Alcohol interlock program in QLD after disqualification

Most people find out about the alcohol interlock program in QLD long after their court date, and it comes as an unwelcome surprise. When your disqualification finishes you expect to just get your licence back, but there's another condition attached, and depending on how you handle it, it can run for a year or more.

An alcohol interlock is a breath tester wired into your car's ignition. The car won't start unless you blow under the limit. If you're an interlock driver, that's the only way you can legally drive.

Who has to take part in the alcohol interlock program in QLD

You'll be an interlock driver if you're convicted of any of these, according to the Queensland Government:

• driving, or attempting to drive or be in charge of a vehicle, under the influence of alcohol
• driving, or attempting to drive or be in charge of a vehicle, with a reading of 0.10 or more
• failing to provide a blood or breath specimen for analysis
• dangerous driving while affected by alcohol
• two or more drink driving offences within five years

There's one more that catches people. If you get a work licence for a mid range offence, meaning a reading of 0.10 or more, the interlock comes with it. Legal Aid Queensland is clear about that. Plenty of people fight hard for a work licence and then get blindsided by the interlock cost on top.

Refusing a roadside test and failing to provide a specimen

People use the same words for both, so it helps to keep them apart. Refusing the screening test at the roadside is one offence, with its own maximum.

Failing to provide a specimen for analysis, after a police officer has required it, is a different and more serious matter. It's treated as the same offence as driving under the influence. That's the one that puts you on the interlock program, which is why the trigger above says for analysis.

If a refusal is part of your matter, check which one is written on your paperwork.

How long the interlock program lasts

If your disqualification ends on or after 9 September 2021, the Queensland Government says you're on what's called the performance based program. The minimum is twelve months, made up of an eight month learning period and then a four month performance period.

The clock doesn't start when your disqualification ends. It starts once you've got a licence with the interlock condition on it and had a device fitted to a car, so dragging your feet on either of those makes the whole thing longer.

If your disqualification ended before September 2021, different rules may apply to you, so check your own position rather than assuming this is it.

When the four month performance period restarts

According to the Queensland Government, during that final four month period the clock restarts every time the device detects alcohol, or every time you get locked out permanently because you missed a scheduled service. It can happen more than once, and each occurrence sends you back to the start of the four months.

Someone who treats the servicing dates casually, or who has a couple of drinks and tries the car just to see, can find themselves months further away from the finish line than they thought. Transport and Main Roads will let you know either that you're done or that you're starting the four months again.

To finish, the Queensland Government says you need to have done your twelve months, had your interlock data checked, and completed the repeat drink driving course if you've been told to.

If you don't take part in the program

The Queensland Government's position is blunt. If you don't take part, you can't drive for five years from the end of your disqualification, or from the day you were issued a work licence. Because of that long wait, sitting it out is usually a worse plan than it sounds when you're annoyed about the cost.

Driving a car that doesn't have one fitted

If you're under an interlock condition and you drive a car without a device in it, that's a separate offence in its own right, beyond any technical breach of the condition. It carries its own consequences, so it isn't worth risking on a short trip.

Exemptions from the interlock program

Exemptions exist, but the grounds are narrow. The Queensland Government lists four:

• you live somewhere remote
• you live on an island
• you have a medical condition that stops you providing enough breath to work the device
• you or a family member would suffer severe hardship without one

The page says plainly that exemptions aren't granted just because of work, study or money problems, which is awkward because those are the reasons most people want one.

You apply through the Transport and Main Roads portal, in person at a customer service centre, or by post. Medical grounds need a certificate on the right form. You can apply up to six weeks before your disqualification ends, once the program has started, or straight away if a court has given you a restricted licence.

If you get an exemption, carry the certificate with you at all times and show it to police if you're asked.

The cost, and help with it

You pay for the fitting, rental, servicing and removal of the device. There is financial assistance through the Queensland Government if you meet income and asset limits, hold a Queensland licence with the interlock condition, are a citizen or permanent resident, and haven't had the assistance in the past five years. If it's approved, the money goes straight to the interlock company rather than to you.

The income and asset thresholds change, so look them up on the Queensland Government page rather than trusting a figure you read somewhere else.

How the court stage shapes the interlock period

The interlock is the tail end of a drink driving matter, but how long it runs is decided much earlier, at court. What you're convicted of, and what the magistrate is told about your circumstances, feeds into your disqualification and into whether a work licence is even available. Our page on drink driving covers that end of it, and our page on the alcohol interlock requirement covers this end.

If you've got a court date and you drive for a living

The interlock period is a lot easier to plan around when you know it's coming and roughly how long it will run. It's much harder to sort out after the fact, when you've already been sentenced and the cost has landed.

If you've been charged with drink driving in Cairns, talk to us before your court date.