South Australia drink driving: check your notice, penalty and next step

Which paper have you received?

Scroll the tables sideways to compare all columns.

One incident can produce more than one document. Keep them together and explain the earliest date first. A notice is not cancelled just because you have asked for advice or booked a consultation.

Identify the offence and the applicable alcohol limit

Under Road Traffic Act sections 47–47B, an ordinary fully authorised driver of a nonprescribed vehicle must be below 0.05. Category 1 PCA covers an unlawful concentration below 0.08, including some zero-limit cases below 0.05; category 2 is 0.08 to below 0.15 and category 3 is 0.15 or above.

The Motor Vehicles Act imposes zero-alcohol conditions on learners, provisional drivers, including P1 and P2, and probationary drivers. Other licence and vehicle rules can also require zero. Prescribed-vehicle rules cover specified heavy vehicles, buses, passenger-for-hire and dangerous-goods cases; they do not mean every person who drives professionally has the same rule.

PCA concerns the unlawful alcohol concentration. DUI under section 47 concerns driving or attempting to drive while so affected that effective control cannot be exercised; it can arise below 0.05. Refusing a lawful alcohol-test direction is another separate offence. Read the exact charge rather than treating every allegation as the same offence.

Do not estimate whether you are legally fit to drive from a drink count or how you feel. Arrange another way home and check any police direction or licence restriction.

Compare selected first-offence court penalties

The table summarises selected first-offence provisions in sections 47, 47B and 47E. Amounts are Australian dollars. These are court fines and ordinary minimum disqualification periods, not a prediction of sentence or an all-inclusive cost. The court can impose a longer disqualification; levies, costs, demerits and licensing consequences are separate.

The first-offence label needs checking against statutory drink/drug-driving history. Previous category 1 convictions generally use a three-year lookback and other specified convictions five years. Repeat penalties rise. Administrative licence loss can count expiations as well as convictions, and the interlock test is different again.

A first offence found trifling on the required sworn evidence can permit a reduction below the ordinary minimum, but not below one month. This is a narrow statutory test, not an automatic hardship discount for needing a car for work.

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There is no separate PCA prison tier simply because BAC reaches 0.20. Other offences, including DUI or charges involving injury, can change the exposure. Refusal defences and blood-testing offences need separate advice; this table is not exhaustive.

Police licence loss and applications to the court

Under section 47IAA, police may give a notice where the statutory reasonable-belief requirements are met for listed offences. For alcohol-related cases these include category 2 and 3 PCA and breath-test refusal. A DUI allegation under section 47 alone is not itself listed in that provision; another covered offence or licensing rule may still apply.

A notice ordinarily operates when given. An alcohol-related notice can expressly postpone commencement for 48 hours; do not assume that delay applies to you. The outer notice period is six months for category 2 and 12 months for category 3 or section 47E breath-test refusal, subject to earlier statutory ending events such as court determination, withdrawal or a relevant court order.

Under section 47IAB, the Magistrates Court can consider a supported application on specified grounds. These include a reasonable prospect of acquittal with no other covered offence, unreasonable delay without charges, and qualified first-offence trifling or category-reduction cases. Evidence and service on the Commissioner are required. Needing to drive for employment is not a general work-licence entitlement.

Get advice promptly and bring the complete notice, test result and charge information. An application does not itself lift the restriction. The Act contains credit and commencement rules for a later disqualification; confirm the actual orders rather than adding the periods together or deciding that time has expired.

Payment, review and appeal use different clocks

The current eligible category 1 expiation fee is $904 plus the applicable levy, with four demerit points: see the expiation-fee regulation, demerit-point regulation and official penalty table. Eligibility is governed by section 47B, including age and prior-offence requirements. Do not assume every reading below 0.08 qualifies.

Under the Expiation of Offences Act, expiation does not constitute a conviction or admission of guilt. It can nevertheless affect licence conditions, demerits and subsequent administrative consequences. Motor Vehicles Act section 81C provides a separate repeat category 1 disqualification scheme with its own history test and exceptions. Paying does not guarantee that you keep your licence.

Get advice before payment, entering an arrangement or electing court if you want to challenge the matter. Court election exposes you to the court process and penalties; it is not a request to pay a smaller ticket. Follow the notice and confirm any changed due date or enforcement status.

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The SAPOL review portal is for a review request, not a court election or payment arrangement. Ordinary criminal appeal timing comes from the Magistrates Court Act and Joint Criminal Rules 184–185; it is not a universal period for every police or Service SA notice.

