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About this tool
See whether Australia expects an international driving permit or English translation with your licence, and how long each state gives a new resident.
This checker tells you whether Australia expects an International Driving Permit or an official English translation alongside your overseas licence, and how long the state you are heading for lets you keep using it. Licensing is state and territory law, and every jurisdiction applies the same first test: if the licence is not in English, the driver must carry an IDP or an accepted English translation with it. The second test is status - a temporary visitor generally faces no deadline at all, while a permanent resident gets three months in most states and six in Victoria.
Open IDP Requirement Checker for Australia on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Add your input to the workspace.
Adjust the options until the result looks right.
Copy or download the output and put it to work.
Says whether your licence passes on language alone, which is the only question most states actually ask.
Separates the no-deadline temporary visitor case from the permanent-resident clock that starts the day residency does.
Adds the practical warnings that catch visitors: clockwise roundabouts, the 0.05 limit, and cashless city tolls.
Only if your licence is not in English. Every state and territory allows an overseas visitor to drive on a valid overseas licence, but where that licence is not in English the driver must carry an official English translation or an International Driving Permit with it. A UK, Irish, US, Canadian, New Zealand, Indian, Singaporean or South African licence is already in English and needs nothing extra.
As a temporary visitor, for as long as your visitor status lasts - there is no fixed limit. The deadline only starts when you become a permanent resident, and it is three months in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory, 90 days in South Australia, and six months in Victoria. The clock runs from the date permanent residency begins, not from the date you first arrived.
The left, with the steering wheel on the right. Roundabouts turn clockwise and you give way to the right, the reverse of continental Europe and North America. Overtaking is on the right. The blood-alcohol limit is 0.05 for a full licence holder and zero for anyone on a learner or provisional licence, and random breath testing is used heavily.
Sometimes without a test, depending on where it was issued. Each state keeps a recognised-country list, and the UK, Ireland, most of the EU, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea appear on most of them, allowing a straight conversion. Licences from countries not on the list usually mean starting the learner-to-provisional path, including a knowledge test and a practical driving test. This is general information rather than legal advice - check the current list with your state road authority.