If you drive to earn a living, a work licence can keep you on the road during a drink or drug driving disqualification. It is decided once, at your court date, and the preparation has to happen before it. Talk to Joseph Rahim about whether it is open to you.
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A work licence, also called a restricted licence, is an order from a magistrate letting you keep driving for work during a disqualification that would otherwise take you off the road completely. You apply at the time you are convicted, before the magistrate makes the disqualification order. Once you are disqualified, that chance has passed.
Getting past the eligibility rules only earns you the right to ask. You then have to satisfy the magistrate of two things:
The second test is aimed at the loss of your livelihood, so a longer commute or general inconvenience is not what it covers.
The case is made with sworn affidavits rather than letters. You will need:
You give evidence and the prosecutor can question you on it, so everything in it has to be accurate.
Pick the one closest to your situation and a chat opens with it already said. No forms, and you can call instead at any time.
The application is built in the weeks before court, and there is one chance to make it on the day.
Confirm the charge, your licence type at the time, your reading and your five year history. One of these can end the application before it starts.
Your affidavit, your employer’s affidavit, and your traffic and criminal histories, prepared and properly sworn.
The application is made when you are convicted, before the disqualification order. You give evidence and can be questioned.
You may only drive for work, on the conditions in the order, with a zero alcohol limit. Carry the licence and the order.
The rules are strict, and you need to meet every one of them. These are the ones that most often decide it.
You also have to have held a current Queensland licence for that class of vehicle when the offence happened, and hold a Queensland licence now.
These two are often mixed up, but each has its own trigger, test and order.
A work licence is decided at your court date. These are the options that come later.
If a Queensland court disqualified you for more than two years, more than two years have passed, and you have not made a similar application in the past 12 months, you can apply to the court that disqualified you to remove it.
The court looks at any offences since the disqualification. A new conviction for driving while disqualified means the application will be refused.
Some licence decisions made by the Department of Transport and Main Roads can be reviewed, first by the department and then by QCAT. If yours can, the decision notice will say so and give the time limits, which are short. Court disqualifications and SPER suspensions are not reviewed this way.
A sentence from the Magistrates Court can be appealed to the District Court. You have one calendar month to file, and a sentence can be increased if the appeal fails, so get advice first.
You apply at the moment you are convicted, before the disqualification is ordered. If the evidence is not ready on the day, you cannot come back next month with better paperwork.
A work licence for a reading of 0.10 or more comes with an alcohol interlock fitted to any car you drive. Build the cost and the time into your planning from the start.
Joseph Rahim, Principal. LLB (First Class Honours), Grad Dip LP. Member, Queensland Law Society. About Joseph
When you call Coral Coast Law, you speak with Joseph Rahim, and he handles your matter himself.
At the time you are convicted, before the magistrate makes the disqualification order. The application and affidavits have to be ready before your court date.
No. Driving for work at the time of the offence makes you ineligible.
Possibly, for driving with a relevant drug present. Not for driving under the influence of a drug, or for the combined drug and alcohol offence.
Drive only for things directly connected with earning your living, on the conditions in the order, with a zero alcohol limit.
Usually. Unless you are self employed, your employer’s affidavit is part of the application.
Possibly. If a court disqualified you for more than two years and more than two years have passed, you can apply to that court to remove it. You cannot apply again within 12 months of a similar application.
Yes. It is free, confidential and comes with no obligation.
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The sooner you get advice, the more can be done. Tell Joseph what has happened and find out exactly where you stand, with no cost and no pressure.
0447 028 080This page is general information about Queensland law. It is not legal advice. Every matter turns on its own facts, so speak with us about yours.
