If your licence is suspended but you need to keep driving, such as for work, you may be eligible to apply for a special hardship order.
To be eligible for a special hardship order, you must hold a Queensland provisional or open driver licence that has been suspended because you either:
- gained 2 or more demerit points while driving under a period of good driving behaviour for 1 year
- committed a high speed driving offence (more than 40km/h over the speed limit).
You must be able to prove:
- extreme hardship to you or your family by depriving you of your means of earning a living
- severe and unusual hardship to you or your family, other than by depriving you of your means of earning a living.
You are not eligible to apply for a special hardship order if, within the 5 years before your driver licence was suspended:
- your Queensland driver licence was cancelled or suspended, including if you were granted a special hardship order
- you were disqualified from holding or obtaining a Queensland driver licence
- your authority to drive in Queensland on a non-Queensland driver licence was suspended
- you were made ineligible to apply for a Queensland driver licence because you either
- incurred excessive demerit points
- were convicted of driving more than 40km/h over the speed limit while unlicensed
- you were convicted of operating a vehicle dangerously.
There are further considerations and exceptions to the above information. You only get one chance at applying for a special hardship order and if you make any mistakes or leave out important information your application will fail. If in doubt, make sure you contact a lawyer before going to court.