My wife does not currently drive but wants to be able to when we live in Aus. We leave in 5 weeks do you think it is easier to do an intensive course here before we leave or start fresh in Aus. Read somewhere that you need to hold your learners licence for 6 months in aus before you can even apply to be tested?? so do they treat newly qualified uk drivers any different??

Depends on whether you can get a full open licence in 5 weeks from scratch. I very much doubt that a provisional equivalent will suffice to be able to get an Australian open licence. Please read the info fro Qld Transport (working on the assumption that other states are the same).

www.transport.qld.gov.au/home/licensing
http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/Home...ional_drivers/
http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/Home...n_requirements

It would help if we knew which state you are going to as they all have different rules.

All seem to indicate that you will need a open licence from your country of origin, regardless of which state you go to. I find it hard to be able to get one from scratch in five weeks.

What do you mean by an 'open' licence? (sorry, it's late and I'm knackered )

Open = not learners or provisional ie no restrictions. Now takes about 18 months-2 years to get.

http://www.britishexpats.com/forum/s...d.php?t=535978

Ah, a full licence.

In the UK there is no set amount of time you need to be on a provisional licence for (called a learners permit here) and you can take a theory and practical driving test whenever you like. Once you have passed them both you can then have a full (or open) licence which you can swap here. It would however be a provisional licence here.

So it's possible for her to not have to do any driving tests, log books etc here and go straight to P Plates.

It's still easier to help if we know where people are heading though

Hi there, I ran into this problem recently too, I had assumed that I could just go to oz and learn, pass and start driving, but in NSW at least, you have to first pass a "Driver Knowledge Test", then get a learner's licence which you have to hold for 12 months before you can progress to a P1, which you hold for a year and then P2 for 2 years (I think) so it is a minimum of 4 years to get a FULL licence in NSW. However, that only applies if you are under 25, if over 25 your wife just has to long 120 hours of driving experience before she can sit her test for her P1.

If she acquires her fill licence here (i doubt it in 5 weeks, again I looked into that too and was told it was not possible), then she will still only be able to transfer to an aussie P1 licence and follow the usual procedure from there, as she will be classed as a new driver (less than 12 months of being qualified).

Hope this helps...

thanks for all your help. heading to canberra. just going to have to leave it til we get there!

Here's the reply i got regarding learning to drive in NSW.

Dear Scott,

A holder of a current overseas car or motorcycle learner licence who wants to obtain a NSW provisional P1 licence without first converting to a NSW learner licence must:

be 17 years old and have held their overseas learner licence for more than 12 months (car) or three months (motorcycle),
provide acceptable proof of identity,
pass a knowledge test for a car or motorcycle,
pass a driving or riding test at a registry (or a skills riding test with an RTA-approved rider training provider if they live in a declared area),

Important: The holder of a current overseas car or motorcycle learner licence (whether from a recognised country or not) is NOT exempt from a knowledge test or driving/riding test.

Holders of overseas car learner licences are exempt from holding a Learner Driver Log Book if a driving test is conducted without converting their licence to a NSW car learner licence.

If the driving or riding test is passed, the RTA issues a provisional
P1 licence.

If the driving test is failed, a NSW learner licence is issued, as well as a Learner Driver Log Book.

If the riding test is failed, the customer must attend a pre-learner training course before a rider learner licence can be issued.

---

A holder of a current overseas car or motorcycle learner licence who wants to convert their overseas learner licence to a NSW learner licence must:

provide acceptable proof of identity,
pass an eyesight test,
complete a pre-learner training course (for motorcycle learner licence),
pass a knowledge test for a car or motorcycle,
be issued with a Learner Driver Log Book.

Important: The holder of a current overseas car or motorcycle learner licence (whether from a recognised country or not) is NOT exempt from a knowledge test or driving/riding test.

Regards
Col


Bit confusing but i think if i go over with my provisional i can then sit the test, but if i fail i thenhave to start from scratch and go through it all again as a NSW learner.

Hope this helps.