The ACT government has not decided whether it will follow the NSW government in banning all provisional drivers from using their phone in any way while driving, including hands-free applications, map applications and speaker mode.

The ban, taking effect in December, is aimed at reducing fatalities among new drivers.

Earlier this year, Roads Safety Minister Shane Rattenbury released a road safety plan to roll out across 2016-20, which includes a mobile phone ban for all ACT learner and provisional drivers.

But on Wednesday, Minister Rattenbury could not confirm whether that would include a ban on map applications.

"Once implemented, the change will align the ACT with other jurisdictions, including NSW," Mr Rattenbury said.

"At this early stage it has not been decided whether the ban would extend to phones that are mounted for use of the GPS function. The timing for implementation of this change is yet to be finalised."

For now, all Canberra drivers are allowed to legally touch mounted phones while navigating due to legislation passed in the ACT last year. Before that, drivers could only use a standalone GPS to find their way around.

Where does this leave Canberra P-platers crossing the border?

Well, they'll likely be relieved that they won't have to swap their smartphone maps for an expensive GPS whenever they cross into NSW.

Because the ban is being introduced through changes to the NSW Graduated Licensing Scheme, it only applies to NSW licence holders, and all ACT licence holders driving or riding in NSW are allowed to use their phone's GPS system legally, provided it is mounted correctly.

This will likely be seen as good news for many young Canberra workers frequently required to travel between multiple jobs in one day.

But Kate Lundy, NRMA local director for Canberra, called on the ACT government to seriously consider extending the ban to the capital.

Ms Lundy said she supported any measures intended to drive down the road toll.

"We know that young people are more at risk on our roads, so the introduction of any program or changes to legislation to improve driver behaviour and skills is a smart move, and that includes the requirement for P-platers to not interact with their phones at all," she said.

"If these measures save just one life on the roads then they're certainly measures worth considering in the ACT," she said.

She said young people needed to understand that these measures were intended to be deterrents for accidents, not punishments.

Five people have died on ACT roads this year, while NSW's road toll is 229.

In August 2015, The Canberra Times reported that Canberra police were nabbing 25 P-plate drivers for speeding or mobile phone use behind the wheel every day.

They were the most common transgressions committed by the territory's 19,383 provisional drivers, who make up about six per cent of motorists, ACT Policing data showed.

Current fines for driver distraction offences range from $149 to $386, with mobile phone offences attracting the steepest penalties.