I lost 8 or 9 points on my p plates - which would have been a loss of license and stalled till I got my silvers, took my points then... many years ago.
As far as I could tell in NSW the points are taken off at the time the guilty ruling comes about... so in the meantime you can drive.
I now consider myself a mature aged enthusiast.
Also, an interesting point I might add for those that don't know is that in NSW you only get your points back 3 years from the date of the last conviction, not each individual conviction.