Drink driving offences vary depending on the blood alcohol concentration of the offender. The following tables provide a breakdown of various drink driving offences, as well as the penalty regimes associated with them.
Novice Range Drink Driving
Elements
Novice range drink driving is when a learner or provisional licence holder drives a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration between 0.001 and 0.019.
Penalties
The penalties that novice range drink driving will attract, depend on whether or not it is a repeat offence.
| 1st Offence (within a period of five years) | 2nd or Subsequent Offence | |
| Maximum Penalties | 6 months if you have not been convicted of another ‘major traffic offence’ within the previous 5 years | 3-month disqualification which can be reduced to 1 month, followed by 12 months during which you must have an interlock device installed to your vehicle, and |
| Permissible Reduction | The Magistrate can reduce that disqualification period to a ‘minimum’ of 3 months | The court can ‘exempt’ you from the interlock requirement and impose a 12 month disqualification period which can be reduced to 6 months, and a maximum fine of $3,300. |
| Maximum Fine | $2,200 | $3,300 |
Low Range Drink Driving
Elements
Low Range Drink Driving occurs when an individual drives a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration between 0.050 and 0.079.
Penalties
If convicted of low range drink driving without a section 10 or conditional release order, the court must disqualify you from driving.
| 1st Offence (within a period of five years) | 2nd or Subsequent Offence | |
| Maximum Penalties | 6 months if the individual has not been convicted of another ‘major traffic offence’ within the previous 5 years | 3-month disqualification which can be reduced to 1 month, followed by 12 months during which the individual must have an interlock device installed to their vehicle, and |
| Permissible Reduction | The Magistrate can reduce the disqualification period to a ‘minimum’ of 3 months | The court can ‘exempt’ an individual from the interlock requirement and impose a 12 month disqualification period which can be reduced to 6 months, and a maximum fine of $3,300. |
| Maximum Fine | $2,200 | $3,300 |
Mid Range Drink Driving
Elements
Mid range drink driving occurs when an individual drives a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of between 0.080 and 0.149.
Penalties
| 1st Offence (within a period of five years) | 2nd or Subsequent Offence (within a period of five years) | |
| Maximum Penalties | 9 months in prison6-month driver licence disqualification which can be reduced to 3 months, followed by 12 months during which the individual must have an interlock device installed to your vehicle, and a fine of $2,200 | 9-month licence disqualification which can be reduced to 6 months, followed by 24 months during which the individual must have an interlock device installed to your vehicle, and a fine of $3,300 |
| Permissible Reduction | The court can ‘exempt’ an individual from the interlock requirement and impose maximum penalties of up to 9 months in prison, 12-month licence disqualification which can be reduced to 6 months, and a fine of $2,200. | The court can ‘exempt’ an individual from the interlock requirement and impose maximum penalties of up to 12 months in prison, 3-year licence disqualification which can be reduced to 12 months, and a fine of $3,300 |
| Maximum Fine | $2,200 | $3,300 |
High Range Drink Driving
Elements
High range drink driving occurs when an individual drives a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of at least 0.150.
Penalties
| 1st Offence (within a period of five years) | 2nd or Subsequent Offence (within a period of five years) | |
| Maximum Penalties | 18 months in prison, 9-month driver licence disqualification which can be reduced to 6 months, followed by 24 months during which the individual must have an interlock device installed to your vehicle, and a fine of $3,300 | 2 years in prison, 12-month licence disqualification which can be reduced to 9 months, followed by 48 months during which the individual must have an interlock device installed to your vehicle, and a fine of $5,500 |
| Permissible Reduction | The court can ‘exempt’ an individual from the interlock requirement and impose maximum penalties of:up to 18 months in prison, 3-year licence disqualification which can be reduced to 12 months, and a fine of $3,300. | The court can ‘exempt’ you from the interlock requirement and impose maximum penalties of: up to 2 years in prison, 5-year licence disqualification which can be reduced to 2 years, and a fine of $5,500 |
| Maximum Fine | $3,300 | $5,500 |
Special Range Drink Driving
Elements
Special Range Drink Driving occurs when a special category licence holder drives with a blood alcohol concentration between 0.020 and 0.049.
Penalties
| 1st Offence (within a period of five years) | 2nd or Subsequent Offence(within a period of five years) | |
| Automatic Period of Disqualification and Maximum Penalties | The ‘automatic’ period of disqualification is 6 months if the individual has not been convicted of another ‘major traffic offence’ within the previous 5 years. | 3-month disqualification which can be reduced to 1 month, followed by 12 months during which the individual must have an interlock device installed to your vehicle, and a maximum fine of $3,300. |
| Permissible Reduction | The Magistrate can reduce the disqualification period to a ‘minimum’ of 3 months. | Alternatively, the court can ‘exempt’ you from the interlock requirement and impose a 12 month disqualification period which can be reduced to 6 months, and a maximum fine of $3,300. |
| Maximum Fine | $2,200 | $3,300 |
Automatic v Minimum Period of Disqualification
The automatic period of disqualification is the normal period of disqualification that comes with a drink driving offence. On the other hand, the minimum period of disqualification is the shortest possible period of disqualification. The court cannot order a period of disqualification less than the minimum period of disqualification.
Non-Conviction Orders
A section 10 dismissal or conditional release order can give rise to what is called a no-conviction order. This is where an offender will be found guilty by pleading or by other means, however, the Magistrate will not disqualify the offender or give them a criminal conviction. Non-conviction orders are likely to be awarded to those of good character who demonstrate remorse. These orders are not available in all circumstances and you will need to have the right circumstances to be successful in an application for non-conviction.
Habitual traffic offenders
The Habitual Traffic Offenders Declaration regime was abolished in 2017, though those who still have a declaration in place can be affected. Habitual Traffic Offenders Declarations were made are against those who are convicted of three more traffic offences within a five year period. Habitual offenders will be struck by 5 extra years of disqualification applied by RMS in addition to the period of disqualification imposed by a court. If you have a current declaration, you can apply to the Court to have this removed, along with any outstanding period of RMS disqualification attached.
‘Guideline Judgement’ on High range Drink Driving
As defined by the NSW Sentencing Council, “Guideline judgments are court decisions that give guidance to judges in relation to how they should sentence offenders. One purpose of guideline judgments is to reduce inconsistency in sentencing and help to make sure like cases are treated alike.” The guideline judgement on high range drink driving can be accessed here.