Warning over driver's licence loophole as police 'overwhelmed' by dashcam dobbing
Provisional drivers are among the most crash-prone motorists on Australian roads, something the Victorian government says is a major factor in the decision not to allow young people to obtain a P-plate until they're 18 — the highest age in the country for new drivers.
But it's now emerged that the state's youth are sneaking interstate, to places like New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland, where the minimum age is 17, to bypass regulations and obtain a licence early.
Anecdotal evidence indicates teenagers are using addresses of holiday homes or extended family members in other states to secure their permits. Victoria Police said it hasn't seen direct evidence of the behaviour despite reports in the Herald Sun about private school students bragging about doing so and parents expressing concerns.
It's prompted police to warn that fraudulently obtaining a licence, including by providing misleading information, can be a criminal offence.
"It goes to the sense of entitlement that we see play out," Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir told media this week. "Just because you've got a holiday house in Noosa doesn't mean you can skip the rules."
It is believed no charges have yet been laid against under-age drivers obtaining their licences interstate.
Under Victorian road rules, failing to transfer an interstate licence within six months of becoming a resident is considered unlicensed driving. Offenders can face fines of up to $11,855 and even prison time if prosecuted.
A driving instructor of 25 years said he'd heard about numerous instances of teens cheating the system.
"They just tell me, look, I'm going to get my licence interstate ... what can I say?" Ollie Azriel told 9News. "They have the support of their parents because they're still 17 and just want to get their licence."
While the Nationals have pushed for the state to lower the probationary driving age in Victoria, a 2016 inquiry found doing so could lead to significantly more road deaths and injuries, a worsening problem in Australia as it stands.
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Concerningly, 2024 was crowned the deadliest year on Australian roads in more than a decade, prompting safety experts to urge governments to take stronger action and to call on the public to rethink their attitudes towards road safety.
In Victoria the road toll for the year through to May 21, 2025 stood at 118, up 8.3 per cent from the same period last year. Six of the 118 lives lost were people aged between 18 and 20.
The financial toll of road trauma has surged to $30 billion annually — a figure expected to continue rising. While authorities in Victoria warn young drivers that licences obtained fraudulently may be cancelled, Crime Stoppers has also revealed a huge surge in dashcam footage being handed in, showing shocking accounts of dangerous driving.
One in three reports received by Victoria Crime Stoppers relates to "high-risk" road use, CEO Stella Smith said on Wednesday. She warned that 30 per cent of fatal collisions are caused by speed, with young people remaining overrepresented in road trauma. In Victoria, the minimum age to obtain a learner permit (Ls) is 16 years, while the minimum age to obtain a probationary licence (P1) is 18 years.
Peter Frazer OAM, whose daughter was killed by a distracted driver on the Hume Freeway in NSW, told Yahoo News Australia last week a cultural shift on the roads is more critical than ever. He said Australia urgently needs to rethink not only driver behaviour, but also its approach to enforcement, speeding and accountability.
"The very first thing that we need to do is to flip everything on its head and start dealing with the reality of risk on our roads," he said. "We've got to have our governments start doing much more active enforcement — police enforcement and also automated enforcement."
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