By state

How many logbook hours do you need in each Australian state?

Of the 7 jurisdictions with a verified figure, the supervised driving requirement runs from 50 hours in Western Australia, 5 of them at night, to 120 hours in New South Wales and Victoria, 20 of them at night. Northern Territory publishes no mandatory figure that could be verified against its own pages, so this page states none. Night hours sit inside the total rather than on top of it, which changes what is actually left to drive. Every row names the agency page it was read from, most of them on 28 August 2026.

Reviewed on 2026-08-27

7 of 8 jurisdictions publish an hours figure that has been verified

The table

Supervised hours, side by side

The total, the night hours inside it, who the figure applies to, the age at which it changes or stops, and the page it was read from.

Supervised driving hours required before the practical driving test in all 8 Australian states and territories. A cell reading "Not published here" is a figure no agency page has been read for.
State or territory	Supervised hours	Of those, at night	Who it applies to	Age rule	Source
New South Wales	120 hours	20 hours	Learners under 25	25 and over: no log book required	Transport for NSW, Using your Learner Driver Log Book, read 28 August 2026
Victoria	120 hours	20 hours	Learners under 21	21 and over: no log book required	VicRoads, Driving on your Ls, read 28 August 2026
Queensland	100 hours	10 hours	Learners under 25	25 and over: no log book required	Queensland Government, Learner logbook, read 28 August 2026
Western Australia	50 hours	5 hours	Learners under 25	25 and over: no log book required	Department of Transport WA, Learn to drive and log your hours, read 28 August 2026
South Australia	75 hours	15 hours	Learners taking the Vehicle On Road Test pathway	No age exemption verified here	My Licence South Australia, The Driving Companion log book, read 28 August 2026
Tasmania	80 hours	15 hours	Novice learner licence holders since 1 December 2020	No age exemption verified here	Transport Services Tasmania, If you hold an L1 licence, read 3 September 2026
Northern Territory	Not published here	Not published here	Not published here	Not published here	Northern Territory Government, Get your driver licence, read 28 August 2026
Australian Capital Territory	100 hours	10 hours	Learners whose ACT learner licence was issued before they turned 25	25 and over: 50 hours including 5 at night	ACT Government City Services, Learner and provisional driver safety, read 28 August 2026

The night hours are part of the total, not an extra requirement on top of it. Somebody in New South Wales with 110 hours logged and none of them at night has 20 hours of driving left rather than 10, because the night hours they still owe count towards the 120 as well.

Each jurisdiction, and where its figure came from

When the hours count is as important as how many there are, and it differs more than the totals do. Everything below is read off the page linked in the row above it.

New South Wales: 120 hours, 20 at night

The hours run from the day you get your learner licence to the day you sit the driving test. Night hours are counted between sunset and sunrise.

Credits that count towards the total: Safer Drivers Course, 20 hours. Available once you have 50 log book hours of on road driving, not counting 3 for 1 bonus hours, and have done some of that driving at night. The credit is given once. Structured lessons at 3 for 1, 20 hours. Each hour with a licensed NSW driving instructor logs as 3 hours. Only 10 instructor hours qualify, so the bonus tops out at 20 hours.

Bonus hours from a night lesson still do not count towards the 20 night hours. Only the hour you actually drove in the dark does.

At 25 or over you do not have to log hours at all in New South Wales.

Source: Transport for NSW, Using your Learner Driver Log Book. Checked 28 August 2026. Set by Transport for NSW and Service NSW.

Victoria: 120 hours, 20 at night

The hours are recorded across the learner permit and declared before the drive test. Night hours are counted between sunset and sunrise.

Victoria is the one place where the log book stops at 21, not 25. Over 21 there is no minimum supervised driving requirement and no log book to fill in.

Hours go in the myLearners app or an official learner log book, and you declare the 120 including the 20 at night before you can sit the drive test.

Source: VicRoads, Driving on your Ls. Checked 28 August 2026. Set by VicRoads.

Queensland: 100 hours, 10 at night

The hours must be recorded and the log book submitted for review before you are allowed to book the practical driving test.

Queensland reviews and approves the log book before it will let you sit the test, so leave time for that step rather than driving up to the last hour.

At 25 or over the log book is not required, though Queensland still recommends keeping one.

Source: Queensland Government, Learner logbook. Checked 28 August 2026. Set by Department of Transport and Main Roads.

