Driving in Australia is mostly not bad fun! We have some great road trips, then it'southward worth taking a bulldoze when you visit! Just many travelers aren't sure nigh the laws. Can y'all bulldoze in Australia with an overseas license? Is there an Australian drivers license for foreigners? Do yous demand an International Drivers License in Australia?

This post explains the laws nigh overseas visitors wanting to drive here, and who tin can drive in Australia with a foreign license. It will likewise help new residents wondering whether they can drive in Australia as a greenhorn.

For info near general Australian driving rules, see our guide to Australian driving laws for travelers and ex-pats.

Australia Day thongs

Tin I bulldoze in Commonwealth of australia with a foreign license?

The laws virtually driving in Australia with an overseas license are different in different states. More often than not,you're allowed to drive in Australia with an overseas drivers license if you're a temporary visitor. If your license isn't written in English language, you lot'll need to carry a formal English translation or an International Driving Permit.

That rule doesn't include New Zealanders. Kiwis are treated like interstate visitors and need to apply for a local license afterwards 3 months living in Commonwealth of australia.

Note too that the laws are different in the Northern Territory. Read the Northern Territory section of this folio if that's where you lot're headed.

If you're planning to live in Australia, y'all can drive with your overseas license for 3 months (half dozen in Victoria) earlier you'll need to have a local license. If you lot're in Australia temporarily, but longer than 3 months, some states ask yous to apply for a temporary drivers license.

Jump to your land:

  • New South Wales
  • Victoria
  • Queensland
  • South Australia
  • Canberra
  • Tasmania
  • Western Australia
  • The Northern Territory

International drivers permits and license translations in Commonwealth of australia

If your license is not written in English, you'll need to carry either an international drivers license (too known equally an international drivers permit) or a formal translation of your overseas license. You'll need to carry the original versions of these documents when yous drive, forth with your overseas license.

An international drivers permit is a certified certificate, but not an bodily drivers license itself. International driving permits are issued from the aforementioned country as your license, normally from official motoring groups. Check with your country's licensing office on how to obtain 1.

Formal license translations need to be done by an approved translator*. They tin can also come from a consulate part in Australia. Check with your land'southward consulate in Australia for more data.

*National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters.

Tin I drive a GoGet with an overseas license?

GoGet is a car sharing service that allows you to use a range of cars without owning them. It's very useful for travellers and expats living in Commonwealth of australia temporarily, who don't desire to carp with the price or hassle of buying a automobile.

We don't mind if you have an overseas license – you can however drive a GoGet and admission all of our cars. Of class, you lot also need to follow the laws of the state you're driving in, as y'all won't be covered if yous're driving illegally.

To notice the nearest GoGet machine to your Australian home, you tin can search our unabridged armada here.

A white GoGet Audi A3 parked by the sea - the open ocean crashing against a rocky headland in the background

Driving in Commonwealth of australia with a strange license – state rules

Here are the rules for each Australian state about driving with a strange license. No matter what land you're in, yous always need to have a current overseas drivers license with you when you bulldoze. Also, you lot can only drive the type of vehicles that you're licensed to drive on your overseas license, and you must always obey the local road rules.

Annotation: These weather condition use to full license holders, not learner or provisional drivers. Mostly, if y'all accept an overseas learner'south permit, yous'll need to re-apply for a local learner's allow. Contact the land license authorization for details on your circumstance.

New South Wales

Equally a temporary visitor, you can drive on your overseas license as long as:

  • It remains current;
  • You aren't disqualified from driving while y'all're in Australia;
  • Your license isn't suspended or cancelled; and,
  • Yous remain a temporary visitor.

If you're an Australian citizen living overseas, you're all the same considered a temporary company and the above rules apply.

You don't demand an International Driving Permit if your overseas license is written in English. If your overseas license is written in some other linguistic communication, you'll need to carry a formal translation or International Driving Permit.

If you have a permanent visa y'all must have a local license past the time you've lived in NSW for 3 months.

Victoria

In Victoria, the conditions around driving on overseas licenses changes based on your visa status.

If you are a temporary visa holder:

  • You tin can drive on a electric current overseas drivers license, and do not need a Victorian license;
  • Your overseas license volition exist fine for the length of your stay; and,
  • You must take your license written in English. Alternatively, you must comport a formal English translation or International Drivers Permit.

