When does license suspension start

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Your driver licence will be suspended if you ignore an enforcement order from the State Penalties Enforcement Registry (SPER).

We can suspend your driver licence for any type of debt, not just those related to vehicle offences.

If your licence is suspended

It is an offence to drive a vehicle if your licence is suspended. You may be penalised or disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver licence for a period of 6 months if you do.

We will send a notice of intention to suspend your driver licence to your last known address. You will have 14 days to act before we suspend your licence.

Not updating your address is not a valid excuse. If you are stopped by the police while driving on a suspended licence, you will be charged.

The suspension means you can't drive on any of the following licences:

• a Queensland driver licence (for any type of vehicle or vessel)
• a restricted licence (e.g. work licence) granted by a court
• an interstate driver licence, if you have previously held a Queensland driver licence.

Getting your licence back

You must pay the total amount you owe before we lift our suspension on your licence.

The quickest way to pay is online. If you can't pay online, you can use another payment method.

If you can't pay the full amount, you may be eligible to:

• pay by instalments
• complete a work and development order.

Once you pay, we'll lift our suspension and give you confirmation. This is the quickest way to stop or prevent enforcement action.

It usually takes about 5 minutes for our suspension on your licence to be lifted after you have paid in full or set up a payment plan.

Check your licence status before you start driving again. You must be sure no other suspension or court disqualification exists against your licence before you drive.

Insurance

Talk to your insurer about what having your licence suspended by us means for your vehicle insurance policy.

Read section 108 of the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999 for more information about the effect on insurance.

Last updated: 16 November 2021 Last reviewed: 5 January 2022

A llicence suspension can take a toll on the whole family, especially when parents would spend their evenings and weekends driving their teenage children to and from school, sports and social engagements.

Transport for NSW has powers to suspend a provisional drivers licence. The most common examples are:

• Learner or P1 drivers committing any speeding offence (as speeding offences incur 4 points, as a minimum, for any provisional driver);
• Learner or P1 drivers committing a mobile phone offence (as the offence incurs 4 points, as a minimum, for any provisional driver);
• P1 drivers otherwise exceeding their 4 demerit point limit;
• P2 drivers exceeding their 7 demerit point limit;
• Exceeding the speed limit by more than 30km/h; or
• A determination that they are medically unfit to hold a licence or that they are not a “fit and proper” person to hold a licence.

A typical licence suspension will last for three months. It can be longer for more serious speeding offences, if there is a combination of offences or if the demerit point limit is exceeded significantly.

Appealing a suspension

A suspension can be appealed to the Local Court. This must be done within 28 days of receiving the notice of suspension and cannot be filed out of time.

Once an application is filed, a court date will be allocated whereby a Local Court magistrate will review the decision by Transport for NSW. Typically, the court will be guided by:

• the circumstances of the offence;
• the need to promote and ensure public safety on the roads by allowing the RMS to suspend driving privileges of unsafe drivers;
• how long the person has held a licence;
• the person’s traffic record;
• any education or rehabilitation programs completed; and
• the person’s personal circumstances and need for a licence.

The magistrate will usually be provided with evidence from an RMS prosecutor and from the appellant (i.e. the provisional driver), and will hear arguments from the prosecutor and the solicitor appearing for the provisional driver, or if they are unrepresented, the driver themselves. After reading and hearing all the evidence and submissions, the magistrate will either:

• allow the appeal (i.e. the driver gets to keep their licence);
• dismiss the appeal (i.e. the driver must serve the three-month suspension); or
• vary the suspension (i.e. reduce the period of suspension).

Driving while suspended

If a provisional driver is caught driving while suspended it’s very likely they will be charged with a criminal offence and issued with a court attendance notice. The offence carries a maximum sentence of $3300 in fines and/or an 18 months’ imprisonment. Upon conviction, the court must impose the automatic disqualification period of 12 months. A criminal conviction, the penalty imposed by the court and long disqualification periods can place a huge burden on those charged, especially for teenagers and young adults on their provisional licence.

For advice or representation in any legal matter, please contact Armstrong Legal.

There are a number of ways you can find yourself without a drivers’ licence.  The most common are:

• You don’t have a licence because you have not renewed your licence
• You have been disqualified from driving (for example for drink driving)
• Your licence has been suspended.

You usually know if the first two situations apply to you.

• You can check whether your licence is current, by looking at the date, and
• You will usually know if you have been disqualified from driving because you will have been picked up by police and then dealt with by the court.

But people are sometimes unaware that their licence has been suspended.

The grounds for suspension are:

• Not paying a fine (which can mean any sort of fine, not just a traffic fine)
• Accumulating too many points on your licence
• Being caught going more than 40 kilometres over the speed limit.

When your licence is being suspended, you are notified by a letter to your last known address.  This is usually the address on your drivers’ licence.  If your address is not up to date on your licence, then the letter advising you of the suspension may go to the wrong address.  Even if you have the right address on your licence, if you don’t collect and open your mail, you won’t necessarily find out about the suspension.

This can cause serious problems if you are picked up driving while suspended.  You can be charged with unlicensed driving and face an additional suspension and a fine.  There is also a penalty of imprisonment, although this harsh penalty would not usually be applied.

To prevent problems, it is important to keep your address up to date on your drivers’ licence and to have arrangements in place to collect and open your mail.  You will often have some legal options if you act quickly when you receive your notice of suspension.  For example you can elect to have a restricted licence instead of a suspension if your licence is being suspended for points, but you if you don’t respond, your licence is suspended automatically.

Traffic law can be complex, and it is a good idea to get legal advice if you are not sure of your rights and obligations. You can contact us for advice about traffic law.