The frustration is real for learner drivers all over New South Wales because wait times for driving tests are stretching to two months, dropping many L platers into the middle of nowhere and sending some packing for hours just to snag a spot.
Seventeen-year-old Sian Lynch from Oran Park feels the pain firsthand. She’s been ready to take her test for weeks, and when she finally booted up the booking system, she found the experience turned into a discouraging game of refresh.
“Seeing every time slot gone meant I had to sit tight for six to eight weeks before I could even think about booking again,” Lynch explained. Each extra week only piled on more worry. “I found it really frustrating. The worst part is knowing that if I flunk the test, I face another two-month wait to try again.”
Ripple Effects Pour from One Community to Another
Instructors see the fallout all around them, says Gerry Rivet, who has been on the road with learners in south-west Sydney for almost ten years.
“Before the pandemic you could snag a slot in under a week. When COVID hit, that stretched to about a month, maybe a month-and-a-half. Now you’re staring at six to eight weeks, which throws people off,” Rivet noted.
And it isn’t just a hassle. In places like Macarthur, where buses and trains show up only when they want, getting a license isn’t a perk—it’s the ticket to a job or a class. “I’ve had apprentices told in no uncertain terms that without the license, they might lose the job because it’s needed on site,” Rivet explained.
The pinch on local test spots has started a rolling crisis. I watch instructors lead their cars farther and farther just to get their learners a chance behind the wheel. “If folks can’t find a slot in Liverpool, they head to Mittagong or Goulburn. Then Goulburn runs out and they shoot over to Wagga. Each drive just adds a new ring to the ripple.”
New Rules Spurring Surging Numbers
Service NSW blames the pile-up on a new decree: if you’re an Aussie citizen or permanent resident with an overseas mentor’s licence, you must re-sit the full test within three months of landing. Since nearly fifty per cent of these motorists do not pass on the first shot, a sea of re-bookings drags the whole system into the red. “The adjustment is meant to boost road safety and ensure overseas licence-holders know our rules inside out,” a spokesperson says matter-of-factly.
The statistics back it up: the agency tracked an all-time high of 396,000 driving assessments across NSW last year, a 12 per cent leap in a single twelve-month stretch. Yet the number of test slots, equipment, and examiners has barely shifted.
When I catch up with instructor Abdul Al-Sharhani at his Woodbine base, the only relief he can muster is his phone. “Every dawn,” he says, “I’m scanning the online diary for cancelations. I alert my students the instant one pops up.” The drive from the school to signal a last-second opening has not only become routine for him, but a lifeline for those still counting on scoring their red ps before the clock times out.
“Drivers keep telling me the license is the key to a job, the key to a future,” Al-Sharhani explained, worry in his voice. “One sticker paper can suddenly change everything in a person’s life, so it has to be fixed. We need the government to help solve it soon.”
Quick Fixes for a Big Trouble
Service NSW just rolled out a few short-term fixes: hiring 20 more test officers and adding Saturday exams in parts of Sydney, the Central Coast, and Illawarra.
Still, pros in the business aren’t impressed. Al-Sharhani isn’t buying it. “With the number of people coming through, plus the long lines still growing, twenty more voices and extra weekends just won’t cover the problem,” he said. Rivet didn’t mince words. “It’s a band-aid on a wound you could hike through the woods,” he snapped.
St Andrews Year 11 student Celio Romero already sees his worry map. He’s 16, desperate for that green-and-white card so he can jump the bus schedule to TAFE and still get to his boilermaker mentoring on time. Next month, when he turns 17, he’s supposed to test, but the worry isn’t the test—it’s the drive to a strange spot far from the bus line. “If I have to take a train to a place I’ve never seen, that adds a whole new struggle,” he said.
“It’d just be tougher,” Romero explained about taking the road test somewhere new. “I pull in and suddenly there’s a roundabout I’ve never seen, or the traffic is a lot heavier than I’m used to.”
Service NSW reports the wait for a road test is hitting a peak, but they’re urging learners to stay flexible. “One site might be busy, but the next centre over could be wide open,” the spokesperson added.
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