- Cook Labor Government leads review of WA's graduated licensing system
- Western Australians will help shape how to make learner drivers more road ready
- New campaign 'Tom's Story' reinforces WA's red P-plate passenger restriction laws
Western Australians can now have their say on how the State's graduated licensing system (GLS) could be improved to help L and P-plate drivers become safer motorists.
The GLS is the system guiding how young people learn to drive a car and get their licence.
The community, along with the learner driver industry and road safety stakeholders, is invited to participate in the six-week online consultation using the Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure's My Say Transport platform from 28 September until 9 November 2025.
The consultation paper considers the current GLS, learnings from other jurisdictions, and how policies to improve safety for learner and provisional drivers can be enhanced.
The community consultation asks for feedback on topics including:
- increasing the minimum learner driver period from six months to 12 months;
- extending the provisional driver period from two years to three years broken down into one year on red P-plates and two years on green P-plates;
- increasing the minimum number of supervised driving hours or logbook hours from 50 hours to 75 hours;
- the requirement for supervising drivers to have zero Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) while supervising a learner driver;
- the introduction of an online option for both the theory and hazard perception in addition to the option of in-centre testing; and
- limiting phone use for all learner and provisional drivers to in-car systems, allowing for the use of GPS and/or playing audio.
At the end of the online community consultation, DTMI will analyse submissions to inform recommendations to government for consideration.
Measures such as first aid training for learner drivers and a review of the Motor Vehicle Drivers Instructors Act 1963 to modernise WA's motor vehicle driver instructor laws will also be considered.
To help promote the online community consultation and encourage safer driving by young people, a new campaign goes live today based on the story of Tom Saffioti, who was killed in a road crash as a backseat passenger in 2021.
The 'Tom's Story' campaign is an extension of the award-winning 'Red plate. One mate' campaign that educated the community about new laws restricting red P-platers to carrying one passenger that came into effect in December 2024.
Tom's mum, Samantha, and his best friend, Ben, feature in the campaign, sharing their memories of Tom, and asking young drivers to 'Drive like your mate's life depends on it. Because it does.'
As stated by Minister Assisting the Transport Minister Jessica Stojkovski:
"This is an important opportunity for the WA community to have its say on how we can better prepare young drivers to be safe and confident on the road.
"The Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure has led the review of WA's graduated licensing system, which was an outcome of last year's Road Safety Roundtable.
"A robust discussion paper has been developed, with input from government and road safety experts, that focuses on the L and P-plate requirements for novice drivers.
"The launch of the 'Tom's Story' campaign to coincide with the community consultation emphasises the importance of ensuring our young drivers are competent and safe before being licensed to drive on our roads.
"With this campaign we are asking all young drivers to 'Drive like your mate's life depends on it. Because it does.'
"I commend Tom's mum, Samantha, and his mate Ben, for having the courage to share the impact of Tom's death on their lives but also to make that appeal to young drivers to consider how their actions behind the wheel can have tragic consequences."
As stated by Road Safety Minister Reece Whitby:
"I encourage every Western Australian to take part in this important consultation on how we improve our graduated licensing system to ensure new and young drivers understand how and why it's important to drive safe.
"We have a shared responsibility to have our say on how young drivers can be better prepared to be safe on our roads and this community consultation is everyone's opportunity to share their insights.
"We're committed to ensuring the safety of our community and this is our chance to make our roads safer and give L and P-plate drivers the best chance at a lifetime of safe driving
"Campaigns like 'Tom's Story' serve as an important reminder of the risks to young drivers and their passengers, and I thank Samantha Saffioti, Tom's mum, and Ben, Tom's best mate, for being so brave in showing the raw emotion of losing someone in a crash.
"Before you get behind the wheel, please remember this message 'drive like your mate's life depends on it' because it really does."
As stated by Samantha Saffioti:
"The campaign is deeply personal to me; it's about sharing Tom's story so that his life and his loss can help protect others.
"I hope it makes young people stop and think about the choices they make when they're in a car, whether it's who they get in with, how many people they take, or how safely they drive.
"If Tom's story can spark even one young person to make a safer choice, then that's a powerful legacy."
