What was Experienced Driver Recognition (EDR)?

Experienced Driver Recognition was the second category of Austroads’ licence recognition scheme. Drivers over 25 with a licence from one of 16 places, including South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Africa, could get a comparable Australian licence without further training or assessment. Austroads set 30 April 2025 as the end date for most states; Western Australia ended it after 31 October 2025, Queensland on 29 November 2025 and New South Wales on 1 February 2026.

Which countries were in the EDR category?

Sixteen places, as Austroads listed them in March 2025: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Hong Kong, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Republic of Serbia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa and Taiwan. Fourteen of them are recognised again from dates each state sets. Hong Kong and South Africa are not.

Which former EDR countries are recognised again?

Fourteen: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea and Taiwan. Austroads’ list says recognition starts on 31 October 2026 in Western Australia and Queensland, 1 January 2027 in New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory, and 1 February 2027 in Tasmania. Victoria and the ACT have published no date.

Can a Hong Kong or South African licence still be converted without a test?

Not under the current national list. Hong Kong and South Africa were EDR places but are missing from Austroads’ list of recognised licences, and no state has published a start date for them, so each state’s tests for a non-recognised licence apply. Tasmania’s old page describing EDR for both has been archived, and VicRoads’ checker lists Hong Kong as non-recognised.

What happens if I apply before my state’s start date?

In Western Australia you sit the tests anyway. WA says applications made before 31 October 2026 to transfer a car or motorcycle licence from the 14 are processed under the arrangements for non-recognised countries, which means a theory test and a practical driving assessment, and it tells holders to apply on or after that date. The other states have not published their own wording yet.

Can I keep driving on my overseas licence while I wait?

Only until your state’s deadline for new residents. Most give 3 months from when you become a resident, and Victoria and Tasmania give 6. Western Australia says that after its 3 months you cannot legally drive on your overseas licence, even if it is current and valid. If your deadline falls before your state’s start date, waiting means not driving until you convert.

Does the over-25 rule still apply?

Not to recognition. The over-25 condition belonged to EDR. Austroads’ list and Western Australia’s rules for the 14 do not mention an age limit, though the type of licence you receive can depend on how long you have held yours and, in some states, on your age.

Does recognition cover motorcycle and heavy vehicle licences?

Motorcycles yes, heavy vehicles no. Austroads says the scheme applies only to licences for light vehicles, which means cars and motorcycles, and that separate requirements apply to heavy vehicle licences. Western Australia, for example, has every overseas heavy vehicle licence holder complete an applicable theory test and a practical driving assessment for the heavy vehicle class.

Why have Victoria and the ACT not published a date?

Neither authority has said. Austroads’ footnote gives start dates for the other six states and territories and leaves Victoria and the ACT out, and VicRoads and Access Canberra had published nothing about the change when we checked on 17 October 2026. Until they do, a licence from the 14 goes through each one’s route for a non-recognised licence.

Is Tasmania still using Experienced Driver Recognition?

No. Austroads says EDR ended in all states and territories in early 2026, and Tasmania’s old page describing EDR has been archived. Tasmania’s list of recognised countries has none of the 16 places, though its conversion page still mentions an experienced driver recognition country in passing. Austroads gives Tasmania 1 February 2027 as the start date for the 14.

Does the change affect visitors driving on an overseas licence?

Not while you are visiting. Recognition changes what you need to get an Australian licence. A visitor keeps driving on the overseas licence under each state’s visitor rules, with an English translation or an International Driving Permit where the licence is not in English and the state asks for one.

What is the Recognised Overseas Licences Scheme?

It is Austroads’ national list of overseas car and motorcycle licences whose holders can apply for an Australian licence without completing training and testing. Until EDR ended, the scheme had two categories, recognised countries and EDR; now only recognition remains. Each state applies the list itself, which is why a country can be recognised in Western Australia from 31 October 2026 but in Tasmania only from 1 February 2027.

Guide

Recognised countries for overseas licences after Experienced Driver Recognition ended

Q: When can I convert a South Korean, Taiwanese or Polish licence without a test?

From your state’s start date, for a car or motorcycle licence: 31 October 2026 in Western Australia and Queensland, 1 January 2027 in New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory, and 1 February 2027 in Tasmania. Victoria and the ACT have not published one. Before that date the state’s tests for a non-recognised licence apply, and the state’s other requirements, such as identity and residency, apply either way.

