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Guide

Pulled over on an overseas licence: what to show, in each state’s words

If you are asked to show a licence that is not in English, the road authorities have already written down what they expect to see beside it. Here is each state’s wording, and the short list that comes out of it.

Published 4 September 2026 · Official Translation

Driving in Australia on an overseas licence?

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The short answer is the card itself, plus one document that makes it readable

Hand over the licence card itself, always. Beside it goes one of two things: the International Driving Permit you got at home, or an English translation of the licence. That is the shape of the rule on most of the pages we quote below, and it changes less from state to state than people expect. Queensland names only a translation, and the Northern Territory is the exception: it tells a visitor whose licence is not in English to apply for a permit before travelling.

Austroads, the association of Australia’s road transport agencies, sums the state pages up in one sentence: “While driving in Australia a visiting driver must carry their overseas licence with them at all times together with either an international driving permit OR an English translation if the overseas licence is not written in English.” Each state’s own wording follows.

If you already hold a permit, you may not need us at all. Budget’s FAQ puts the pairing as plainly as any road authority does: “An International Driving Permit is not a stand-alone document and must be carried with your valid domestic drivers licence.” A translation is for the traveller who has no permit, or who is already in Australia, where the AAA says an overseas licence holder cannot apply for one; that is the subject of IDP or translation, answered by where you are standing.

One honest caveat before the state-by-state part. We are quoting what each authority publishes about what to carry and produce; we are not describing procedure. The pages are the best guide there is, and they are short.

Four pages use almost the same sentence: the licence, and also a translation or a permit

New South Wales says it in one line: “If your licence is not written in English, you must also carry an English translation, or an International Driving Permit.” The word that matters is also: the translation sits next to the licence, it does not stand in for it. The full page is set out on driving in NSW on an overseas licence.

Victoria says the same thing in two sentences. VicRoads asks that you “always have your overseas licence with you when you drive”, and adds that if the licence is not in English, “you’ll also need to carry either: an English translation of your licence, or an international driving permit in English”. What the Victorian page asks of visitors is on driving in Victoria on an overseas licence.

Tasmania is one sentence: “If your licence is not in English you must also carry an official translation or international drivers permit.” Our page on driving in Tasmania on an overseas licence sets out what each of those two options means.

Western Australia, from the Road Safety Commission’s page for visitors to regional WA: “You must carry your current overseas licence and a translation, or an International Drivers’ Permit (IDP) with you while driving.” That line is the only thing about Western Australia we have verified, and the page itself shows a last-updated date of 5 May 2023, so we will not add to it. If you are driving there, read the Road Safety Commission’s page for visitors to regional WA yourself before you rely on anything else.

Queensland says when to show it, and South Australia adds the passport

Queensland names the moment. Its page says: “If your licence isn’t in English, you should carry a recognised English translation of it when you’re driving. Show this translation to police when you have to show your driver licence.” That is the plainest any state page gets about the moment itself, and the page behind it is on driving in Queensland on an overseas licence.

South Australia is the only page we quote that names a third document. Its list is “a current licence with an English translation if necessary or an international driver’s licence”, and then: “You must carry your licence documents at all times when driving, and produce these and your passport to police on request.” Passport included; see driving in South Australia on an overseas licence for the rest of that page, including who SA says may translate.

The ACT points to a permit, and the Northern Territory is the one place we cannot help

In our paraphrase, not its words, Access Canberra’s page for drivers with overseas licences lists a licence that is not in English together with an official English translation from an embassy or consulate, the Department of Home Affairs, or a NAATI-certified translator, and says a visiting driver should have an International Driving Permit. If you go the translation route there, a translation prepared by a NAATI-certified translator matches the third item on that list; our Standard option, which carries no stamp, does not. The whole page is on driving in Canberra on an overseas licence.

The Northern Territory is different, and we say so plainly. Its page says “you must apply for an international driving permit if: your overseas licence is not written in English”, and that a translation “must be done by an authorised translator in the NT”. We are not that, so for the NT we do not take the order; the reasons are in when we will tell you not to order from us.

So what goes in the glovebox, and what goes on your phone?

Put the pages together and the list is short. The licence card, every time you drive, because every page above starts there and no translation replaces it. Beside the card, the permit if you have one, or the English translation if you do not. Your passport where South Australia names it.

Carry the translation two ways: on your phone and on paper. We deliver a searchable PDF, so the phone copy is there the moment it arrives and a printout takes a minute; PDF or hard copy? goes through where each form fits. Make sure it covers both sides of the card, because the categories, codes and conditions live on the back, and a one-sided translation leaves out exactly the lines a reader needs; that is the subject of why a licence translation must show both sides of the card.

If you chose the NAATI certification option, the translator’s digital stamp carries a QR code, and it can be scanned on the spot to check the translator behind it. The stamp can be checked, and how to check a NAATI stamp and the translator behind it shows what the result looks like.

What each state fines when the translation is missing, on the spot and in court: the fine in each state. The hire desks as well as the roads, company by company: renting a car in Australia with an overseas licence. Every road authority and the AAA on one page: International Driving Permit or translation? Or go straight to the order page.

Sources, checked on the date shown: