Your phone buzzes while you're sitting at the lights. It's tempting to just glance at it — it's stopped, right? In Western Australia, no. The rules apply the whole time you're driving, including when you're stationary in traffic, and the fines are among the highest in the country. We've had more than a few learners ask us about this, so here's exactly what Transport WA and the Road Safety Commission say — no guessing, straight from the source.
The short version
- Touching or holding your phone to make, receive or end a voice call: $500 fine, 3 demerit points.
- Creating, sending or looking at a text, email, social media post, photo or video — even if the phone is mounted: $1,000 fine, 4 demerit points.
These are the same rules for every driver in WA — there's no separate, lighter version for learners or P-plate drivers.
The dollar figures and demerit points below are confirmed on both the WA Road Safety Commission's mobile phone penalty page and Transport WA's official driving offences page (see Sources).
What the fines and demerit points actually are
Since 1 September 2020, WA has run a two-tier penalty system for mobile phone offences — one of the toughest in Australia. Here's the official breakdown:
| Offence | Fine | Demerit points |
|---|---|---|
| Touching or holding a mobile phone to make, receive or end a voice call | $500 | 3 |
| Creating, sending or looking at a text, email, social media post, photo or video (even if the phone is mounted) | $1,000 | 4 |
Transport WA's driving offences page lists these as 10 penalty units ($500) and 20 penalty units ($1,000) respectively — WA's penalty unit is currently set at $50.00. Both the dollar figures and the penalty-unit figures are published, and they match.
What you're actually allowed to do
The law isn't a total phone ban behind the wheel — it's about touching the phone and what you use it for. According to the Road Safety Commission's official road rules explainer, you can:
- Make, receive or end a voice call hands-free — phone secured in a mount fixed to the vehicle, using Bluetooth, voice activation, an earpiece or a headset.
- Use your phone as a GPS navigation device — but only if it's in a vehicle mount and you set the route before you start driving. Touching the screen to change the route while moving isn't allowed.
- Riders of motorcycles and e-rideables get one extra option: an arm-mounted phone holder, not just a vehicle mount.
What's illegal — even with the phone mounted
This is the part that catches people out: mounting your phone doesn't make texting, emails or social media legal. The official wording from the Road Safety Commission is blunt about it:
In practice that means all of the following are illegal while you're driving, mounted phone or not:
- Reading or sending a text, email or DM.
- Scrolling or posting on social media.
- Looking at or taking a photo or video.
- Being on a video call.
- Changing your navigation route by touching the screen once you're moving.
And the "stopped at the lights" excuse doesn't work either — if your vehicle is on the road and not parked, you're still "driving" for the purposes of this rule.
Why this matters more for learners and P-platers
Transport WA doesn't publish a separate, harsher mobile phone rule for learner or provisional drivers — the $500/3-point and $1,000/4-point penalties above apply to every licence holder equally. But the consequences land harder if you're on your Ls or red P's, because the demerit point threshold before your licence is suspended is much lower for novice drivers. As we covered in our demerit points guide:
- Learner's permit and red P1 plates: suspension threshold is 4 or more demerit points.
- Green P2 plates: suspension threshold is 8 or more demerit points.
- Full licence: suspension threshold is 12 or more demerit points within 3 years.
Do the maths: a single texting-while-driving offence (4 points) is enough on its own to put a red P-plater at their entire threshold. A learner caught the same way is in exactly the same position. There's no buffer — one bad decision to check a message at the lights can end with an Early Demerit Points Notice and a suspension, on top of the fine.
Double demerits make it worse
Mobile phone offences are one of the offence types that attract double demerit points during WA's designated long weekends and holiday periods — confirmed on the Road Safety Commission's double demerits page. That means during those periods, the $500 offence costs 6 points instead of 3, and the $1,000 offence costs 8 points instead of 4. If you're reading this around the King's Birthday long weekend (25–28 September 2026), that period is a double demerit period right now — worth keeping the phone well out of reach for the drive.
How WA catches phone use
This isn't just police pulling people over anymore. WA's mobile phone detection camera network — fixed and mobile units that use AI to identify phone use through the windscreen — has been running for several years, and the Road Safety Commission's own figures put the number of detected offences at more than 275,000 since the program began (as of the most recent published figures, September 2025). Every one of those was a $500 or $1,000 fine and 3 or 4 demerit points, whether or not a police officer was anywhere nearby.
Practical tips for learner and P-plate drivers
- Set your GPS destination and start the route before you pull out of the driveway.
- Turn on your phone's driving/focus mode so notifications don't tempt you at the lights.
- If you genuinely need to check or send a message, pull over somewhere safe and legal, and stop the car — you're not "driving" once you're properly parked.
- If you're using your phone as a mounted GPS, mount it before you start the engine, not once you're already moving.
- Remember this applies to supervised learner drives too — the same rules apply to you as the driver, even with a supervisor sitting beside you.
Quick FAQ
Can I touch my phone at a red light or in traffic?
No. You're still "driving" if the vehicle is on the road and not parked — touching or looking at your phone at the lights carries the same $500 or $1,000 penalty as doing it while moving.
Is it legal to use my phone as a GPS if it's mounted?
Yes, as long as it's secured in a mount fixed to the vehicle and you set the route before you start driving. Touching the screen to adjust it once you're moving is not allowed.
Do learners and P-platers get a lighter penalty?
No — the fine and demerit points are the same for every driver. What's different is how much room novice drivers have before those points trigger a suspension (see the demerit thresholds above).
What if my supervisor is using their phone while I'm driving on my Ls?
The mobile phone rules apply to the person driving the vehicle. As the learner behind the wheel, the phone rules on this page apply to you.
The bottom line
The safest approach is the simplest one: phone away, mounted and untouched, or switched to a driving mode, before you start the car. For learners and P-platers especially, one mobile phone fine can burn through most or all of your demerit point buffer in a single hit. It's a habit worth locking in from your very first supervised drive.
Book a driving lesson with Golden Road Driving Academy today.
Drive safe. Stay focused.
Paul — Golden Road Driving Academy
Admin@goldenroaddriving.com.au | +61 403 089 100
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