Driving offences 1788-present
Offences for unauthorised driving (driving unlicenced or while suspended or disqualified) disproportionately impact Aboriginal people. Barriers to getting a driver licence and suspensions from unpaid fines, especially in remote areas with limited transport, contribute to this issue. These factors increase Aboriginal incarceration rates and deepen broader social and economic disadvantage. Despite recent reforms, major challenges persist.
Low rates of licence ownership
A large proportion of Aboriginal people in New South Wales do not hold a driver licence. In 2013, it was estimated that fewer than half of eligible Aboriginal people were licenced, compared to approximately 70% of non-Aboriginal people (). This gap has serious implications. Research has found that ‘unlicensed driving… is one of the leading causes behind the rapid rise in rates of Aboriginal incarceration’ ().
Aboriginal people can face a range of systemic barriers in obtaining and renewing a licence (, , ):
- Fulfilling learner requirements: There is often limited access to fully licenced drivers to supervise learners. In 2011, there were only 2.8 Aboriginal unrestricted licence holders per learner, compared to 13.1 for non-Aboriginal people.
- Vehicle access: Research shows that fewer Aboriginal people own vehicles. In 2006, over ‘23% of Aboriginal households did not own a vehicle, compared to 5% of other households’.
- Financial Barriers: Costs associated with licensing, vehicle ownership, and maintenance have been identified as significant hurdles for Aboriginal people.
- Proof of Identity: Obtaining birth certificates to gain a licence has also been identified as a challenge for Aboriginal people located in remote areas due to costs, the administrative process and logistical barriers.
Licence suspension and the cycle of disqualification
In New South Wales, most licence suspensions happen due to unpaid fines (). In 2013, Aboriginal drivers were more than three times as likely to have their licence suspended for unpaid fines compared to non-Aboriginal drivers ().
Licence suspension can lead to a cycle of unauthorised driving, court-imposed disqualification periods, and escalating penalties, including imprisonment, if a person continues to drive.
This cycle is especially difficult to break for Aboriginal people, particularly in regional and remote communities, because of the barriers to getting a licence and the impacts of not having a licence, discussed above and below.
Impacts of not having a licence
Not having a licence can have far-reaching consequences. Access to transport is essential for an individual’s health, wellbeing, and economic participation in their community. For Aboriginal people in remote areas, with limited or no public transport, driving is often a necessity rather than a choice (, ).
The inability to obtain or maintain a licence severely limits access to employment and education. This contributes to social exclusion and poorer health outcomes (, ). As highlighted by the Commonwealth Parliament’s Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs:
Assisting Indigenous people to obtain drivers licences is critical in relation to improving Indigenous disadvantage... Gaining a driver’s licence can open doors to education and employment opportunities, especially in regional and remote areas ().
A licence is often a prerequisite for employment, making it a critical factor in efforts to reduce poverty and improve life outcomes in Aboriginal communities (). Lengthy periods of licence disqualification have been described as a ‘death sentence’ for a person’s social and economic participation in remote communities, compounding their isolation and disadvantage ().
Impacts of criminalising unauthorised driving
The criminalisation of unauthorised driving has contributed to the over-representation of Aboriginal people in the criminal legal system. In New South Wales, 1 in 20 Aboriginal inmates are serving a prison sentence for driving offences ().
In 2007, Aboriginal people living in New South Wales were reported to be 21 times more likely to be imprisoned for unauthorised or unlicensed driving than the general population (, ).
Additionally, ‘the relative proportion of disqualified drivers (relative to licence suspensions) is much higher in regional New South Wales than in metropolitan areas.’ This is because the police are more likely to find disqualified drivers in smaller communities, and people are more likely to drive due to limited public transport options.
Aboriginal communities in these regional areas face disproportionately high rates of long-term disqualification periods, restricting their access to employment, healthcare, and other essential services, further entrenching cycles of disadvantage ().
In 2013, the New South Wales Legislative Assembly’s held an inquiry into licence disqualification reform. The Aboriginal Legal Service highlighted the impact of court-imposed penalties and disqualification periods for Aboriginal people charged with unauthorised driving offences in regional areas:
When it comes to court, the lack of sentencing options in the bush exponentially increases the chance of jail terms being imposed for these types of offences when they would not be imposed in the city. The result is an insidious, unfair manipulation of issues which only exacerbates disadvantage. The inequity based on geography and the effects of the regime to either lock up or lock out Aboriginal people from mainstream society is resulting in a racially defined criminalised underclass ().
The Inquiry’s final report noted this was supported by other evidence presented during the proceedings ().
Changes to the Law
In 2017, changes to the law were made to reduce unnecessary imprisonment and to provide fairer outcomes for people charged with driving offences (, , ).
Key changes included:
- Abolishing mandatory penalties for unauthorised driving offences (ie driving whilst unlicensed, suspended or disqualified).
- Introducing minimum and automatic disqualification periods, which courts can then adjust within limits.
- Allowing disqualification periods to run at the same time, instead of one after the other.
Although these reforms have helped to reduce imprisonment rates for driving offences, Aboriginal people are still more likely than non-Aboriginal people to be imprisoned for these types of offences (, ).
For more information
This part of Towards Truth highlights criminal offences that have had a particularly disproportionate impact on Aboriginal people in NSW. See also Contemporary Policing (coming soon) which considers the impact of police discretion and other policing practices.
The law and policy in this subject is accurate as of 1 December 2025.