Q: Do I need a translation to convert my licence?

Yes, if the licence is not in English, and each state names who may translate it. Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT all name NAATI translators. For New South Wales, “Transport for NSW only accepts translations from” Multicultural NSW, Home Affairs and two consulates, so we do not sell translations for a NSW transfer. The Northern Territory asks for an authorised translator in the Territory, and we do not translate NT licences.

Austroads says Experienced Driver Recognition (EDR) ended in every Australian state and territory by early 2026, so a driver’s licence from one of its 16 former places now needs tests to convert, unless that place is recognised again. Austroads lists 14 of them as recognised from dates each state sets: 31 October 2026 in Western Australia and Queensland, 1 January 2027 in New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory, and 1 February 2027 in Tasmania. Victoria and the ACT have published no date, and Hong Kong and South Africa are not on the list.

Written by the Official Translation research team · Updated 21 October 2026

Driving in Australia on an overseas licence?

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Start dates for the 14, state by state

Only Western Australia has put the date on its own page. Every other date here is Austroads’, from the footnote on its national list. Tell us your state and we’ll check whether its own page has named a date yet.

State or territory	Recognised from	A new resident can drive on the overseas licence for
Western Australia	31 October 2026, on WA’s own page	Up to 3 months as a citizen or permanent resident
Queensland	31 October 2026, from Austroads; TMR’s pages not yet updated	3 months living in Queensland as a citizen or resident visa holder
New South Wales	1 January 2027, from Austroads; NSW’s pages not yet updated	3 months as a citizen or permanent resident
South Australia	1 January 2027, from Austroads; SA’s pages not yet updated	3 months after becoming a permanent resident (one SA page says 90 days)
Northern Territory	1 January 2027, from Austroads; the NT’s pages not yet updated	3 months of living in the NT
Tasmania	1 February 2027, from Austroads; Tasmania’s pages not yet updated	6 months from your permanent visa, and you can apply for an extension
Victoria	No date published by VicRoads or Austroads	Convert if you live in Victoria for more than 6 months
Australian Capital Territory	No date published by Access Canberra or Austroads	3 months after you hold a permanent visa

Until your state’s date, a licence from the 14 is treated like any other licence from a non-recognised country. For a car licence that means:

State or territory	Without recognition, you need
Western Australia	A theory test and a practical driving assessment
Queensland	A road rules test and a practical driving test
New South Wales	A knowledge test and a driving test
South Australia	A theory test, a hazard perception test and a practical driving test
Northern Territory	An eye test and a theory test, a one-year interim licence, then a practical driving test
Tasmania	A knowledge test, a hazard perception test and a driving assessment
Victoria	A road law knowledge test, a hazard perception test and a drive test
Australian Capital Territory	A pre-learner course and road rules test, then one practical driving assessment

Checked against each authority’s own page on 17 October 2026. These are the car licence routes: motorcycle licences have their own steps in several states, and heavy vehicle licences are outside recognition altogether.

The 14 recognised again, and the two that are not

Austroads keeps the national list of overseas licences whose holders can apply for an Australian licence “without completing training and testing”. On 17 October 2026 it marked these 14 former EDR places with an asterisk that leads to the state start dates above:

Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Republic of Korea (South Korea)
Republic of Serbia
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Taiwan

Hong Kong and South Africa, the other two former EDR places, are not on the list, and no state has published a date for either. Austroads says “Not all assessed jurisdictions met the requirements of the framework” and does not say which. Queensland’s impact statement of January 2026 listed Hong Kong among the former EDR places that had applied for full recognition.

Reports that say 12 places were added are working from the first announcement. Austroads’ release of 23 July 2026 named 12, and Western Australia’s transport department says Cyprus and Hungary were added on 15 September 2026.

The rest of Austroads’ list is the 28 places recognised before EDR ended: Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guernsey, Ireland, the Isle of Man (licences first issued on or after 1 April 1991), Italy, Japan, Jersey, Luxembourg, Malta (licences first issued on or after 2 January 2004), the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

What each state says now, in its own words

Each authority quoted from its own page, with the date that page shows. Where a state has not updated its page, we say so rather than fill the gap.

