Demerit points and suspensions

Demerit points are a penalty imposed on your driver licence when you commit a traffic offence. Some offences don’t attract demerit points, but other penalties may apply.

Read about traffic and parking infringements.

Access Canberra (the Road Transport Authority) and the police issue suspensions. They are different to disqualifications which are imposed by a court.

If your licence has been disqualified your licence has been cancelled. You may be eligible for a probationary licence.

Read about probationary licences.

Maximum demerit point thresholds

When you get a driver licence, you start with zero demerit points.

You accumulate demerit points for offences. Your licence type determines how many demerit points you can accumulate before your licence is suspended.

Demerit points reset to zero when you upgrade from a learner licence to a provisional licence.

When you upgrade from a provisional licence to a full licence, or a full licence to a heavy vehicle licence, the demerit points carry over.

Check your demerit points total

If you want to know how many demerit points you’ve accumulated on your ACT driver licence, you can either:

• call Access Canberra on 13 22 81 or visit an Access Canberra Service Centre
• apply for a licence history search.

Read about licence records.

Suspensions

If, within 3 years, you reach or go over the maximum demerit point threshold for your licence type your licence will be suspended. In the case of probationary and restricted licences, they’ll be cancelled.

For example, full ACT driver licences have a maximum demerit point threshold of 12. Your licence will be suspended if you accumulate 12 or more demerit points within a 3-year period.

The 3-year period is calculated from the date of the offence. After 3 years from the offence, the demerit point will no longer be active, but is permanently recorded in your driver licence history.

If your licence is suspended you can’t drive for the entirety of the suspension period.

Suspension periods

The more you exceed the threshold in a 3-year period, the longer the period of suspension.

After suspension

Once your suspension period ends your active demerit point total will reset to zero.

If you have incurred further demerits following notification of the suspension or during the suspension period, these will apply to your licence once the suspension period ends.

Good behaviour instead of suspension

If you have a full ACT driver licence, you can elect (apply) to serve a 12-month good behaviour period instead of a suspension period.

This is not available to learner, provisional, probationary or restricted licence holders, or if you are on an existing good behaviour period.

You can make an election any time after you’ve been served with a notice of demerit point suspension.

Once the election is made, the good behaviour period starts the same day, or the day the suspension was meant to start - whichever happens last.

When the good behaviour period starts, your demerit point total resets to zero.

During the good behaviour period, your demerit point threshold is reduced to just 2 demerit points.

If you accumulate 2 or more demerit points during your good behaviour period you’ll be suspended for double your original suspension period.

For example:

1. You elect to serve a good behaviour period instead of a 3-month suspension. You have a 2 demerit point maximum threshold for that period.
2. During the good behaviour period you accumulate 2 demerit points.
3. Your licence is now suspended for 6 months – double what it was initially.

Apply for a good behaviour period

Complete a Good behaviour election or acknowledgement (PDF 161KB) form.

Submit it:

• in person at an Access Canberra Service Centre. Access Canberra will process the application during your visit.
• by email to lara@act.gov.au. Access Canberra will process your application within 5 business days.

Penalties for offences

The more severe your offence, the more demerit points you receive.

To avoid committing offences, read the ACT road rules handbook [PDF 5.5MB] [DOCX 4.7MB].