Western Australia: 50 hours, 5 at night

The hours are logged after you pass the Computerised Theory Test and hold the learner's permit, and they have to be in the book before you can book the Practical Driving Assessment.

Western Australia asks for the fewest hours in the country and then runs the hardest practical assessment in the country. The 50 is a floor, not a target.

Hours go in the log book issued by the department, or in Learn and Log inside the ServiceWA app.

Source: Department of Transport WA, Learn to drive and log your hours. Checked 28 August 2026. Set by Department of Transport.

South Australia: 75 hours, 15 at night

The hours are recorded in The Driving Companion, which South Australia counts in minutes: 75 hours is 4,500 minutes.

South Australia has a second pathway. 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. Check which pathway you are on before you plan.

We have not verified an age exemption for South Australia, so this planner applies the same figures whatever your age. Confirm your own case with the agency.

Source: My Licence South Australia, The Driving Companion log book. Checked 28 August 2026. Set by Service SA.

Tasmania: 80 hours, 15 at night

The hours are spread across the L1 and L2 stages. Tasmania describes 30 of them as recommended during L1 and 50 as required during L2, and the assessment will not go ahead without a log book showing the L2 hours and a completed declaration.

The Tasmanian split between recommended and required hours is unusual, so treat the 80 as the number that gets you 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. Check which set applies to you.

Source: Transport Services Tasmania, If you hold an L1 licence. Checked 3 September 2026. Set by Service Tasmania.

Northern Territory: Not published here

The Northern Territory issues a supervised driving log book and runs a minimum learner period, but we could not verify a mandatory hours figure or a night hours figure on the territory's own pages.

The Northern Territory Government 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, and we will not present it as one.

Plan against the agency's own guidance until we can verify a figure.

Source: Northern Territory Government, Get your driver licence. Checked 28 August 2026. Set by Northern Territory Government.

Australian Capital Territory: 100 hours, 10 at night

The hours are recorded in the log book issued with the learner licence and completed before the provisional licence.

The Australian Capital Territory halves the requirement to 50 hours including 5 at night if you were 25 or over when the learner licence was issued. Switch the age control below to see that figure.

The ACT credits lessons with an accredited instructor at 3 hours for each hour driven, capped at 10 hours. We have not verified whether the cap counts lesson hours or credited hours, so the planner leaves it out. Confirm it with Access Canberra before you rely on it.

There is also a competency based pathway, often called the log book method, assessed against 23 competencies over a minimum of 7 lessons.

Source: ACT Government City Services, Learner and provisional driver safety. Checked 28 August 2026. Set by ACT Government.

Questions this table answers

How many supervised driving hours do you need in each Australian state?

New South Wales 120 hours including 20 at night, Victoria 120 hours including 20 at night, Queensland 100 hours including 10 at night, Western Australia 50 hours including 5 at night, South Australia 75 hours including 15 at night, Tasmania 80 hours including 15 at night, Australian Capital Territory 100 hours including 10 at night. Northern Territory publishes no mandatory hours figure that could be verified against its own pages, so none is stated here.

Which state asks for the fewest supervised hours?

Western Australia, at 50 hours including 5 at night. It is also the jurisdiction with the lowest practical assessment pass rate held on this site, so the 50 is a floor rather than a target.

Which states ask for the most supervised hours?

New South Wales and Victoria, at 120 hours including 20 at night. New South Wales credits 20 of the 120 for completing the Safer Drivers Course, and logs an hour with a licensed instructor as 3 hours up to a further 20, so the driving actually required there can be lower than the headline figure.

Do night hours count on top of the total?

No. The night hours sit inside the total. A New South Wales learner with 110 hours logged and none of them at night still owes 20 hours of driving, not 10 and not 30, because the night hours they still owe also count towards the 120.

At what age does the log book stop being required?

New South Wales stops requiring a log book at 25. Victoria stops requiring a log book at 21. Queensland stops requiring a log book at 25. Western Australia stops requiring a log book at 25. South Australia has no age exemption that has been verified here. Tasmania has no age exemption that has been verified here. Northern Territory publishes no hours figure here to be exempt from. Australian Capital Territory halves the requirement at 25 to 50 hours including 5 at night. Each of those was read off the agency page named in the source line for that jurisdiction.

The pages these hours come from

Each jurisdiction page carries its own hours figure in context, next to the test it has to be finished before.

Log book figures read on 28 August 2026, apart from the rows whose source line names a later date.