Austroads Project Overseas Driver Licensing Policy Review is the final stage in consideration of the treatment of overseas issued driver licences by Australian States and Territories. Stage 1, completed in 2019,examined the arrangements and policy settings in force at that time relating to the recognition and use of overseas driver licences in Australia and New Zealand.
Australia’s Recognised Country Scheme (which is similar to that in place in New Zealand) has been in place nearly 20 years and provides for licences from certain countries to be converted to Australian licences, in some cases without any additional testing requirements. In addition, both countries are parties to international conventions, which allow visitors to drive on their overseas licences for a certain period of time.
In recent years, changed patterns of travel and migration to Australia have suggested the need for the scheme to be updated. Austroads has worked closely with Australian and New Zealand licensing authorities to ensure that the Scheme provide access to Australian roads for visitors, tourists and those taking up residence in Australia and continues to support road safe road use.
Stage 2 was designed to progress the recommendations from Stage 1 which addressed
- changing demographics
- licence verification challenges
- use of consulates and other sources of verification information
- tourists and temporary visa holders
- heavy vehicle licensing issues
- overseas licence holder road safety risks
- data gaps.
The key objective of Stage 2 was to ensure overseas drivers driving in Australia are appropriately regulated to maintain positive road safety outcomes. The Stage 2 Project has sought to develop evidence-based policy principles to enable overseas drivers, including those seeking to exchange an overseas licence for an Australian one, to be more effectively managed including:
- a maximum time period that an overseas licence holder is permitted to drive in Australia on an overseas licence
- recognition of overseas issued heavy vehicle licences
- revision of current standards used for the assessment of recognised countries to ensure their licensing regimes are comparable with those in force in Australia. (A recognised country is one whose licence training and assessment standards are assessed to be equivalent to those in force in Australia. Licence holders from those countries are permitted to transfer their licence for an equivalent class [C (motor car) and R (motorcycle) class only] of Australian licence without further testing)
- policy measures to reduce opportunity for driver licence fraud through inefficient document verification processes.
The project methodology included production and circulation of a scoping Issues Paper designed to define and clarify the policy questions under consideration and a jurisdiction survey to assess the parameters of acceptable policy options. The development of the recommendations considered the differential impact of possible policy settings on particular road user groups, their impact on road safety and the complexity of implementation. While national harmonisation was a critical consideration, the need for jurisdictions to be able to fine tune recommendations in response to local conditions remained a consideration.
A final Project Report discussed the policy options and proposed policy positions responding to each of the Stage 1 recommendations was endorsed by a Project Working Group representing all Australian jurisdictions and New Zealand and by the Austroads Registration and Licensing Task Force.
In summary the recommended policy positions include:
- recognition of overseas driver licences should be restricted to a limited period before the licence holder is required to convert to a local licence
- each jurisdiction will continue to manage the administration of demerit points and graduated licensing scheme participation for overseas licence holders under current procedures
- a Safe System approach to driver training and assessment should be incorporated into criteria for granting Recognised Country status to overseas countries
- revised assessment criteria, and application and review arrangements for Recognised Countries
- the development of a comprehensive framework for the provision of educational material to overseas visitors wishing to drive in Australia
- a review of briefing materials provided for those intending to transfer from an overseas licence to an Australian equivalent
- discussions with academic researchers to promote research, collection and analysis of data considering crash risk data for overseas licence holders including tourists
- a range of measures to share information about emerging concerns in the management of overseas issued licences with domestic and international licensing partners.
- The report also recommended the appointment of a working group to facilitate the implementation of the above recommended policy positions.
All the recommendations of Stage 2 were accepted by the Austroads Registration and Licensing Task Force and a final Stage 3 project has now commenced to guide implementation and transition to new policy arrangements.
The stage 3 project will address:
- recognition arrangements for overseas issued licences, including a revision of the Country Recognition scheme and the treatment of overseas issued heavy vehicle licences
- harmonisation of administration of transfers and alignment of licence classes
- the development of harmonised education and communications materials for visiting drivers and those wishing to transfer to local licences.
The project is scheduled to be completed in stages towards the end of 2024/early 2025.
Austroads will continue to work with licensing authorities to support the implementation of the recommendations to ensure overseas licensed drivers, including those seeking to transfer to an Australian licence can access the Australian road network effectively and safely.