Talk:Driver licences in Australia

For Commerce?
Despite being a popular theory by Sovereign Citizens, each of the Australian States and Territories requires a drivers license whether or not for commerce.. We should remove the phrase "for commerce" in the intro. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:8003:54C9:7D00:4032:63F:B92C:D8C6 (talk) 06:36, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Western Australia Learner Driver Laws
WA has changed their Learner driver laws, now after passing Phase 1 Learner (the practical assessment) you must remain on your L's for 6 months AND do 25hrs with a supervisor.

Introduction of Red Ps and Green Ps - red for the 1st 6 months after passing Phase 2 and Green for 1.5years. (total of 2yrs) Red P's cannot drive between 12am-5am, unless for work/study etc. 0% BAC for all P Platers.

The 0% BAC and 12-5am curfew applies from July 1 2008 and the 6months on Phase 2 applies to everyone who obtains their Ls after the 30 June 2008. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.50.106.212 (talk) 08:02, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

Moving States: NSW to Victoria
If you have a NSW P1 licence and you are under 18, do you have to wait on your NSW licence until you turn 18, or must you transfer to Victorian Ls within 3 months? Can one continue to drive legally under an interim licence? If you must transfer, does one automatically receive their Ps on their 18th birthday? Or must they resit the test (in Victoria) after their birthday?

These questions should be answered in this article, as it is potentially confusing and difficult to find such answers through the motor registries' websites. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.84.13.56 (talk) 02:48, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

can any learner driver licence carry more than one passenger in NSW??

Article name
A new user changed the name of this article. I propose to revert the name back to Driver's licence in Australia. This reflects current Australian English language usage. Ozdaren (talk) 15:31, 16 November 2011 (UTC)
 * I moved the page so that the naming is consistent with the other pages in Category:Driving licences by country and also so that the page is properly bolded in the infobox at the bottom of the page. I don't have any objections to moving it back, but the infobox templates have to be fixed. YumOooze (talk) 03:22, 17 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Also, according to the Driver's license page it is known as a "driving licence" in Australia. If this needs to be changed then someone should fix it. YumOooze (talk) 03:25, 17 November 2011 (UTC)

Requested move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the proposal was no consensus to rename.

I will note also that the lead sentence in these articles refer to the topic as singular, consistent with the article title. Renaming may introduce some awkwardness in attempts to rephrase the lead to match the topic. These articles then go on to describe undeniably plural driving licence classes, but that is a sub-topic of the overall article about a driving licence as issued by a country. ~Amatulić (talk) 20:28, 9 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Driving licence in Australia → ?
 * Driving licence in Albania → ?
 * Driving license in Bangladesh → ?
 * Driving licence in Brazil → ?
 * Driving licence in Bulgaria → ?
 * Driving licence in Canada → ?
 * Driving licence in Croatia → ?
 * Driving licence in Cyprus → ?
 * Driving licence in Denmark → ?
 * Driving licence in Finland → ?
 * Driving licence in Hong Kong → ?
 * Driving licence in India → ?
 * Driving licence in Indonesia → ?
 * Driving license in Iran → ?
 * Driving licence in the Republic of Ireland → ?
 * Driving licence in Israel → ?
 * Driving license in Japan → ?
 * Driving licence in the Republic of Macedonia → ?
 * Driving licence in Malaysia → ?
 * Driving licence in Mexico → ?
 * Driving licence in New Zealand → ?
 * Driving licence in the Netherlands → ?
 * Driving licence in Norway → ?
 * Driving licence in Pakistan → ?
 * Driving license in the Philippines → ?
 * Driving licence in Romania → ?
 * Driving licence in Russia → ?
 * Driving license in South Korea → ?
 * Driving licence in Singapore → ?
 * Driving licence in South Africa → ?
 * Driving licence in Sri Lanka → ?
 * Driving licence in Sweden → ?
 * Driving license in Taiwan → ?
 * Driving licence in the United Kingdom → ?
 * Driver's license in the United States → ?

– Rename Driving licence in Foo to either Driving licences in Foo or Fooian driving licence. This current article naming scheme is grammatically incorrect. The focus of these articles is the physical driving licence, which is a countable noun. Since each of these articles is a treatment of the whole class of that country's driving licences rather than any single person's licence, if kept in this format they need to be in plural, in the way Elections in Foo articles are not titled Election in Foo and Highways in Foo articles are not Highway in Foo. 202.28.181.200 (talk) 02:23, 1 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I understand your reasoning, however, "Driving license" is a proper title simply because it is referring to a specific document. Of course there are multiple driving licenses in all those countries above, but the title refers to the document. Highways, on the other hand, should be in plural because one highway may differ from another, whereas driving licenses are often nationally identical, except, of course, for the data contained on it. Not sure if I was clear; let's wait for more input from other users. Victão Lopes  I hear you... 04:57, 1 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I should point out that the idea that the title refers to just a single specific document is incorrect in at least one case: The U.S. There are at least fifty-one (and in actuality, many more) different driver's licenses in the U.S., so using the singular is blatantly incorrect.  Even in countries with only a single administering jurisdiction, though, surely they have different licenses for different categories of driver?  Learning permits, commercial licenses, restricted licenses, etc.?  Powers T 18:54, 2 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Well, it depends on the country...in mine, all licenses are identical, the difference between an ordinary driver's license and a bus/truck/taxi driver's is a single letter. Education does not equal common sense.'s argument is the same as mine, take a look below. Victão Lopes  I hear you... 22:31, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

(edit conflict!)
 * A similar issue arises in the case of passports - most countries issue a variety, but this is accommodated without difficulty in the respective articles. RashersTierney (talk) 20:49, 2 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Oppose - I'd prefer to see Driver's licence in Foo, as this is the natural way it would be said in a sentence. Example: What are the requirements to get my driver's licence in Foo? Or: What do I have to do to exchange my driver's licence? Not: What are the requirements to get my driving licences in Foo? The only question is, variety of English, driving licence or driver's licence/license. However as a general rule we use singular form, unless it is a term that is always used in the plural, this is not the case with driver's licences, as we do speak of a driver's license, the requirements for obtaining a driver's licence, etc... Again if certain varieties of English prefer driving licence, it still remains singular, we would speak of a driving licence, the requirements for obtaining a driving license.--Education does not equal common sense. 我不在乎  05:07, 1 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Comment - 'Fooian driving licence' or 'Fooian driver's licence' (personally tend slightly towards the latter) would at least follow the convention we use wrt passports eg British passport, South African passport, Hong Kong passport etc. RashersTierney (talk) 09:49, 1 August 2012 (UTC)
 * And then you have Education in Canada, Education in Switzerland, naming convention! (I do not oppose 'Fooian driver's licence', but we might then get into consistency questions, like American/US/United States, some flow better, some don't)--Education does not equal common sense. 我不在乎  14:11, 1 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I don't see a convincing parallel. Specifically, other identity documents follow the 'adjective preceding noun' convention eg German identity card, Spanish identity card etc. RashersTierney (talk) 14:57, 1 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Oppose : The current format seems simple enough. Why complicate it further? Some people may not know that entities of Australia is Australian or Pakistan is Pakistani.--Rsrikanth05 (talk) 15:14, 1 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Oppose. And certainly do not support changing everything to "Driver's licence" unless the country is English-speaking and uses that form, as this is a WP:ENGVAR issue. The articles have been created under the British term (driving licence) and should not be altered to the North American term (driver's licence/license) unless that is the commonly used version within the country (as it appears it is in some cases). -- Necrothesp (talk) 16:12, 1 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Support; this is a case that clearly calls for the WP:PLURAL, as we're talking about a class of items here. The plural also parses better with the "in " modifier: "What am I reading?  I'm reading about driving licenses in Mexico."  One wouldn't say "I'm reading about driving license in Mexico."  Powers T 22:43, 2 August 2012 (UTC)
 * That renaming would also appear to be more in keeping with information for tourists etc. travelling on their home licenses, as addressed for example at 'General' at this page. RashersTierney (talk) 10:16, 3 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I'm not seeing it, does not seem to be one of the exceptions in WP:PLURAL. Also, one would ask, where do I get my driver's license in Mexico, not where do I get my driver's licences in Mexico. The term is not always used in the plural. (Yes yes, driving licence for British English if that is really what is used there! ).--Education does not equal common sense. 我不在乎  16:52, 3 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Looks like they call it a "Driver Licence" in NSW. poster.--Education does not equal common sense. 我不在乎  16:57, 3 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Yes, I'm aware that the singular would be used in your example sentence, but I don't understand why your example sentence ought to determine whether we use singular or plural here. One does not go to an encyclopedia to find legal details like which office you must visit to get your license picture taken.  Powers T 16:01, 4 August 2012 (UTC)
 * If we are talking about a class of documents, then the plural form does in fact apply per WP:PLURAL. RashersTierney (talk) 09:05, 4 August 2012 (UTC)
 * In the case of the US/Canada/Australia I could see where it might be interpreted as a class of documents, as each state/province has it's own driver's licence, and you can only legally have one from one jurisdiction*. But I do not see this article following the "class" sense defined in the guideline.--Education does not equal common sense. 我不在乎   18:07, 4 August 2012 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Include information on Motorcycle Licensing?
Should this article include information on Licenses to ride Motorcycles? There is a mention of the different age in NSW to obtain a Motorcycle Learner's permit but no information on the different icense requirements. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.168.4.59 (talk) 09:06, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

Table format
Would the "rules by jurisdiction" section be more readable if presented as a table? -- Chuq (talk) 02:51, 2 March 2015 (UTC)

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GVM
You said GVM can exceed legal weight restrictions, but usually GVM is by definition the legal weight limit. Does Australia have different regulations in this regard? ExcitedEngineer (talk) 21:23, 8 July 2020 (UTC)

My understanding is that manufacturers will give a range because most trucks are custom-built, in that you specify what you need rather than buy off-the-shelf like you would with a car. As such, a manufacturer will rate a vehicle as having a certain GVM for legal purposes and this will be stamped on the vehicle's compliance plate, but the real and advertised GVM could be higher. You can purchase an Isuzu FVR 1000 4x2 2-axle truck in Australia with an advertised GVM of 16,500kg and a GCM of 32,000kg, but the maximum legal GVM is 15,000kg for that truck. So, the manufacturer's recommended GVM in its brochure is 1500kg more than the legal allowable GVM. You'd need to look at the compliance plate to find out the GVM based on its classification. It all gets much more complicated when you start looking at the GVM of trailers. Multiple trailers may have individual GVM limits that could exceed the GCM (gross combined mass) limit. GVM relies on a balanced load and not exceeding the axle ratings, so you may not be able to load to the GVM anyway. GVM is determined by the upper of the vehicle's engineered rigidity or the number of axles. So, it doesn't matter how strong the vehicle is, if you have 2 axles, 15,000kg is the maximum GVM and that also includes the load on any tow coupling (in Australia, that is). However, to go back to the original point, for simplicity, perhaps leave it as you have it as I think we're just dealing in semantics and edge cases. Motorracer (talk) 10:59, 12 July 2020 (UTC)