The National Demerit Points system encourages safe and responsible driving, whether you’re on a state or national level. Depending on how many offenses you commit, you receive penalty points for it. If you continue to drive safely, abide by the rules and you have no demerit points accrued. If you commit a driving offense or an offense related to riding, you may be subject to a demerit point cap being applied to your driving or riding record. Offenses that are brought before the court come with a fine, and the fine that accompanies offending actions is assessed through the demerit point system. 

Each driver in NSW commences with zero demerit points. If you reach a particular number of demerit points accumulated during the time period, your license will be suspended. While driving anywhere in Australia, drivers can accrue demerit points. If you make an offense outside of the state of New South Wales, you may still have the demerit count for the offense applied to your New South Wales license.

Demerit point limits

The number of points you can accumulate before suspensions or refusal to renew is the demerit limit. And this is set by the state and is either a number or a percentage. In this case, you will be notified that your license has been suspended or simply refused. The date your suspension or refusal begins is usually included on the notice. In order to acquire how many demerit points per license, you first need to determine the type of your license.

• 4 points for learner license
• 4 points for provisional P1 license
• 7 points for provisional P2 license
• 14 points for professional drivers
• 13 points for an unrestricted license

License suspension

If you are given a license suspension, you are meant to stay away from driving. Driving while suspended is a criminal offense, and comes with heavy penalties, including imprisonment. If you hold a provisional P2 license and you are issued a suspension or refusal notice, you must remain on your P2 license for an additional six months. If you are a P2 license holder and issued a suspension notice, you must remain on your P2 license for an additional six months.

License refusal

If you have committed a severe speeding offense, the transport authority may refuse your license. Or, if you have exceeded your demerit limit, you may be denied the right to renew your license. A license may be refused for the same period of time as a license suspension. A formal refusal notice can only be sent to you after you visit a service center to try to renew your license or apply for a new license.

Demerit Points Duration

The number of demerit points you have on your license is active for a period of three years following the date of the offense. After 3 years, the points that you have accumulated will not count as active on your license and will not be added to any new demerit points you earn. But all your demerit count towards your driving record and stay on your license, even after the 3-year period. Breaking the law may lead to your old demerit points being taken into consideration when deciding your sentence.

The 40-month rule

Any offenses and their associated demerit are recorded within 4 months of the date of the offense. Sometimes an offense may not be recorded within the period. There might be other factors why these sometimes-delayed appeals might be resulting in longer waits.

Double demerit points

Driving offenses including speeding, motorcycle helmet, or seat belt offenses attract twice the number of demerit points over the holiday season.

School zones and Demerit Points

A few offenses that contribute additional points are committing a driving offense in a school zone. Schools have school speed zones in place on all school days, including school development days when teachers may be at the school. School zones or parts of a school zone during holiday periods will also incur double demerit.

 

Frequently Asked Questions