Western Australia: 31 October 2026, on its own page

Western Australia is the only state whose own page names the date. Its transport department will apply “the recognised country transfer arrangements for newly recognised countries” from 31 October 2026, and from then holders of car and motorcycle licences from the 14 “may transfer their licence to an equivalent WA driver’s licence without completing a theory test or practical driving assessment”.

Before that date an application “will be processed under the arrangements for licences issued by non-recognised countries”, meaning a theory test and a practical driving assessment, so WA’s FAQ tells holders of the 14 to apply on or after 31 October 2026. You still take an eye test, and identity, residency and medical rules still apply.

WA’s own EDR transition ran to 31 October 2025. From 1 November 2025 the category “no longer exists” in WA, so a Hong Kong or South African licence goes through the theory test and assessment.

Source: WA Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure, moving from overseas (page updated 18 September 2026), its FAQ on newly recognised jurisdictions and changes now in place (published 1 November 2025); checked 17 October 2026

Queensland: 31 October 2026, from Austroads

Queensland’s date is Austroads’: recognition “will commence in WA and QLD from 31 October 2026”. Transport and Main Roads had not updated its pages when we checked. Its transfer page still gives “South Korea, Taiwan” as examples of non-recognised countries, and none of the 14 is on its recognised list.

Until TMR applies the change, a non-recognised licence means “a road rules test (written test or PrepL) and practical driving test”. Know this before you book: “If you fail a practical driving test, your authority to drive on your overseas licence will be withdrawn.”

Queensland stopped recognising the EDR category on 29 November 2025 and took it out of its regulations on 30 January 2026.

Source: TMR, transferring to a Queensland licence (last updated 13 April 2026), testing requirements (last updated 29 May 2026), explanatory notes, SL 2026 No. 7 and impact analysis statement (last updated 10 June 2026); checked 17 October 2026

New South Wales: 1 January 2027, from Austroads

NSW has not changed its pages; the 1 January 2027 date is Austroads’. Its list of recognised countries and jurisdictions still has 28 places and none of the 16.

NSW ended EDR treatment later than most. Its exemptions page says “Experienced Driver Status from certain countries ceased” from 1 February 2026, and the minister’s release said drivers aged 25 and over from those countries “will now be required to pass a knowledge test and a driving test before converting their overseas licence to a NSW licence”. Every applicant also takes an eyesight test.

Korean and Taiwanese licences need one more check. Transport for NSW only accepts translations from Multicultural NSW, the Department of Home Affairs, the Consulate-General of the Republic of Korea for Korean licences, and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office for Taiwanese ones. We are not on that list, so we do not sell translations for a NSW transfer.

Source: NSW Government, knowledge and driving test exemptions (no date shown), Service NSW, transfer an overseas driver licence (last published 16 September 2026) and the minister’s release (2 February 2026); checked 17 October 2026

South Australia: 1 January 2027, from Austroads

South Australia’s pages do not mention the change yet; the date is Austroads’. SA brought in its own rules for former EDR places on 1 May 2025, and its fact sheet is plain: “If you have a licence from a country that previously had experienced driver recognition status, you will also be required to complete the above tests.” Those are a theory test, a hazard perception test and a practical driving test with an authorised instructor.

SA may also pick you at random for “a further driving test” before it issues the licence. A new permanent resident has 3 months to get an SA licence, though one SA page says 90 days.

Source: SA.GOV.AU, transfer your overseas driver’s licence (last updated 10 September 2026) and the overseas licence holders fact sheet (updated 22 April 2025); checked 21 October 2026

Northern Territory: 1 January 2027, from Austroads

The NT’s pages say nothing about EDR or the change; the date is Austroads’. Its list of licences that transfer “without passing a theory and practical test” has none of the 16.

Everyone else follows the NT’s steps: an eye test and a theory test, then an interim licence “valid for one year” with conditions, including that you “can only drive with a full NT licence holder in the front passenger seat” and “can’t exceed 80km/h”, until you pass a practical driving test. You must transfer within 3 months of living in the NT.

For a licence that is not in English, the NT’s page for new residents says a translation “must be done by an authorised translator in the NT”. We are not one, so we do not sell licence translations for the Northern Territory.

