement stops at 21 rather than 25, from VicRoads, Driving on your Ls, checked 28 August 2026.
The Australian Capital Territory halves the requirement rather than removing it. Learners who were 25 or over when the ACT learner licence was issued log 50 hours including 5 at night, not 100 including 10, from ACT Government City Services, checked 28 August 2026. That is different from every other jurisdiction that varies by age. No age exemption has been verified for South Australia, so none is stated here. Tasmania's 80 hour rule is described for novice learner licence holders since 1 December 2020, without a verified age cut-off in the pages checked.
When in the process the hours count
In New South Wales the hours run from the day the learner licence is issued to the day the driving test is sat, from Transport for NSW, checked 28 August 2026. Victoria records hours across the learner permit and they are declared before the drive test, in the myLearners app or an official learner logbook, from VicRoads, checked 28 August 2026. Driving before the learner licence exists does not start the New South Wales clock.
Queensland requires the logbook to be recorded and submitted for review before a learner can book the practical driving test, from the Queensland Government learner logbook page, checked 28 August 2026. Driving up to the last hour and booking the next morning is the wrong sequence. Western Australia reverses the usual order: hours are logged after passing the Computerised Theory Test and while holding the learner's permit, and they have to be in the book before the Practical Driving Assessment can be booked, from the Department of Transport Western Australia, checked 28 August 2026.
Tasmania spreads the hours across L1 and L2. The Department of State Growth Tasmania, checked 28 August 2026, describes 30 as recommended during L1 and 50 as required during L2. The assessment will not go ahead without a logbook showing the L2 hours and a completed declaration. Treat the 80 as the number that gets a learner through the whole system rather than a single gate. Learners who held an L2 licence before 1 December 2020 sit under the older 50 hour rule.
What the credits actually save
New South Wales offers two credits, and both leave the night requirement untouched. The Safer Drivers Course gives 20 hours, once, after the learner has 50 logbook hours of on road driving, not counting 3 for 1 bonus hours, and has done some of that driving at night, from Transport for NSW, Using your Learner Driver Log Book, checked 28 August 2026. The credit does nothing for the 20 night hours. Approved providers set their own prices, so there is no single published fee.
Structured lessons at 3 for 1 are the second credit. Each hour with a licensed New South Wales driving instructor is logged as 3 hours. Only 10 instructor hours qualify, so the bonus tops out at 20 hours, from Transport for NSW, checked 28 August 2026. Bonus hours from a night lesson still do not count towards the 20 night hours. Only the hour actually driven in the dark does. The New South Wales 120, the course and the 3 for 1 arithmetic are covered in depth at /guides/nsw-120-hour-logbook-and-safer-drivers-course.
The Australian Capital Territory credits lessons with an accredited instructor at 3 hours for each hour driven, capped at 10 hours, from ACT Government City Services, checked 28 August 2026. It has not been verified whether that cap counts lesson hours or credited hours, so the cap exists and the ambiguity has not been resolved. South Australia's competency based training and assessment replaces the Vehicle On Road Test with 30 assessed tasks signed off by an accredited instructor, and the hours requirement works differently on it, from My Licence South Australia, checked 28 August 2026. That is a different path, not a credit stacked on the 75 hours.
A Wollongong learner with 84 hours logged
A hypothetical learner in Wollongong, New South Wales, under 25, has 84 hours logged of which 6 are at night, and drives about 4 hours a week. The requirement is 120 hours including 20 at night, from Transport for NSW, Using your Learner Driver Log Book, checked 28 August 2026. She completes the Safer Drivers Course, which credits 20 hours, so 104 hours count. Hours still owed on the total: 16. Night hours still owed: 14.
Because night hours sit inside the total, the real number of hours left to drive is 16, and 14 of those 16 have to be after sunset. At 4 hours a week that is 4 weeks of driving. The trap: the Safer Drivers Course credit did nothing for her night hours, so almost every one of her remaining hours has to be driven in the dark. Work out a remaining hours date at /tools/logbook-planner from the same split of total hours against night hours.
