Section 78 of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld) provides that:

(1) A person must not drive a motor vehicle on a road unless the person holds a driver licence authorising the person to drive the vehicle on the road.

Maximum penalty—

(a) if the person committed the offence while the person was disqualified, by any court order, from holding or obtaining a driver licence—60 penalty units ($8,271.00 as at September 2021) or 18 months imprisonment; or

(b) otherwise—40 penalty units ($5,514.00) or 1 year’s imprisonment.

The licence can be issued in another state of Australia or in another country, however, if the person takes up residency in Queensland, the non-Queensland licence cannot be used once the person has been in Queensland for three months under regulation 128(6) of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management—Driver Licensing) Regulation 2010 (Qld).

Further, if a person is disqualified from driving by any court in Australia, the non-Queensland licence cannot be used in Queensland even though it may be still valid in the state or country where it was issued.

A wide range of penalties can also be imposed depending on the circumstances of the offence.

Driving while disqualified by a court is regarded by the court as a serious offence, as it is a type of contempt of the court’s order. It is not unusual to see imprisonment imposed for a second or subsequent offence of this type. There are also various mandatory periods of disqualification for driving unlicensed in different circumstances.

When charging an individual with this offence, a person will be told through the charge process in what circumstances the unlicensed driving offence was committed and, as a result, will be able to determine any mandatory disqualification period.

Whatever the case is, we have a team of qualified traffic lawyers who strongly believe that everyone who makes a mistake should be given a second change. That’s why our lawyers always fight for what’s right, including minimum penalties and imprisonment terms based on an individuals circumstances.

In some cases, a person may be entitled to apply for a restricted work licence application. To find out more, navigate to this area.