Demerit points for learner and P-plate drivers in Queensland: the four-point limit

Most questions about P-plate demerit points come down to one number. For a learner or P-plate driver in Queensland, the limit is four points allocated within a continuous one year period, not the twelve most people have heard of. A single speeding fine for more than 20 but not more than 30km/h over the limit carries four on its own. So does one mobile phone offence by a learner or P1 driver under 25.

What happens on reaching four depends on the licence. A P-plate driver is generally given a choice between a suspension and a good behaviour year. A driver who has been on a learner licence for the whole counting period is not given a choice at all. The rules sit in Chapter 7 of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management-Driver Licensing) Regulation 2021 (Qld), and section references below are to that regulation unless another instrument is named.

The thresholds at a glance

The regulation groups provisional and probationary licences into types. A P1 type licence is a P1 provisional or P1 probationary licence, a P2 type licence is the P2 equivalent, and a P type licence is a P probationary or P restricted licence (s 6). An O type licence includes an open licence (s 7).

Two features of the four-point rule catch people. First, the test looks at the licence history across the whole counting period, not only the licence held when the letter arrives (s 263(2)). Second, the suspension for a learner or provisional driver is a flat three months. The longer four and five month periods apply only to a “relevant person”, which for Queensland licence holders means the open licence holder caught by the twelve-point rule (s 255).

How quickly four points arrive

Schedule 5 of the regulation sets the points for each offence (s 257(1)). A handful of entries commonly take newer drivers to the threshold:

• speeding by less than 11km/h over the limit carries one point, and by at least 11 but not more than 20km/h over carries three;
• speeding by more than 20 but not more than 30km/h over carries four, and by more than 30 but not more than 40km/h over carries six;
• a learner driving while not properly supervised carries four (sch 5 pt 3 item 3);
• a mobile phone offence against s 228(2) carries four (sch 5 pt 3 item 4).

The mobile phone offence in s 228 is specific to younger drivers. It applies to a driver under 25 who holds a class C learner licence or a P1 provisional licence of the classes listed, and to a driver holding certain P1 probationary licences because of a young driver disqualification offence. It prohibits using a mobile phone while the vehicle is moving or stationary but not parked (s 228(1), (2)), subject to narrow exceptions such as a phone kept in a pocket in a way that does not allow it to be operated (s 228(3)). For those drivers, one offence reaches the threshold on its own.

Repeat offences attract additional points. A second mobile phone offence within a year of an earlier one carries four additional points on top of its Schedule 5 figure (s 261(2)), and a second speeding offence of more than 20km/h over within a year carries four, six or eight additional points depending on the margin (s 260(2)).

Points are taken to be allocated on the day the offence was committed, not the day a contested charge is finalised, and that date decides whether they fall inside the one year window (s 257(2)).

Learner drivers: a suspension, not a choice

A driver who held a class C learner licence for the whole of the one year period, and reaches four points within it, falls under Division 2 of Part 3 (s 267(2)). The notice to choose division does not apply to a person to whom Division 2 applies (s 263(4)). Instead, the chief executive must give a written notice stating that the licence is suspended for the required suspension period, starting on a stated day at least 21 days after the notice is given (s 268(1), (2), (3)). The required suspension period is three months (s 255).

There is no good behaviour option in that notice. Division 2 also reaches a learner who held the learner licence for only part of the period but held no driver licence for the rest of it (s 267(2)(c)(ii)).

A driver who moved from a learner licence to a P1 licence during the one year period is in a different position. Division 2 does not fit, because the driver held a driver licence for the balance of the period, so Division 1 and the notice to choose apply instead (s 263(2), (5)).

P-plate drivers: the notice to choose

For a P1, P2 or P type licence holder who reaches four points in a year, the chief executive must give a notice to choose. It requires the driver, within a stated choice period of at least 21 days after the notice is given, to choose between a suspension for the required suspension period and agreeing to be of good behaviour while driving for a year (s 264(1)).