If she had skipped the course, 120 minus 84 is 36 hours still owed on the total, and 14 night hours still owed, so the larger number is 36. The course saved her 20 hours of daylight driving and saved her nothing after sunset. Instructor 3 for 1 hours would have behaved the same way. A New South Wales learner drives 70 more supervised hours than a Western Australian learner before the same kind of test, because Western Australia asks 50 and New South Wales asks 120.
The same requirement in eight short paragraphs
New South Wales. Learners under 25 log 120 hours, including 20 at night, from licence issue to the driving test. At 25 or over there is no hours requirement. Night hours run sunset to sunrise. Source: Transport for NSW, Using your Learner Driver Log Book, checked 28 August 2026.
Victoria. Learners under 21 log 120 hours, including 20 at night, recorded across the learner permit and declared before the drive test in myLearners or an official logbook. At 21 or over there is no minimum and no logbook. Source: VicRoads, Driving on your Ls, checked 28 August 2026.
Queensland. Learners under 25 log 100 hours, including 10 at night. The logbook must be submitted for review before the practical driving test can be booked. At 25 or over the logbook is not required, though Queensland still recommends keeping one. Source: Queensland Government, Learner logbook, checked 28 August 2026.
Western Australia. Learners under 25 log 50 hours, including 5 at night, after the Computerised Theory Test and before the Practical Driving Assessment can be booked. The 50 is a floor, not a target. Statewide pass rate: 42.3 per cent across 244,557 assessments at 22 centres, freedom of information release 2026-0140, retrieved August 2026. Source: Department of Transport Western Australia, checked 28 August 2026.
South Australia. Learners on the Vehicle On Road Test pathway log 75 hours, including 15 at night, recorded as 4,500 minutes in The Driving Companion. Competency based training and assessment replaces that test with 30 assessed tasks, and the hours requirement works differently on it. No age exemption has been verified. Source: My Licence South Australia, checked 28 August 2026.
Tasmania. Novice learners since 1 December 2020 log 80 hours, including 15 at night, spread across L1 and L2, with 30 recommended during L1 and 50 required during L2. Assessment needs the L2 hours and a completed declaration. Learners who held L2 before 1 December 2020 sit under the older 50 hour rule. Source: Department of State Growth Tasmania, checked 28 August 2026.
Northern Territory. No mandatory hours figure and no night hours figure could be verified on the territory's own pages. The territory issues a supervised driving logbook and runs a minimum learner period. It publishes 100 hours of practice as the level at which crash risk drops by about a third, a safety finding, not a licensing requirement. Source: Northern Territory Government, Get your driver licence, checked 28 August 2026.
Australian Capital Territory. Learners whose learner licence was issued before 25 log 100 hours, including 10 at night. Issued at 25 or over, the figure is 50 hours including 5 at night. Hours go in the logbook issued with the learner licence and are completed before the provisional licence. Instructor credit is 3 for 1, capped at 10 hours. Source: ACT Government City Services, checked 28 August 2026.
How the hours go in the book
New South Wales uses the Learner Driver Log Book, from Transport for NSW, checked 28 August 2026. Victoria uses the myLearners app or an official learner logbook, from VicRoads, checked 28 August 2026. Queensland submits the logbook for review before the practical test can be booked, from the Queensland Government, checked 28 August 2026. Western Australia uses the department logbook or Learn and Log inside the ServiceWA app. A printed Western Australian logbook costs $10.70 and is optional, from the Department of Transport Western Australia, checked 28 August 2026.
South Australia counts minutes in The Driving Companion, from My Licence South Australia, checked 28 August 2026. Tasmania needs the L2 hours and a completed declaration before assessment, from the Department of State Growth Tasmania, checked 28 August 2026. The Australian Capital Territory issues the logbook with the learner licence, from ACT Government City Services, checked 28 August 2026. The Northern Territory issues a supervised driving logbook even though no mandatory hours figure has been verified, from the Northern Territory Government, checked 28 August 2026. State by state totals sit beside each other at /compare.