Preserve testing evidence and prepare for the actual court date

The Road Traffic Act testing and evidence provisions and testing regulations have detailed requirements. The eight-hour testing power and qualified three-hour evidential presumption serve different purposes. There is no simple rule that a test after two hours makes the charge invalid, or that every evidential test must occur at a police station.

Keep the written result, exact driving and test times, directions and any blood-test kit or paperwork. Record relevant medical circumstances and obtain advice promptly about preserving evidence. A medical difficulty is not an automatic defence to refusal, and a lower later blood result does not by itself defeat an earlier breath analysis.

The Legal Services Commission guide explains common court and testing issues. Check the actual summons and required response. Some qualifying matters can use a formal written plea procedure; do not assume an email, telephone call or failure to attend counts as a valid plea.

Under Criminal Procedure Act sections 57–62C, the court may in appropriate circumstances deal with a matter in a defendant’s absence or issue a warrant, with procedural safeguards. Neither outcome is automatic in every case. Contact your lawyer and the registry promptly if you cannot attend or have missed a date.

Adelaide and regional matters use the court named on the papers. A first listing may concern the plea or next steps rather than complete a contested hearing. There is no reliable universal completion time. Ask about the record, employment, insurance or overseas-travel consequences relevant to you; they cannot be settled by one general promise about all drink-driving cases.

Interlocks, licence return and an impounded vehicle

The mandatory interlock scheme under Motor Vehicles Act section 81E applies to specified serious drink-driving cases. It includes category 3, alcohol DUI and specified refusals. Category 2 has a separate qualifying previous-conviction test; a previous category 1 case alone does not trigger it. An interlock does not permit driving during disqualification.

When eligible to return, you must obtain the appropriate licence and comply with the nominated-vehicle and functioning-device requirements. The statutory minimum period is calculated from the relevant disqualification periods, subject to a three-year cap in that calculation, but final-three-month compliance and excluded-time rules can extend actual participation. Do not assume the device can always be removed after a fixed calendar period.

The regulation 85 medical exemption is narrow: physical inability to operate the device and impracticability of modification are relevant. Do not assume financial hardship or living remotely creates an exemption. Confirm current installation, servicing, removal and licensing charges through the official interlock information route; older brochure prices are not a current quote.

Use Service SA’s return-to-licensing guidance to identify the administrative steps, and confirm the actual notice and requirements. Finishing a disqualification period alone does not authorise driving. Other licence conditions or assessment requirements may apply; do not drive until properly licensed and permitted.

Vehicle clamping or impounding is a separate power under the Clamping, Impounding and Forfeiture Act and prescribed-offence regulations. The ordinary police period is 28 days, with qualifications and possible early release. Where an expiation notice is issued, the power is not available unless the notice is withdrawn or the person elects prosecution. Do not assume every drink-driving allegation automatically results in impoundment.

Keep the vehicle notice and follow the SAPOL collection and early-release route. Statutory grounds and the applicant’s relationship to the vehicle matter; the alleged offender cannot use the particular third-party severe-hardship application simply for their own hardship. Ask about the actual release decision and current charges. This guide does not quote old impound fees or promise a refund.

Seven things to prepare before seeking advice

1. Keep every police, expiation, court and Service SA document, including both sides and attachments. Record the offence, file number and earliest date.
2. Record your licence type and conditions, the vehicle involved, the reading, and when the notice was given and starts. Arrange transport if driving is prohibited.
3. Keep the test result, driving and testing times, directions, blood-test paperwork and relevant medical evidence. Ask promptly how any time-sensitive evidence should be preserved.
4. Obtain your relevant traffic history and identify earlier offence dates, convictions, expiations and disqualifications. Do not decide the first-offence or interlock question from memory alone.
5. Before paying or choosing court, ask about eligibility, challenge grounds, licence consequences and the option’s deadline. Keep proof of any valid filing, service or agreed arrangement.
6. For court, organise prosecution material and a short chronology. Ask about the plea, attendance, representation, supporting material and interpreter or access needs; do not fabricate references or explanations.
7. For licence return, an appeal or an impounded vehicle, collect the exact decision and notice. Agree who will make any application and confirm its scope, deadline, evidence and separate cost.

Keep sensitive papers private. This checklist helps prepare a consultation; it does not submit an election, apply to court, lift a disqualification or secure representation.

Official help and free legal information

Free legal advice, duty help and ongoing funded representation have different scopes. Contact the service before court; availability and eligibility need checking.

South Australia drink-driving questions

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