The State of Drug-Driving Law in Australia 2026
Last verified:
An annual review of how each Australian state and territory treats a driver who tests positive for THC from a lawful prescription. Across the eight jurisdictions, 1 provides a defence for prescribed use, 6 have reform on foot, and 5 remain strict presence jurisdictions with no protection for patients. Free to read, quote and republish with attribution.
Findings
1 of 8 jurisdictions give a prescribed patient a defence
Only Tasmania provides a defence for a driver using lawfully prescribed medicinal cannabis without impairment. In the other 7, a valid prescription is not an answer to the charge: the offence is the presence of THC, not impairment.
Reform is on foot in 6 of 8
New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory each have at least one live reform item — a bill, review or announced scheme. Tasmania, Northern Territory have none on foot at the date of this edition.
The most advanced scheme still excludes many patients
The New South Wales bill before Parliament would apply only to unrestricted licence holders. Learner drivers, provisional drivers and commercial drivers would remain outside it, as would drug-presence offences committed outside NSW.
Penalty figures are the least reliable data in this field
We treat penalty amounts as independently verified for only 3 of 8 jurisdictions. Figures re-index each financial year and are published inconsistently across jurisdictions, so any comparison of dollar amounts across the country should be treated with caution.
All eight jurisdictions at a glance
| Jurisdiction | Status | Prescription a defence? | Court licence discretion? | Live reform items | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | Strict — reform before Parliament | No | — | 3 | |
| Victoria | Strict — court licence discretion | No | Yes | 2 | |
| Queensland | Strict — review underway | No | — | 3 | |
| Western Australia | Strict — reform being considered | No | — | 1 | |
| South Australia | Strict — reform recommended | No | — | 1 | |
| Tasmania | Medical defence available | Yes | — | 0 | |
| Australian Capital Territory | Strict — prescription no defence | No | — | 1 | |
| Northern Territory | Strict — no reform in sight | No | — | 0 |
See the reader-facing comparison → · Download the underlying data (JSON)
Method
Every statement is compiled from primary sources — legislation, parliamentary records and official government publications — and each jurisdiction carries its own last-verified date, shown above. The findings on this page are computed directly from that dataset at build time rather than written by hand, so the report and the data cannot disagree.
What we do not claim. Penalty amounts are the weakest figures in this area: they re-index annually and are published inconsistently, and we treat them as independently verified for only 3 of 8 jurisdictions. Reform status changes quickly — a bill listed here as before Parliament may have moved. This report describes the law in general terms and is not legal advice.
How to cite this report
Can I Drive? (2026). The State of Drug-Driving Law in Australia 2026. Retrieved from https://www.canidrive.com.au/report/2026/
Journalists and researchers are welcome to quote from this report or reuse the dataset with attribution and a link. If you need a figure checked, or want the data in another format, get in touch — we would rather you published something accurate.
Official sources by jurisdiction
New South Wales
- https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/roadsafety/topics-tips/drugs/medical-cannabis
- https://www.nsw.gov.au/ministerial-releases/medicinal-cannabis-driving-reforms-introduced-to-parliament-by-minns-labor-government
- https://www.nsw.gov.au/ministerial-releases/cannabis-drivers-not-immediately-penalised
- https://legislation.nsw.gov.au (Road Transport Act 2013 s111)
- https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au (bill tracker)
Victoria
- https://transport.vic.gov.au/road-and-active-transport/road-rules-and-safety/alcohol-drugs-and-driving/medicinal-cannabis-and-driving
- https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au (Road Safety Act 1986 s49, s50(1F))
Queensland
- https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/safety/road-safety/drink-drug-driving
- https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au
Western Australia
South Australia
- https://www.mylicence.sa.gov.au/road-rules/the-drivers-handbook/drugs
- https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au (Road Traffic Act 1961)