Common questions
- Question
- how many logbook hours do i need
- It depends on the state and your age. New South Wales and Victoria ask 120 including 20 at night. Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory ask 100 including 10 at night. Tasmania asks 80 including 15. South Australia asks 75 including 15 on the Vehicle On Road Test pathway. Western Australia asks 50 including 5. The Northern Territory has no verified mandatory figure. Those agency pages were checked 28 August 2026.
- Question
- do night hours count extra on top of the total
- No. Night hours sit inside the total. A New South Wales learner with 110 hours and no night driving still has 10 hours left, not 30, because the 20 night hours are part of the 120, from Transport for NSW, checked 28 August 2026. The hours still to drive are whichever is larger: the hours still owed on the total, or the night hours still owed.
- Question
- do i need logbook hours if i am over 25
- In New South Wales, no, from Transport for NSW, checked 28 August 2026. In Queensland the logbook is not required at 25 or over, though it is still recommended, from the Queensland Government, checked 28 August 2026. Victoria stops at 21, from VicRoads, checked 28 August 2026. The Australian Capital Territory halves the requirement to 50 hours including 5 at night, from ACT Government City Services, checked 28 August 2026. No age exemption has been verified for South Australia.
- Question
- does the safer drivers course count as night hours
- No. The New South Wales Safer Drivers Course credits 20 hours once, and it does nothing for the 20 night hours, from Transport for NSW, checked 28 August 2026. The 3 for 1 instructor bonus is the same: it tops out at 20 hours from 10 instructor hours and does not manufacture night time. Bonus hours from a night lesson still do not count towards the 20 night hours. Only the hour actually driven in the dark does.
- Question
- how many logbook hours do i need in wa
- Western Australia asks for 50 hours including 5 at night, for learners under 25, from the Department of Transport Western Australia, checked 28 August 2026. Hours are logged after the Computerised Theory Test and before the Practical Driving Assessment can be booked. The 50 is a floor, not a target. The statewide practical pass rate is 42.3 per cent across 244,557 assessments at 22 centres, from freedom of information release 2026-0140, retrieved August 2026.
- Question
- does the northern territory require 100 logbook hours
- No verified mandatory hours figure, and no night hours figure, could be read off the Northern Territory's own pages. The territory issues a supervised driving logbook and runs a minimum learner period, from the Northern Territory Government, Get your driver licence, checked 28 August 2026. It publishes 100 hours of practice as the level at which crash risk drops by about a third. That is a safety finding, not a licensing requirement.
- Question
- when can i start counting my logbook hours
- In New South Wales, from the day the learner licence is issued until the driving test is sat, from Transport for NSW, checked 28 August 2026. In Victoria, across the learner permit, declared before the drive test, from VicRoads, checked 28 August 2026. In Western Australia, only after passing the Computerised Theory Test, from the Department of Transport Western Australia, checked 28 August 2026. In Queensland the hours also have to be reviewed before you can book the practical test.
- Question
- how do i work out how many hours i have left
- Take the hours still owed on the total and the night hours still owed, then drive the larger number, with enough of those hours after sunset to close the night ledger. The Wollongong example had 16 hours left on the total and 14 night hours left, so 16 hours of driving, 14 of them after sunset. Credits change only the total. A remaining hours date can be tested at /tools/logbook-planner.
Sources
Every page below was opened and read on the date beside it. A page that could not be reached is not listed, and neither is the claim that would have rested on it.
- Transport for NSW, Using your Learner Driver Log BookChecked
- VicRoads, Driving on your LsChecked
- Queensland Government, Learner logbookChecked
- Department of Transport WA, Learn to drive and log your hoursChecked
- My Licence South Australia, The Driving Companion, How to use your Log BookChecked
- ACT Government City Services, Learner and provisional driver safetyChecked
- Department of State Growth Tasmania, If you hold an L1 licenceChecked
- Northern Territory Government, Get your driver licenceChecked
How this guide is kept honest
Every figure above names the agency or dataset it came from and the date it was checked. Where a number has not been confirmed against an agency or an open dataset, the guide says it is being verified rather than filling the gap. Licensing rules change, so check the agency page before you pay for anything or book a test.
Last reviewed .