In Queensland if you are facing court for a drink driving or drug driving offence, if convicted or found guilty, you will lose your licence for a period of time. The court has no discretion to not impose a disqualification period.
What is a Work Licence?
However, the court has the power to issue a restricted licence (aka, a “work licence”), allowing someone to drive for purposes connected with their means of earning a living only during their period of licence disqualification. Work licences are available for both self-employed people, and people employed by someone else.
Work licence applications are common for people that rely on their licence for a living, or to get them to and from work. This includes:
- Self-employment
- Obscure working hours making public transport not an option (i.e. shift work late at night, or jobs where urgent call outs are required)
- Jobs that require use of a vehicle to carry products, equipment or tools (i.e. people working in the trades)
- Jobs that require attendance at multiple locations in a day
- Jobs that are at a location not accessible by public transport or taxis
Am I Eligible?
Strict eligibility requirements apply. Firstly, to be eligible for a work licence, you must be charged with one of the following offences:
- Low range drink driving (breath alcohol concentration of between 0.05% – 0.099%)
- Mid range drink driving (breath alcohol concentration of between 0.10% – 1.49%)
- Driving with a relevant drug present in your saliva
- Failure to provide a sample of breath at the roadside
- Being in charge of a motor vehicle with a breath alcohol concentration of under 0.15%
To be eligible, further eligibility criteria apply which include:
- You must hold a valid Queensland open drivers licence;
- You must not be a holder of a provisional licence;
- Your breath alcohol concentration must be below 0.15%;
- You must not have been driving for an activity that was directly connected with your employment at the time of the offence
- Your licence must not have been cancelled or suspended in the last 5 years;
- You must not have been previously convicted of drink driving, drug driving or dangerous driving in the last 5 years;
- You must not have been driving a truck, taxi or other special type of vehicles at the time of committing the offence.
Our lawyers will review your case and speak with you about your situation to provide you with advice on whether you are eligible to make a work licence application.
The Process
If you are eligible to apply for a work licence, you will need to submit an application form at court, as well as supporting evidence from you and your employer (if you have one). The evidence must be in the form of an affidavit (a sworn statement) and contain details about your employment, why a licence is required, why alternative transport is not possible, confirm that you will lose your job without your licence, and set out financial details confirming why you will fall into financial hardship without your licence.
If you are employed by someone, your boss, or the person who is directly in charge of the employment and dismissal of you, must provide an affidavit. A letter will not be sufficient.
It cannot merely be “inconvenient” for you to get to work. For example, if you work at an office, between office hours, approximately 1 hour away from your home, whilst it may be inconvenient for you to travel on public transport, it is not impossible. The court must be satisfied that driving your vehicle is the only option available to you.
The documents and affidavits required for court are complex, and need to follow the tests and requirements set out in the law for a court to be satisfied to issue you with a work licence. For that reason, it is important to engage an experienced traffic lawyer to prepare these documents for you.
During the hearing, the Magistrate will hear the facts of the charge, information about your criminal or traffic history, submissions that the prosecutor makes (and whether they oppose your application for a work licence) and submissions that your lawyer makes on your behalf about your background, employment, and why you should be granted a work licence. The Magistrate will then decide your penalty (including how long to disqualify you for) and whether or not to grant you a work licence during that disqualification period.
Our lawyers will speak with you in detail about how to prepare for the hearing, and how to place yourself in the best possible position for your application.
Things to Keep in Mind
If a work licence is granted to you, this is an order from the court, not a replacement licence. You must take that order to the Department of Transport and Main Roads before driving, who will issue you with your work licence.
If you are on a work licence, you are also on a provisional type licence during that period and therefore, conditions such as limited demerit points and a zero alcohol limit apply during the period of your work licence.
You must not drive for conditions outside of those on your work licence, or you can be charged with unlicensed driving and will need to face court again, with no further option to apply for a work licence.
If you go to court, plead guilty to one of the above offences, and subsequently are disqualified from driving and then after the fact, you call a lawyer asking about a work licence, it will be too late. You must apply for a work licence at the same time that you plead guilty to the charge. You cannot apply after you have already plead guilty.
Why Coates Davey Solicitors?
We put the hard work in so that you can get back on the road and continue providing for yourself and your family. Our lawyers will take the stress out of your court date and talk you through the process, discuss your charge, discuss the likely outcome at court, prepare your materials for the hearing, and represent you in court.
If you are facing court for a drink driving or drug driving offence, call us today on 07 3181 5668 and speak with one of our traffic and drink driving lawyers, so that you can be advised of your options and whether you are eligible to apply for a work licence. We provide a fixed fee service for work licence applications, and offer payment plans, so that you will have no hidden charges or unexpected bills.
Contact Coates Davey Solicitors Today
For further information, please contact our friendly team at Coates Davey Solicitors by phone on 07 3181 5668 or email [email protected].