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apply before you’re sentenced
If you’ve been charged anywhere around Ipswich, Booval, Bundamba, Goodna, Springfield, Redbank, Ripley or Brassall, your drink or drug driving charge — and your work licence application — is heard at Ipswich Magistrates Court, 43 Ellenborough Street. Your work licence is applied for at the court where the charge is listed. Not sure where yours is? Call us and we’ll confirm it in a minute.
A work licence (properly a restricted licence) lets you keep driving for work during the disqualification that follows a drink or drug driving conviction. It’s only for low and mid range charges — a reading under 0.15 — and it has to be applied for before you’re sentenced. It’s a different thing to a special hardship order, which is for demerit-point and high-speed suspensions.
What it does
When to apply
The application must be filed and decided before you plead guilty and are sentenced for the drink or drug driving charge. Once you’re convicted without one, it’s too late — so getting advice early is everything.
You held an open Queensland licence when charged · reading under 0.15 · no drink/drug conviction or disqualification in the last 5 years · you’re a fit and proper person · and losing your licence would cause you or your family extreme hardship — usually loss of income.
Answer four quick questions and see roughly where you stand. This is general guidance, not a guarantee — the affidavit and how it’s argued are what win a work licence.
General guidance only, not legal advice. Confirm your answer with a lawyer on 1300 952 255, free.
Steven has written a complete guide to work licences in Queensland — who qualifies, what the application must prove, and the mistakes that see people convicted without one. Here’s the short version.
You’re a fit and proper person having regard to the safety of other road users, and losing your licence causes extreme hardship (to your income). Mere inconvenience is never enough.
A work licence (a restricted licence under s 87 of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act) applies to low and mid range drink or drug driving — a reading under 0.15. It must be applied for at the Magistrates Court hearing your charge, before you’re sentenced. High range, DUI and refusals don’t qualify; demerit-point and high-speed suspensions need a special hardship order instead.
Two things: that you are a fit and proper person to hold a work licence, and that refusing it would cause extreme hardship by depriving you of your means of earning a living. Inconvenience — or simply finding it hard to get or drive for work — is never enough on its own, which is why how the application is framed matters so much.
General information only, not legal advice. Every matter turns on its own facts — call 1300 952 255 for free, specific advice.
All of it included in the $2,990 fixed fee — quoted in writing before you commit.
Steven Brough · Founder · Queensland Law Society member · 25+ years in Queensland courts
Steven founded the firm in 2010, and work licence applications have been part of the practice from day one. We’ve kept thousands of Queenslanders driving for work after a drink or drug driving charge, right across South East Queensland.
Call us and you’ll speak with Belinda or Sara — no scripts, no queue, no being passed around. Belinda has 24 years in the legal industry and has taken thousands of these calls; the first thing she’ll do is put you at ease.
7am–7pm, 7 days · or request a phone conference
Belinda Smyth · Director & Client Services Manager · 24 years in the legal industry — she and Sara take your calls
Work licence applications for the Scenic Rim are heard together with your drink or drug driving charge at Beaudesert Magistrates Court, 43 Ellenborough Street. It serves the Scenic Rim farming district — and the bench our lawyers appear before regularly, which is exactly why we know what a magistrate here wants to see.
Ipswich Magistrates Court sits Monday to Friday and runs several courtrooms at once. A work licence application is heard together with your drink or drug driving charge — aim to arrive by 8:30am, and your lawyer will meet you, speak to the police prosecutor, and appear beside you when your matter is called.
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Your work licence is applied for at the same Magistrates Court that hears your drink or drug driving charge. For the Ipswich and West Moreton region — around Ipswich, Booval, Bundamba, Goodna, Springfield, Redbank, Ripley or Brassall — that’s Ipswich Magistrates Court, 43 Ellenborough Street. Not sure where your charge is listed? Call us and we’ll tell you in a minute.
Yes — critically, a work licence must be applied for and granted before you are sentenced. Plead guilty and get convicted first, and it’s too late. Get advice as soon as you’re charged.
If you’re employed (not a contractor or business owner), yes — they need to sign an affidavit confirming you’d lose your income without the licence. Self-employed? You won’t need an employer’s affidavit, but your own must cover your business, income and expenses in just as much detail.
You can apply to the court to vary your order — a new job, new hours or new address doesn’t mean starting again from scratch.
“Very professional and helpful getting the paperwork right for the work licence application, and in the courtroom it was very apparent he is highly experienced. Very happy with the result.”
rob tyler — Google review
Call now — free advice on whether you qualify for a work licence in the Scenic Rim, before you plead.
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