Driving While Suspended or Disqualified in Victoria: Penalties, Your Car and Your Options

By James Stevens, Director and Solicitor, Go To Court Lawyers. Last reviewed 10 April 2026.

In Victoria, driving while your licence is suspended or cancelled, or while disqualified, is one offence under section 30 of the Road Safety Act 1986, with a maximum of 240 penalty units ($50,184 from 1 July 2026) or 2 years' jail; the penalty is the same for a first or later offence, and jail is not mandatory.

Checked on 23 October 2026 against the Road Safety Act 1986 (Vic) (authorised version 237), the Road Safety (General) and (Drivers) Regulations 2019, the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic), the Spent Convictions Act 2021 (Vic), the Department of Justice and Community Safety's penalty unit value, Victoria Legal Aid and Victoria Police.

The offences and penalties

• One maximum: section 30 has no first, second or third offence levels; the maximum is the same each time.
• What must be proved: Victoria Legal Aid says the prosecution must prove that you drove on a road, and that your licence was suspended or cancelled or you were disqualified.
• Court, not an on-the-spot fine: driving while suspended or disqualified cannot be dealt with by an infringement notice, so it goes to the Magistrates' Court. Unlicensed driving can be: 2.5 penalty units ($522.75) where your licence recently expired or you recently held an interstate or overseas licence, or 5 penalty units ($1,045.50) otherwise.
• No demerit points attach to driving while suspended or unlicensed.
• A penalty unit is $209.10 from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027.

What the court can do

• No mandatory jail. The compulsory one-month term for a second offence was abolished on 1 May 2011. The court can fine you instead of, or as well as, any other order.
• Your licence: the court may suspend or cancel your licence and disqualify you for any period it thinks fit, or none; there is no minimum. Victoria Legal Aid says most magistrates extend the suspension.
• Sentencing options run from dismissal, discharge and an adjourned undertaking, through a fine and a community correction order, to jail. A fine, a community correction order or an adjourned undertaking can be made without recording a conviction. Suspended sentences and home detention no longer exist in Victoria.
• Recording a conviction depends on the offence, your character and history, and the effect on your work and life. A finding of guilt without a conviction is spent once any conditions are completed; an adult conviction is generally spent after 10 years without a further conviction.
• Your car's registration: the court can cancel the registration of a car you own that you were driving, and stop it being re-registered for a time.
• Appeal to the County Court within 28 days.

Your car: impoundment and forfeiture

• Police may impound or immobilise the car for 30 days, even for a first offence. A senior officer must review the decision within 48 hours.
• Costs: you pay the full cost of towing, storage, release and administration; Victoria Police charges $13.50 a day for storage once the car is overdue for collection. The costs are refunded if you are found not guilty, or if no charge is filed or proceeded with within 12 months.
• Early release for exceptional hardship: anyone substantially affected can apply to the Magistrates' Court while the car is held, giving police 7 days' written notice. Hardship to you is not considered if your suspension or disqualification is longer than the impoundment.
• Repeat offences: if you had another relevant offence in the previous 6 years (including hoon offences such as some drink driving, dangerous driving and burnouts), the court must, if police apply, order the car impounded or immobilised for 45 days (or up to 3 months), or forfeited; with two or more, it may order forfeiture. These orders cannot be made if the car was driven without the registered operator's knowledge or consent.
• Uncollected cars can be sold after 2 months, once the case and any appeal are over and 14 days' notice is given.

Defences and exceptions

• An honest and reasonable mistake in believing you could drive may be a defence; not knowing the law is not, Victoria Legal Aid says.
• If you did not know of the suspension or disqualification and are found not guilty for that reason, the court can still order a substitute period, up to the length of time you were unaware of it.
• Driving lessons and assessments allowed by the regulations are not an offence.
• No work licence: there is no special licence to drive to work or collect children during a suspension or cancellation.

Demerit points: suspension or a good behaviour period

• The notice: VicRoads must send a demerit point notice when a full licence holder reaches 12 points in 3 years, or a learner or P-plater who has never held a full licence reaches 5 points in 12 months or 12 in 3 years.
• Elect to extend: within 21 days you can choose a 12-month good behaviour period instead of a suspension. If you get no more points and no driving-offence suspension or cancellation in that time, the points are wiped.
• One more point during those 12 months means a suspension of 6 months plus 2 months for every 4 points over 12 (for a full licence), about double the usual period.
• If you do not elect, the suspension is 3 months plus 1 month for every 4 points over 12. It can take effect even if the notice came back undelivered, and driving during it is the section 30 offence.

Free help in Victoria

Victoria Legal Aid's Help Before Court service takes requests online, by phone, by chat or at an office; its intake team calls back within four business days, and eligible people are referred to a lawyer or a duty lawyer at court. The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service also runs a custody notification service, at all hours, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people held by Victoria Police.

How Go To Court Lawyers can help

Our free line, 1800 577 015, answers at any hour. Jen, our AI legal information assistant, gives general legal information and takes your details; Jen is not a lawyer and does not give advice about your case. A 60-minute consultation with a lawyer who practises in Victoria is a fixed $295, by phone, video or in person where the lawyer offers it. The lawyer can advise on the evidence, whether a conviction can be avoided, the likely licence outcome, and getting your car back early. Requests are taken at any hour; how soon a lawyer can see you depends on who is available. Request a $295 consultation.

General information only, not legal advice. Updated 23 October 2026. Checked against the Road Safety Act 1986 (Vic) (authorised version 237, as at 30 September 2026), the Road Safety (General) Regulations 2019 and Road Safety (Drivers) Regulations 2019 (as at 30 September 2026), the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic), the Spent Convictions Act 2021 (Vic), the Department of Justice and Community Safety's penalties and values page ($209.10 per penalty unit for 2026-27), Victoria Legal Aid and its LawHub pages, Victoria Police's vehicle impound page and the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, on 23 October 2026. VicRoads' own pages could not be read (a bot check); the demerit point rules are taken from the Act.