Guide
A paper licence, or one with no photo: what the desk and the road actually want
The person at the hire counter is matching a face and a name to a booking. If your licence carries neither a photograph nor a word of English, a translation fixes one of those problems and not the other. Here is who says what, and what to do about it from wherever you are standing.
Published 4 September 2026 · Official Translation
Driving in Australia on an overseas licence?
Answer a few quick questions and get your answer in 1 second.
SIXT is the one hire company we quote that answers this in writing
Most of the rental wording we quote talks about language and stops there. SIXT’s FAQ is the only one among the companies we quote that mentions the photograph, and it is worth reading in full: “Should the valid driver’s licence be in another language or have no photo SIXT will accept a certified translation in English or an International driver’s permit. Should the licence not have a photo, an International Driving Permit must accompany it.”
Read the two sentences together. The first puts a translation and a permit side by side; the second narrows it: no photo, and SIXT wants the permit beside the licence. So at SIXT, a translation on its own is not what the counter says it wants for a licence without a photograph. If your licence has no photo and you are still at home, you may not need us at all.
A paper licence that does carry a photograph is a different case. None of the hire company wording we quote on this site mentions paper or plastic; it turns on language and, at SIXT, on the photo. A paper licence with a photo, in another language, sits where every other non-English licence sits: translation or permit, carried with the original, and what the hire desk checks when your licence is not in English applies to it unchanged. For the translation itself, see our page on driver licence translation into English.
The permit has a logic of its own, and it starts before you fly
The Australian Automobile Association, which issues permits to Australian licence holders, says a permit “is only valid if you carry your domestic driver licence photo card”. That wording assumes a photo card exists. What the body that issues permits in your own country does with a licence that has no photograph is a question for them, and we will not guess on their behalf.
The second thing the AAA says settles the timing. Asked whether an overseas licence holder can apply for a permit in Australia, its answer is “No. Only Australian driver licence holders can apply for an IDP in Australia. If you hold an overseas driver licence you must apply for a permit in the country that issued your licence.”
So the one window in which SIXT’s second sentence can be satisfied is before you leave home. We have written about that geography in permit or translation, answered by where you are standing.
The other desks’ wording we quote talks about language, not photographs
Hertz’s terms accept a licence that “is in English or, if not in English, is accompanied by a certified English translation”, and say nothing about what certified means. Thrifty’s terms ask for much the same, a licence in English or accompanied by a certified English translation, and do not mention permits at all. Hertz’s terms do set out a separate rule for licences issued in the People’s Republic of China, naming a China Notarial Certificate or Hertz’s own translation certification, so if yours is a Chinese licence, read that part of Hertz’s terms, or ask Hertz, before you order from us. Nothing we quote from either mentions a photograph, one way or the other.
Silence in the lines we quote is not a yes and it is not a no. Budget adds the line that applies whichever document you bring: “An International Driving Permit is not a stand-alone document and must be carried with your valid domestic drivers licence.” The same is true of a translation: the licence itself, paper or plastic, always comes too.
Every company’s wording, and every state’s, is quoted on renting a car in Australia with an overseas licence. We will not repeat it here.
What a translation can do for you here, and what it cannot
A translation puts into English what is written on the document: every page of a paper licence, the wording on every stamp, every handwritten entry, the back as well as the front. A signature, a seal with no words or a line that cannot be read is marked in square brackets, for example [signed], [seal] or [illegible]. That is why we ask for both sides of the licence and why a clear photo of every page matters even more for a paper document, which often carries more.
What a translation cannot do is add a photograph the issuing authority never put there, or vouch for who is holding the document. A translation is not proof of identity and we will never describe it as one. The counter still has to match a face to a name, and a licence without a photo leaves that gap open however good the translation beside it.
The document that puts a face beside the name is your passport. South Australia puts it plainly for its own roads: “You must carry your licence documents at all times when driving, and produce these and your passport to police on request.” None of the state pages we quote mentions a licence without a photograph, and we will not invent a rule for them. But a passport next to a licence is how the two get matched, which is also why, where a name has to be romanised, the translation follows the passport spelling, as which spelling of your name goes on the translation explains.
What to do, from wherever you are standing
Still at home, and no photo on your licence: ask about a permit in the country that issued your licence before you fly. That is the document SIXT names, and the AAA is clear that it cannot be applied for once you land. If you also want a translation beside it, order from anywhere and it arrives by email.
Already in Australia, and no photo on your licence: ring the hire company before you book, not after, and ask exactly what they will accept for a licence without a photograph. If they name a translation, choose the NAATI certification option, prepared by a NAATI-certified translator and carrying their stamp, and carry it with the licence and your passport. If they name only a permit, a translation from us will not close that gap, and we would rather tell you now than after you have paid.
Every source on one page: International Driving Permit or translation in Australia? Ready to send a paper licence? Order online and photograph every page, or ask us first through the contact page if it runs to more than four pages.
Sources, checked on the date shown:
- SIXT Australia rental information FAQ (checked 3 September 2026)
- Australian Automobile Association, International Driving Permits (checked 3 September 2026)
- Hertz Australia rental terms (checked 18 September 2026)
- Budget Australia, requirements for renting FAQ (checked 3 September 2026)
- SA.GOV.AU, driving with your overseas licence in SA (last updated 3 March 2026; checked 3 September 2026)
Thrifty’s rental terms were read on 3 September 2026 and are paraphrased above.