High speed suspensions and hardship applications

How a high speed suspension works

This is an administrative suspension, not a court order. You are issued an infringement notice, the demerit points are recorded, and Transport and Main Roads sends a suspension notice.

• The suspension is six months, from a date set in the notice.
• It applies whether you pay the fine or elect to have the matter heard in court. Electing to go to court does not pause it.
• It applies to open and provisional licence holders. Learner licence holders cannot apply for a hardship order.
• It is separate from any demerit point suspension. If the eight points also tip you over the demerit threshold, you can be dealing with two suspensions at once.

The suspension is not appealable in the ordinary sense. A special hardship order does not overturn it. It permits limited driving during it, on conditions.

The 21 day window

The application is filed in a Magistrates Court after the suspension has started, and it must be filed within 21 days of the suspension commencing.

You also have to give a court-stamped copy of the application to Transport and Main Roads at least seven days before the hearing date. Miss that step and the hearing does not proceed.

Once the application is filed and stamped, the suspension is lifted until the day before your court date, so you can generally drive in the meantime. If the application is refused, the suspension resumes.

These deadlines are the single biggest reason applications fail. If you have received a suspension notice, work out the filing deadline the same day.

What the court has to be satisfied of

Two limbs, both on sworn evidence.

Fit and proper person

Assessed on your traffic history, the circumstances of the offence and what you say about it. Speed offences are treated poorly when the affidavit treats the reading as an accident.

Extreme or severe and unusual hardship

Either extreme hardship because you will lose your income, or severe and unusual hardship for another reason, which is a wider test than the work licence hardship limb. Transporting a family member to essential medical treatment is the classic example that fits the second branch.

Where the application is based on employment, an affidavit from your employer is required. Where it is based on another reason, medical or other supporting evidence is expected.

What the order looks like if you get it

You take the order to a transport and motoring service centre and are issued a replacement licence carrying an X3 condition code. That code means you may drive only while carrying the special hardship order and complying with it.

• A zero blood alcohol requirement applies whenever you drive.
• You must carry the order and produce it on request.
• A zero demerit point limit applies for the whole period of the order. Accumulate any demerit points and your licence is suspended for double the period of the order.
• Driving outside the terms of the order is an offence and carries a fresh disqualification.

That doubling rule is unforgiving. A single three point speeding ticket during a six month order produces a twelve month suspension with no further application available.