If y'all are a permanent visa holder:

  • You can drive on your electric current overseas license for six months from the engagement y'all entered Australia (if the visa was issued before inflow); or,
  • Yous tin use a current overseas license for vi months after the date your visa was issued (if information technology was issued afterward you arrived in Australia).

After half-dozen months, permanent residents need to apply for a Victorian drivers license.

Queensland

In Queensland you can bulldoze with an overseas license every bit long as your dominance to drive in Queensland hasn't been withdrawn. If your overseas license isn't written in English language, you'll need to carry a formal English translation of it with you.

Your say-so to drive in Queensland on your overseas drivers license will be suspended if:

  • An Australian court has disqualified you lot from driving;
  • You're bedevilled of driving over 40km per hour over the speed limit;
  • You haven't paid fines issued to you;
  • You're ruled medically unfit to drive;
  • You're an Australian citizen and take lived in Queensland for three months or more; or,
  • You have a residential visa and have been living in Queensland for over 3 months.

A permanent resident must have a Queensland drivers license one time they've been living there for 3 months.

South Australia

The South Australian government says a temporary international company can drive in the state, as long as they have:

  • No driving disqualifications in any country; and,
  • A current overseas license written in English; or,
  • A current overseas license with a formal English translation, or an international drivers permit.

If your overseas license expires while in South Commonwealth of australia, you must apply for a South Australian license to continue driving.

Canberra

In Canberra/the Australian Capital Territory, y'all tin can utilise your overseas license to bulldoze, as long as your visa remains a temporary visa and your overseas license remains electric current. All the same, if you've moved to the Act to live, yous need to use for an ACT license inside three months.

Temporary visitors tin can include:

  • Tourists;
  • Business people;
  • People visiting friends or relatives;
  • Visitors on working holiday visas; and,
  • People temporarily working or studying in the Deed who plan to return habitation afterwards.

If you're driving in Canberra with your foreign license, you always need to have information technology with you. Y'all also need an International Driving Allow or English language translation of your license if it's not in English.

Tasmania

In Tasmania, temporary visa holders can use an overseas license under a few conditions. Permanent visa holders tin use an overseas license under the same conditions for the first 3 months of their visa. After that, they need to take a Tasmanian drivers license.

These are the weather you lot need to follow.

  • Your overseas license must be current.
  • You can't have been disqualified from driving anywhere in the world.
  • Your license can't exist suspended or cancelled.
  • Your right to drive can't have been withdrawn by the state.
  • Y'all can't accept been given a Tasmanian license.
  • You must deport your license with you. Y'all'll also need an International Driving Allow or English translation if the license isn't in English.

Western Australia

Visiting drivers may utilise a electric current overseas license when driving in Western Commonwealth of australia, as long as they concur a temporary visa. You are a visiting driver in WA if you are:

  • A members of an overseas defence forces;
  • A family member of an overseas defense force force member;
  • Visiting WA on business;
  • On a working holiday visa;
  • Temporarily working in WA;
  • A student studying in WA; or,
  • A tourist visiting WA.

If y'all have an English language license, you lot only need to carry it with yous when you bulldoze. Withal, if your overseas drivers license is not in English, you must carry a formal English translation of information technology or an international driving let.

You lot also must not have your license suspended or cancelled, nor be disqualified from driving anywhere.

If you're on a permanent visa, y'all may use your overseas license for up to iii months before you'll demand to apply for a Western Australian license.

The Northern Territory

While most states have like rules for using an overseas license in Australia, The Northern Territory is an exception. In the Northern Territory, y'all are not allowed to drive with an overseas license more than 3 months later arriving in the country, regardless of whether you lot're a temporary company or a permanent resident.

For the commencement three months, you lot must conduct your license with you. You lot also need to conduct a formal English language translation or an international drivers permit if the license is non written in English.

Subsequently the get-go three months, y'all must apply for a Northern Territory drivers license. You can apply for an exception to this. There are no standard circumstances where an exception volition be granted, it's on a case-past-example basis. The details for how to apply for an exception tin be establish on this webpage.

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