Doing nothing is treated as choosing the suspension. A driver who does not notify a choice within the choice period has the licence suspended for the required suspension period, starting on the sanction day (s 265(1)(b), (2)).

The good behaviour year is breached if two or more demerit points are recorded for offences committed during it (s 266(1)(b)). The consequence is a suspension for double the required suspension period (s 266(2)(b), (5)(b)). For a provisional driver, that turns three months into six. An offence committed in the last weeks of the year still counts even if it is dealt with after the year ends, and a single speeding offence of 11km/h or more over the limit is enough to breach.

Driving more than 40km/h over the limit

A separate track applies to every licence holder, learner and provisional drivers included. Where a person is convicted of, or an enforcement order is made for, a speeding offence involving more than 40km/h over the limit, Chapter 8 applies (s 284(1)), and the chief executive must give a notice that the licence is suspended for six months (s 285(2)(b), (5)). That suspension follows from the offence itself. The offence also carries eight demerit points under Schedule 5, twice the four-point threshold.

Special hardship orders and provisional licences

A special hardship order is a court order authorising a driver to keep driving in stated circumstances. Chapter 10 provides for one only where an open licence or provisional licence has been suspended under a “relevant provision”, defined as s 266(5) or s 285(5) (ss 307, 308). In practice that means two situations: the doubled suspension after a good behaviour year is breached, and the six month suspension for driving more than 40km/h over the limit. Both notices must tell an open or provisional licence holder that they may be eligible to apply (ss 266(2)(d), 285(2)(c)).

Two groups fall outside it. A suspension elected under the notice to choose, or imposed because no choice was notified, takes effect under s 265(2), which is not a relevant provision. And a learner licence is neither an open licence nor a provisional licence, while a Division 2 suspension takes effect under s 268(3), so Chapter 10 does not reach a learner’s demerit point suspension. Where an application is available, eligibility also requires that it relate to a licence of the same class as the suspended licence (s 310(1)), and further exclusions apply.

Handing the licence in, and driving while suspended

Letting a licence expire or surrendering it does not avoid the outcome. For a learner given a Division 2 suspension notice, if the licence expires or is surrendered before the suspension starts and another licence is granted, the notice continues against the new licence; if no licence is granted, the person is not eligible to hold a Queensland licence for the suspension period (s 282(3), (4)). A parallel rule applies to a notice to choose (s 281(3), (4)).

While a licence is suspended it has the same effect as a cancellation, and the person is disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence of the same kind, class or description (Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld) s 127(4)). Driving in that period contravenes s 78(1) of that Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 40 penalty units or one year’s imprisonment in the ordinary case. Where the person was disqualified because of the allocation of demerit points, the court must disqualify them for a further six months on conviction, whether or not a conviction is recorded (s 78(3)(b), (4)).

Published 30 October 2026.

Where the decisions are made

The suspension notice or notice to choose is usually not the first point at which something can be done. Points are recorded on a conviction or an enforcement order (s 256(1)). A driver served with an infringement notice has 28 days after the date of the notice to pay the fine, to elect to have the matter decided in a Magistrates Court, or, where relevant, to give one of the statutory declarations about who was driving (State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999 (Qld) s 22(1)). Whether the offence is made out is a live question at that stage. Once a notice to choose arrives, the questions narrow to which division applies on the driver’s actual licence history and whether the next twelve months can realistically be offence-free.

Related reading

• Demerit points in Queensland: the notice to choose and the good behaviour year
• Double demerits in Queensland
• How Fraser Lawyers helps with demerit points and disqualifications
• How Fraser Lawyers helps with traffic matters
• Contact Fraser Lawyers

This article is general information only and is not legal advice. Queensland law and the figures referred to can change, and every situation turns on its own facts. Contact Fraser Lawyers for advice specific to your circumstances.

If you would like to discuss your matter, you can book a consultation or call (07) 5554 6116.