Alcohol and drugs, including some drugs given to you by a doctor, can seriously affect your driving. They can slow your reaction times and affect your senses.
You risk causing death and serious injury to yourself and other people if you drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
The impact of alcohol on driving safely
The impact of medication on driving safely
The impact of illegal drugs on driving
The law says you must not drive if the amount of alcohol in your blood or breath exceeds certain age-related limits.
There's a zero alcohol limit if you're under 20. That means if you drive after consuming even one drink you can be charged with drink-driving.
You must not drive if you have more than 250 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath, or more than 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.
Indefinite disqualifications or alcohol interlocks for repeat offences
It's difficult to say how many alcoholic drinks you can have before you reach these limits. It depends on many things, including:
Because even small amounts of alcohol can affect your driving, the best advice is: if you drink at all, don’t drive.
The law also says you must not drive if you've taken any type of drug that may affect your driving ability.
Offences and penalties apply if you take any of 25 specific drugs above the legal limit for driving.
These drugs could be ingredients in a range of prescription medications or illegal drug products.
If you're prescribed medication, make sure you understand and follow the instructions given to you by your doctor, pharmacist or the manufacturer.
If you're unsure whether your medication may affect your ability to drive, or if you're experiencing any side-effects, don't drive.
List of 25 drugs covered by the law(external link)
You can be stopped by the police and tested at any time for alcohol and drugs. The police can use the following tests to see if you've been drinking or taking drugs.
The police officer will place a hand-held device in front of your mouth and ask you to talk into it. This will show if you have recently drunk any alcohol. If any alcohol is detected, a breath screening test will be required.
The police officer will give you a small electronic device, and will ask you to blow into it. If your alcohol level is high, you'll be asked to take an evidential breath test or have a blood test.
This is an electronic device you blow into, which gives a reading that can be used in court as evidence of your breath–alcohol concentration.
If you have a blood test, a medical doctor or other approved person will take a sample of your blood to be tested for alcohol or drugs.
The officer will give you some device pads to wipe on your tongue to absorb your saliva. A positive result of this test means the officer will take an oral fluid lab test.
The officer will give you a pad to place under your tongue to absorb saliva. It's different to the screening test. The lab tests the levels of drugs in your system using the pad.
This includes an eye assessment, a walk and turn, and a one leg stand assessment. If you fail you may be forbidden to drive and required to have a blood test.
A police officer can ask you to take a passive breath test, breath screening test or a drug screening test if:
You must wait with the officer for the result of the test.
If the test shows you've been drinking or have drugs in your system, you must:
If you don’t comply, you may be arrested.
You may also be forbidden from driving for 12 hours.
A compulsory impairment test can be required if a police officer has good cause to suspect you're impaired by drugs. This could be because of your erratic driving, or if you've been stopped for another reason and appear to be under the influence of drugs.
You may:
If your blood test shows you're over the legal limit, you'll be given a copy of the blood test certificate.
You may ask for your blood sample to be tested by an independent analyst. If you want this to happen, it’s important that you talk to a lawyer as soon as possible.
If drugs are detected in your system from prescribed medication, a medical defence may be used to dispute the infringement. But you can't use a medical defence at the time of testing.
These tables show some of the penalties for driving offences relating to alcohol and drugs.
Demerit points – alcohol and drugs
|
Offence |
Amount of alcohol |
Penalty |
|||
|
|
Blood |
Breath |
Prison |
Fine |
Disqualification or suspension of licence |
|
You kill or injure someone when driving after drinking too much or taking drugs |
More than |
More than 400 micrograms per litre |
Up to 10 years |
Up to $20,000 |
First or second offence - one year or more Third or subsequent offence - more than one year |
|
You drive, or try to drive, after drinking too much or taking drugs |
More than 80mg per 100ml |
More than 400 micrograms per litre |
First and second offences |
||
|
Up to three months |
Up to $4500 |
Six months or more |
|||
|
Third and subsequent offences |
|||||
|
Up to two years |
Up to $6000 |
More than one year |
|||
|
You drive, or try to drive, after drinking too much |
More than 80mg per 100ml |
More than 400 micrograms per litre |
Second and subsequent offences |
||
|
The court may impose a 'zero alcohol licence' in addition to the penalties listed above |
|||||
|
You drive, or try to drive, after drinking too much |
More than 160mg per 100ml |
More than 800 micrograms per litre |
First and subsequent offences |
||
|
The court may impose an alcohol interlock disqualification with an accompanying three month disqualification period as an alternative to the penalties listed below |
|||||
|
You drive, or try to drive, after drinking too much or |
More than |
More than 150 micrograms per litre |
Up to three months |
Up to $2250 |
Three months or more |
|
You refuse to give blood when asked by a police officer, doctor or approved person |
First and second offences |
||||
|
Up to three months |
Up too $4500 |
Six months or more |
|||
|
Third and subsequent offences |
|||||
|
Up to two years |
Up to $6000 |
More than one year |
|||
|
You refuse to go with a police officer for an evidential breath test or blood test |
|
Up to $4500 |
As decided by the court |
||
|
You are in charge of a vehicle after drinking too much or taking drugs and you do not hand over the keys when asked by a police officer |
|
Up to $10,000 |
|
||
|
Offence |
Penalty |
||
|
|
Prison |
Fine |
Disqualification or suspension of licence |
|
You drive, or try to drive, drug impaired but no one is injured, or fail or refuse to do the impairment test |
First or second offence |
||
|
Up to three months |
Up to $4500 |
At least six months |
|
|
Third or subsequent offence |
|||
|
Up to two years |
Up to $6000 |
More than one year |
|
|
You drive drug impaired causing injury or death |
Up to three years |
Up to $10,000 |
One year or more |
|
You drive carelessly causing injury or death with class A drugs in the blood |
Up to three years |
Up to $10,000 |
Once year or more |
Your licence will be suspended at the roadside if you refuse to have a blood test, or if you're found to have a certain amount of alcohol in an evidential breath or blood test.
The penalties described above may be increased substantially for repeat offences.
If you commit 2 alcohol-related offences within a 5-year period and one of those offences involves:
then you'll be:
If you commit an alcohol-related offence and:
then you could be:
Download Factsheet 55: Driving offences and penalties [PDF, 264 KB]
