Photo: Chris Olszewski, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
If you are under 25 and learning to drive a car in Queensland, you must log 100 hours of supervised driving, including at least 10 hours at night, and have the logbook approved by TMR before you can sit the Q-Safe practical driving test. This guide covers what counts, the 3-for-1 bonus for professional lessons, paper versus app, approval times and exemptions.
Key facts
- Who: class C learners under 25 (without a motorcycle P or open licence).
- Hours: 100 supervised hours in a car on Australian roads, at least 10 at night (sunset to sunrise).
- When: only hours driven while you hold your Queensland learner licence count, unless you get credit for interstate or overseas hours.
- Bonus: each hour with a driver trainer counts as 3 hours, up to 10 trainer hours (30 logbook hours).
- Approval: TMR asks you to submit at least 12 business days before your test. You cannot book or sit the test until it is approved.
How the 3-for-1 driving instructor bonus works
The Driver Licensing Regulation multiplies each hour, or part hour, of supervised driving with a driver trainer by 3, up to a cap of 10 hours.
| Hours with a driver trainer | Counted in your logbook |
|---|---|
| 5 | 15 |
| 7.5 | 22.5 |
| 10 | 30 |
| 11 | 31 (10 × 3, plus 1) |
So the fewest real hours you can do is 80: 10 with an instructor (counting as 30) plus 70 with other supervisors. You still need 10 night hours.
A night trip with a driver trainer counts either as triple time or as night hours, not both. For example, a lesson from 7pm to 8pm can be logged as 3 hours of daytime driving or as 1 hour of night driving.
Paper logbook or app?
- Paper: TMR gives you a free paper logbook when you get your learner licence.
- Queensland Learner Logbook app: TMR’s own app lets you record and submit your logbook electronically.
- Third-party apps: TMR lists approved third-party apps on its learner logbook page. At the last check it named YLOODrive as the only approved one available for download; confirm the list before you rely on any other app.
Whichever you use, your supervisor must check each entry and verify it: by signing a paper entry, or by an electronic method that identifies them. A supervisor can only verify drives they actually supervised.
What to record for each drive
Fill in every session straight after the drive, with the details your paper logbook or app asks for, and get your supervisor to verify it before you forget. Drives between sunset and sunrise count towards your night hours.
Aim for variety. The Q-Safe examiner will test you on lane changes, giving way, speed control, scanning, following distance and two manoeuvres, so log drives on suburban streets, multi-lane roads, highways, roundabouts and in wet weather. See what the Q-Safe examiner checks.
Submitting your logbook
- Complete and sign the declaration in the logbook.
- For a paper logbook, keep every page in hard copy and attached together.
- Submit through the app or, for a paper logbook, at an Australia Post office (as TMR’s logbook page describes).
- Submit at least 12 business days before your planned test date, and wait for the approval notice.
Under the regulation, if TMR has not decided within 28 days of receiving your application, the logbook is taken to be approved.
Switching between paper and the app
If you change from a paper logbook to the app, TMR gives two options: use the app’s Change hours feature to reduce your target by the hours already in the paper logbook, or enter the paper trips into the app by hand. Going from the app to paper, use Change hours to set the app target to the hours already logged there. Count each trip once only. If you end up with both a paper part and an app part, submit both, because TMR starts the review once it has received both.
False entries
Do not pad the hours. A supervisor who verifies an entry they know is false faces a maximum penalty of 60 penalty units. If TMR rejects a logbook as false or misleading, you must wait 6 weeks after meeting the logbook rules before you can take the practical test.
Credit for interstate or overseas driving
- Hours on an interstate or New Zealand learner licence: apply for credit of up to 100 hours, with evidence.
- Hours on a learner licence from a recognised country: up to 50 hours.
- Instructor hours from those licences also get the 3-for-1 multiplier, but the 10 hour cap covers all your instructor hours combined.
- Credit for driving outside Queensland is applied for, not self-entered. Send the application with your evidence and wait for TMR’s decision before counting those hours.
Moving to Queensland mid-way? See moving to Queensland.
Logbook exemptions
You can apply for an exemption if you genuinely do not have a car or a supervisor available, or you live somewhere with a very limited road network, such as an island with one road. TMR also looks at your traffic history. If you are exempted, you must hold your learner licence for at least 2 years, not 1, before your P1.
Common questions
Do I need a logbook if I am 25 or older?
No. The logbook only applies to learners under 25.
What counts as a night hour?
Any supervised driving between sunset and sunrise.
Can my older sibling supervise?
Yes, if they hold an open licence for a car and have held it for at least 1 year. See Queensland learner rules.
How long does logbook approval take?
TMR says it takes at least 12 business days to receive and process a logbook, so submit at least 12 business days before your test. Another TMR page says approval can take up to 12 working days, so treat 12 days as a minimum, not a promise, and leave extra time.
Do hours from before I got my Ls count?
No. Only hours on your learner licence count, plus any approved credit.
What if I lose my paper logbook?
Contact TMR on 13 23 80. To protect yourself, photograph each completed page as you go, or use the app.
Back to the main guide: learning to drive in Queensland. Compare other states: learner licence rules compared.
Sources
- Queensland Government, “Transport Operations (Road Use Management: Driver Licensing) Regulation 2021”, current as at 21 September 2026 (legislation.qld.gov.au)
- Department of Transport and Main Roads, “Bookings online: book a driving test” (service.transport.qld.gov.au)
- Queensland Government, “Learner logbook” (qld.gov.au)
- Department of Transport and Main Roads, “Your keys to driving in Queensland” (publications.qld.gov.au)
- Queensland Government, “Learner logbook app: information for supervisors” (qld.gov.au)