Photo: Philip Mallis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
If you are under 21 when you go for your licence test in Victoria, you must prove at least 120 hours of supervised driving, including 20 hours at night. You record them in the myLearners app or the paper Learner Log Book, and an incomplete or incorrect record stops you sitting the drive test. This guide covers both options, the rules that get entries rejected, and how to use the four stages of the Learner Kit to make the hours count.
Key facts
- 120 hours minimum, including at least 20 hours at night, if you are under 21 at your licence test.
- 21 or over: no log book required, but the Learner Kit is still recommended.
- Record hours in the myLearners app or the official Learner Log Book.
- Every supervising driver must hold a full (not probationary) licence.
- A rejected log book means lost fees and a wait of at least six weeks before the drive test.
myLearners app or paper Learner Log Book?
| myLearners app | Learner Log Book (paper) | |
|---|---|---|
| How you get it | Handout with download instructions when you get your permit | Part of the Learner Kit, inside the Guide for Learners |
| Recording a drive | Logged in the app | Each trip written in blue or black pen and signed by the supervisor |
| Missed a drive? | Your supervisor can add it from their myVicRoads account, up to 10 hours per learner | Write it up with full details and signature |
| At the test | You and your supervisor complete the declaration in the app | Bring the book with the Declaration of Completion and List of Supervising Drivers signed |
Switching from the paper log book to myLearners
- The first time you use the app it asks how many hours (and night hours) you have already done. You cannot edit that figure later, so add it up carefully.
- If the app did not ask, take your paper log book to a VicRoads Customer Service Centre. Staff can add the hours or update your account.
- Keep your paper log book. It must be verified before your drive test, and if any hours are only on paper, bring it to the test.
Why log book entries get rejected
VicRoads may refuse an entry, and those hours do not count, if:
- any detail of the entry is missing
- the supervising driver did not sign it, or did not hold a full car licence at the time
- it is not in blue or black pen
- ditto marks or white-out were used (cross out mistakes with a line and use the next line)
- pages are damaged, illegible or missing
- the supervisor’s signature does not exactly match their signature in the List of Supervising Drivers or the Declaration
- VicRoads is not satisfied the entry is valid.
The book must be the official VicRoads one (no photocopies). Falsely completing it is an offence under the Road Safety Act 1986, with a significant fine or up to two months’ jail.
How to fill in each trip
- Date, start and finish time.
- Driving time for the trip, added to a running total. Only count time actually driving or practising parking, not time at the shops.
- Night time driving goes in both the All Driving and Night Driving columns. Night means dark enough that headlights are needed to drive safely.
- Odometer readings at the start and end (not the trip meter).
- Tick the conditions: light (day, dawn or dusk, night), traffic, weather and road type (local street, main road, inner city, freeway, rural highway, rural, gravel).
- Car registration, supervisor’s licence number and signature.
Get each new supervisor to fill in the List of Supervising Drivers at their first session, in case they are hard to contact later. Copy completed pages as you go: a lost book must be replaced and every trip re-entered and re-signed, and photocopies cannot be used as proof.
The four stages of the Learner Kit
| Stage | Focus | Ready to move on when you can |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Controlling the car | Start, stop and steer in a quiet place away from traffic (empty car parks, quiet estates) | Move off and stop smoothly, corner at low speed, do a hill start with the handbrake, reverse straight and around a curve |
| 2. Quiet low speed roads | Using your car control while watching for other road users | Turn right at quiet intersections, use mirrors and head checks, keep a safe gap, do a three point turn and parallel park |
| 3. Complex driving situations | Main roads, busy traffic, lower quality roads | Handle traffic and hazards, keep to your lane and change lanes safely |
| 4. Rehearsing solo driving | Driving as if solo, making the decisions yourself | Tick every item on the Stage 4 checklist without relying on your supervisor |
Practise each stage in dry daytime conditions, in the rain and at night. Stage 4 is often the longest and may take you past 120 hours.
Making the 120 hours count
- Little and often. Frequent short drives of 10 to 60 minutes beat a few long ones, especially early on.
- Variety. Night, wet weather, peak and off-peak traffic, different speed zones, sealed and gravel roads.
- Be the family driver. In Stage 4, drive to the shops, school and family activities.
- Use an instructor. Professional lessons help with specific skills. Instructor hours go in the log book like any other supervised drive.
- Do not hurry. Many learners hold their permit for two years, which makes 120 hours just over an hour a week.
New solo drivers with about 120 hours of learner experience have a crash risk 30 per cent lower than those with about 50 hours.
Your supervising driver
Your supervisor must hold a full car licence, sit in the front passenger seat and have a BAC under 0.05 (zero for driving instructors). They are an extra pair of eyes and a coach, not a replacement for lessons. The Guide for Supervising Drivers and the online Lessons from the Road videos help them in the role. Full rules: Victorian learner permit rules.
Common questions
Do instructor lessons count towards the 120 hours in Victoria?
Yes. Driving instructors sign entries and the List of Supervising Drivers with their instructor number.
What counts as night driving?
Driving in dark conditions when headlights are needed to drive safely.
Can I get an exemption from the 120 hours?
Only in limited cases: you must prove undue hardship or enough prior driving experience. Apply online or at a Customer Service Centre. It can take up to 15 working days.
I lost my log book. What now?
Buy a replacement from VicRoads (13 11 71), a Customer Service Centre, RACV branches or some newsagents, then re-enter every trip with the supervisor’s signature.
Can a P plater supervise me?
No. Supervisors must hold a full, non-probationary car licence.
I am 22. Do I need to log hours?
No. You do not have to present a log book if you are 21 or over at your licence test.
Back to the full guide: learning to drive in Victoria. Next step: the Hazard Perception Test.
Sources
- VicRoads, “Driving on your Ls” and “myLearners” (vicroads.vic.gov.au)
- Transport Victoria, “Driver handbooks and logbooks” (transport.vic.gov.au)
- Department of Transport and Planning, “Learner Log Book”, “Guide for Learners” and “Guide for Supervising Drivers” (edge.sitecorecloud.io)
- Department of Transport and Planning, “Road to Solo Driving” handbook (edge.sitecorecloud.io, transport.vic.gov.au)
- Transport Victoria, “Learner and probationary driver road rules” (transport.vic.gov.au)