Australian Capital Territory
Driving in Canberra on an overseas licence
For visitors who plan to drive or hire a car in the ACT on a licence that is not written in English. We translate the licence into English, delivered digitally, with NAATI certification as an option.
Published 5 September 2026 · Updated 21 September 2026 · Official Translation
Driving in the ACT on an overseas licence?
Answer a few quick questions and get your answer in 1 second.
What Access Canberra says
The ACT rule for visiting drivers
These are the words of the ACT licensing authority itself, so you can see the wording your documents will be checked against.
You keep your own licence
“If you have a full licence from another country and are only visiting the ACT (not living here), you don’t need to get an ACT driver licence.” A visitor drives on the licence from home. Keep that licence with you whenever you drive; a translation or a permit goes with it, never instead of it.
Source: Access Canberra, drivers with licences from overseas
What to carry with it
Access Canberra says a visiting driver should have an International Driving Permit, and the same page also lists “an overseas licence not in English, with an official English translation”. If your licence is in another language, one of those two goes with the licence whenever you drive.
Source: Access Canberra, drivers with licences from overseas
Who can provide the translation
The same page names three sources for an official English translation: an embassy or consulate, the Department of Home Affairs, or a NAATI-certified translator. It also says a visiting driver should have an International Driving Permit. A permit is issued in your home country before you leave, and it cannot be obtained in Australia for a foreign licence. If you are already here without one, the translation is the alternative the ACT itself names.
Sources: Access Canberra, drivers with licences from overseas; Australian Automobile Association, International Driving Permits
What each state fines, on the spot and in court, when a licence that is not in English has no translation with it: driving without a licence translation: the fine in each state.
What we deliver
Both sides of the card, in full
A licence translation is only useful if the person checking it can match every detail on the card to the English page in front of them.
Every field, front and back
Name, date of birth, licence number, categories or classes, conditions and restrictions, issue and expiry dates, the issuing authority, and every stamp or code. Nothing is summarised and nothing is skipped.
NAATI certification
The NAATI certification option is prepared by a NAATI-certified translator and carries a digital stamp with a scannable QR code. This is the option prepared by the kind of translator the Access Canberra page names.
Digital delivery
Your translation arrives by email as a file you can keep on your phone and print if a desk asks for paper. The order page shows the speeds on offer, including delivery within 4 hours where available. We do not deliver on Sundays: a delivery that would fall on a Sunday arrives on the Monday.
Because Access Canberra names a NAATI-certified translator as one of its three sources, choose the NAATI certification option for the ACT. A rental company applies its own licence terms on top of the ACT rule; our guide to renting a car in Australia on an overseas licence sets out what the major rental companies’ terms say.
Pricing
The full price on screen before you order
Translation is $39.99 per page into English, delivered digitally. Add NAATI certification for $59.99 per page, prepared by a NAATI-certified translator with a digital stamp carrying a scannable QR code. A licence is two pages, the front and the back, and the order page sets that for you.