Source: NT.GOV.AU, transfer your overseas driver licence and driving in the NT for new residents and visitors (no dates shown); checked 17 October 2026

Tasmania: 1 February 2027, from Austroads

Tasmania’s pages do not mention the change; the date is Austroads’. Its list of recognised countries for licence conversion has none of the 16.

One leftover can confuse: the conversion page still mentions an “experienced driver recognition country” in passing. Tasmania’s separate EDR page has been archived, and Austroads says EDR ended everywhere in early 2026, so the rules below are the ones that apply.

Without recognition, a car licence needs “a knowledge test on the Tasmanian Road Rules”, “an online Hazard Perception Test, and an overseas conversion driving assessment”. You have 6 months from your permanent visa to convert, and you can apply to extend that before it runs out.

Source: Transport Services Tasmania, converting an overseas licence (last updated 21 July 2026) and recognised countries (last updated 1 November 2025); checked 21 October 2026

Victoria: no date yet

Victoria has published no date, and Austroads’ footnote names none for it. VicRoads’ conversion page lists no countries; it says the requirements depend on “your licence type, the age you were when your overseas licence was first issued, how long you’ve held that licence and the country or jurisdiction where it was issued”, and sends you to its requirements checker.

For a licence from a non-recognised country, VicRoads’ booking page says you must “Pass the appropriate Road Law Knowledge, Hazard Perception and Drive Tests”, and its checker adds an eyesight test. You must convert if you plan to live in Victoria for more than 6 months.

Hong Kong licences get the same tests: VicRoads’ checker lists Hong Kong as a non-recognised country. An older block on its results page still says “You do not need to do any tests” for Hong Kong licences, but the checker does not send Hong Kong licences to it.

Source: VicRoads, convert overseas licence (no date shown), the requirements checker (page updated 24 June 2026), its results page (page updated 22 July 2026) and the booking page for a non-recognised country (no date shown); checked 21 October 2026

Australian Capital Territory: no date yet

The ACT has published no date, and its list of countries with “recognition status” has none of the 16. Since 1 July 2025 a licence without that status means “additional training and testing”: the ACT Pre-Learner Licence Course and its road rules test, then a practical driving assessment, and “You only get one attempt at this assessment using your overseas driver licence.”

Pass and you get a provisional licence, P1 if you are under 25 and P2 if you are 25 or older. Fail and the ACT says “You are driving ‘unlicensed’ and must not drive a motor vehicle on ACT roads”, and you start on the learner licence requirements. A permanent visa holder can drive on the overseas licence for 3 months.

Source: Access Canberra, drivers with licences from overseas (no date shown); checked 17 October 2026

Apply now, or wait for your state’s date?

Western Australia answers this one directly: if your licence is from the 14, apply on or after 31 October 2026, because an application made earlier is processed as non-recognised and needs both tests. Austroads gives everyone the same instruction: “licence holders should check when the changes take effect in their state or territory before applying.”

Waiting has a limit, and your move sets it, not the start date. Once you are a resident, most states let you drive on the overseas licence for 3 months and Victoria and Tasmania for 6, and Western Australia is blunt about what follows: “After this 3-month period you cannot legally drive on your overseas licence, even if it is current and valid.” If your window closes before your state’s date, waiting means not driving in the meantime. Tasmania lets you apply for an extension before its six months run out.

Two rules make an early test riskier than it looks. In Queensland a failed practical test withdraws your authority to drive on the overseas licence, and in the ACT you get one attempt at the assessment on it.

Find your state’s start date in the table above.
Count your own deadline from the day you became a resident.
If your licence is not in English, the translation table below shows who your state takes one from.

This is general information about licensing rules, not legal advice.

What recognition covers, and what it does not

Cars and motorcycles only. Austroads says the scheme “applies only to licences for light vehicles”, with separate requirements for heavy vehicles. Western Australia, for one, has every overseas heavy vehicle licence holder complete an applicable theory test and a practical driving assessment for the heavy vehicle class.

No licence by right. In Austroads’ words, “Recognition does not provide an automatic entitlement to an Australian driver licence.” The licence must still be current or recently held (Western Australia: not expired for more than 12 months; New South Wales and Queensland: held within the last 5 years, and not a learner licence), and the state’s identity, residency and medical rules still apply.

