GFPT flight area restrictions.

[Clare Prop]

5.69 Where may an instructor permit a student to fly as pilot in
command?
(1) An authorised flight instructor must not permit a student pilot to fly an
aircraft as pilot in command if the flight is not:
(a) in a traffic pattern; or
(b) if the student has flown 2 hours of flight time in a traffic pattern
as pilot in command of an aircraft of the category used for the
flight—within the student pilot area limit; or
(c) if the aircraft is being flown for the purposes of cross-country
training—along a route specified by the instructor.
Penalty: 25 penalty units.
(2) An offence against subregulation (1) is an offence of strict liability.
Note For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code.

5.72 May an instructor permit a student to carry passengers while
flying as pilot in command?
(1) An authorised flight instructor must not permit a student pilot to fly as
pilot in command of an aircraft in which a passenger is carried.
Penalty: 50 penalty units.
(2) An offence against subregulation (1) is an offence of strict liability.
Note For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code.
(3) It is a defence to a prosecution under subregulation (1) if:
(a) the flight takes place solely within the student pilot area limit;
and
(b) the student pilot has passed a general flying progress flight test,
and a basic aeronautical knowledge examination, for aircraft of
the category used for the flight.
Note A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters mentioned in
subregulation (3) (see subsection 13.3 (3) of the Criminal Code).

CAO 40.1.0

Logging of flight time:

10.3 The holder of a student pilot licence may log as time in command only that time during which he or she is the sole occupant of an aeroplane in flight.

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So, The GFPT is not a licence or equivalent to the Restricted PPL, it is an optional test that a student pilot can do which confers privileges of how many hours/months you can go between dual checks.
It is not required for a student to have passed the GFPT to do a solo cross country unless that cross country will be more than three hours long.
You can only go where the instructor authorises you to go and the instructor is the one who can be prosecuted if they authorise a flight when you carry passengers.
If the student pilot carries passengers they cannot log the time as pilot in command.
It doesnt give exemptions from being tested in all items in the syllabus for the PPL. The GFPT isn't even mentioned on the PPL test form.