A visit is a different question. Recognition is about getting an Australian licence. For driving on your overseas licence while you visit, see how long you can drive on an overseas licence.

If your licence is not in English

Every state asks for an English translation of a non-English licence when you convert it, and each names who may make it. For a transfer these lists are stricter than the visitor rules, so read the row for your state.

State or territory	Who may translate a licence for a transfer	What we can do
Western Australia	NAATI certified translators, tertiary qualified translators, permanent pre-2007 NAATI practitioners listed by WA’s Office of Multicultural Interests, the Home Affairs Free Translating Service for eligible people, or a consulate when no NAATI or tertiary translator covers the language	The NAATI certification option
Queensland	“an approved National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) translator” on the transfer page; the practical-tests page adds Multicultural NSW and a Consul-General	The NAATI certification option
New South Wales	Multicultural NSW, the Department of Home Affairs, the Consulate-General of the Republic of Korea for Korean licences, and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office for Taiwanese licences	Nothing: we are not on that list
South Australia	A NAATI approved translator, with the translation stamped and signed or carrying a NAATI digital stamp (QR code); a consulate in Australia; or Multicultural SA or its interstate equivalent	The NAATI certification option
Northern Territory	An International Driving Permit, a letter from the issuing authority, or an official translation, which the NT’s page for new residents says “must be done by an authorised translator in the NT”	Nothing: we do not sell NT licence translations
Tasmania	Service Tasmania asks for an “English translation by a NAATI certified translator”, or an International Driving Permit	The NAATI certification option
Victoria	“any NAATI accredited translator or the country’s consulate in Australia”, or a translated International Driving Permit that meets VicRoads’ conditions	The NAATI certification option
Australian Capital Territory	An embassy or consulate, the Department of Home Affairs, or a translator certified by NAATI	The NAATI certification option

One Western Australian detail changes with recognition. WA’s page for non-recognised licences says no translation is needed when a licence is in “dual-languages (English and another language)”, while its page for recognised licences says a licence “written in dual languages (English and another language) must be accompanied by an English translation from an approved translator”. WA applies “the recognised country transfer arrangements” to the 14 from 31 October 2026, so from that date a licence from the 14 with English beside another language needs a translation.

Where your state names NAATI translators, choose the NAATI certification option when you order: a NAATI-certified translator prepares and stamps the translation of both sides of the card, and we email it as a PDF. South Australia names the NAATI digital stamp. Queensland’s transfer page says “All documents must be originals”, and TMR publishes no rule on whether the translation must be a hard copy from the translator, so print the PDF and take it with your original licence. Queensland’s regulation says the certification on a translation gives “the person’s full name and address”, so for a Queensland transfer, message us your order number and we ask the translator to put their name and address on the certification. The full price is on screen before you pay, on driver’s licence translation. A Korean card? Korean driver’s licence translation explains it field by field.

Why EDR ended, and how 14 places came back

Austroads, the association of Australian and New Zealand transport agencies, ran the national scheme in two parts. Recognised countries had licensing systems judged broadly equivalent to Australia’s. Under Experienced Driver Recognition, holders from 16 places “who were over the age of 25, could be issued a comparable Australian licence without further training or assessment”.

In October 2024 Austroads said the scheme, in place for nearly 20 years, had been reviewed, pointing among other things to the use of a licence as proof of identity and the rise in identity theft and document fraud. EDR was to end on 30 April 2025 in most states and later in Western Australia and Queensland, and places in the category were encouraged to apply for full recognition.

The 16 were then assessed under a new framework. On 23 July 2026 Austroads announced that licensing authorities “have agreed to recognise” 12 of them, Cyprus and Hungary followed on 15 September 2026, and Hong Kong and South Africa are the two still missing. Queensland gives a sense of scale: its impact statement says the 16 places account for “approximately 5 per cent of overseas licence transfers in Queensland”.

Common questions

The translation side of a transfer, state by state: Queensland’s licence transfer rules, VicRoads’ licence translation requirements and who Transport for NSW accepts for a licence translation. Still visiting? See how long you can drive on an overseas licence. A Korean card? Korean driver’s licence translation. Every state’s wording on one page: driver’s licence translation, state by state.

Sources, checked on the date shown: