Queensland runs two separate schemes that let a driver go on driving after a licence sanction, and they are routinely confused. A work licence, which the legislation calls a restricted licence, comes from a court at the moment it disqualifies someone for drink or drug driving. A special hardship order comes from a Magistrates Court after the transport department has suspended a licence by notice, for demerit points or for serious speeding.
They are not alternatives to choose between. Which one is even in play is settled by how the licence was lost, and the eligibility bars in each scheme then decide whether anything is left. The timing rules differ sharply as well, and for a work licence there is only one moment at which the application can be made.
Two schemes, not one
The work licence sits in the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld) s 87. It arises where a court convicts a person under s 79, which holds the graded drink and drug driving offences, or under s 80(5A), failing to provide a specimen, and that conviction disqualifies them.
The special hardship order is not in the Act. Section 150(1A) authorises a regulation to create it, and the working detail sits in chapter 10 of Queensland’s driver licensing regulation. It is available only where an open or provisional licence has been suspended under s 266(5) or s 285(5) of that regulation, which the chapter calls the relevant provisions.
That difference drives the rest. A work licence answers a court disqualification, so the sentencing court deals with it on the day. An order under chapter 10 answers an administrative suspension, so it needs a fresh application to a Magistrates Court, on notice to the chief executive. A third scheme is neither: where a licence is immediately suspended under s 79B(2) because the holder has been charged, s 79E lets a court authorise driving while the charge is pending.
The two schemes side by side
| Work licence | Special hardship order | |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | Court conviction and disqualification | Suspension by notice |
| Who decides | The court sentencing you, at that hearing | A Magistrates Court where you live |
| Hardship test | Loss of livelihood only | Loss of livelihood, or severe and unusual hardship of another kind |
| What it permits | Driving connected with earning a livelihood, and nothing else | Whatever purpose the court writes into the order |
| If the order is made | The maximum disqualification the court may impose doubles | No effect on the length of the period |
The work licence, and its closing door
The timing rule is what catches people. Under s 87(2) and (3) the application may be made at the proceedings in which the conviction is recorded, and where the court is going to disqualify, before it makes that order, and not otherwise. Section 87(11) softens this: those proceedings are taken to continue until the court has finished sentencing, notwithstanding an adjournment, so seeking an adjournment to prepare material does not itself close the door, though whether to grant one is for the court. A completed sentence does close it, and after that the section leaves the sentencing court no application to entertain.
The test in s 87(5) is that the applicant is a fit and proper person to hold a restricted licence, having regard to the safety of other road users and the public, and that a refusal would cause extreme hardship to them or their family by depriving them of their means of earning a livelihood. That is the only hardship the section recognises, and an applicant who is not self-employed must produce an employer’s affidavit confirming it.
What the order gives is narrow by design. Section 87(4) confines the licence to circumstances directly connected with earning a livelihood and lets the court limit the class of vehicle, the purpose and the times of driving. It can relate only to a licence of the same class as the one held before the disqualification, and after a conviction for driving over the middle alcohol limit it carries the interlock condition. It is permission to be issued a licence rather than a licence: under s 87(3A) the person stays disqualified until they obtain it.
There is a price. Where the order is made alongside a disqualification, s 87(6) doubles the maximum disqualification otherwise available, and s 87(6A) requires the court to treat the proposed order as a reason to disqualify for longer. Restricted driving over a longer period is the trade. Our work licence page covers the application in more detail.
The exclusions in s 87(5) do more work than the hardship argument. They bar an applicant whose provisional or open licence was suspended or cancelled, or who was disqualified, within 5 years before the application, and anyone convicted of drink or drug driving or of dangerous operation of a vehicle under the Criminal Code (Qld) s 328A in the 5 years before the current conviction. Section 87(5B) carves several things out of that first bar, including a suspension for which a court made a special hardship order, so the two schemes are not simply cumulative. The exclusions also reach an offence committed while driving for a living. Driving under the influence is out, as is every no alcohol limit offence, which catches learner, probationary and provisional holders. A provisional holder is not rescued by having blown over the general alcohol limit: the Act asks whether a no alcohol limit provision would have applied but for the higher reading, and if it would, the exclusion still bites.
The special hardship order, and its two triggers
The first trigger runs through demerit points. An open licence holder who accumulates 12 or more in a continuous 3-year period, or a learner or provisional holder who accumulates 4 or more in a continuous year, must be given a notice to choose under s 264 of the regulation. The choice is a suspension for the required period, which under s 255 is 3 months in most cases and 4 or 5 months for an open licence holder at 16 or more points, or agreeing to be of good behaviour while driving for a year. Elect good behaviour, then have 2 or more points recorded for offences committed during that year, and s 266 suspends the licence for double the required period. That doubled suspension is the one chapter 10 answers.
The consequence is easily missed. A driver who simply accepts the suspension when the notice arrives is not eligible under chapter 10 at all, because that suspension is not made under a relevant provision.
The second trigger is speed. Under ss 284 and 285, a conviction for driving more than 40km/h over the limit, or an enforcement order made for that offence under the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999 (Qld) s 38, produces a 6-month suspension by notice. The enforcement order limb matters, because an unpaid camera-detected offence produces the same suspension without anyone attending court.
Section 317 is where the two schemes genuinely part company. The court must be satisfied the applicant is a fit and proper person to continue to drive, having regard to their traffic history and public safety, and that a refusal would cause either extreme hardship by depriving them of their means of earning a living, or severe and unusual hardship in some other way. That second limb has no counterpart in the work licence scheme, and it is what allows an order for a carer, or for a family need unconnected with work. The livelihood limb needs the applicant’s affidavit and, if they are employed, their employer’s.
Eligibility is separately gated by s 311, which shuts out anyone whose Queensland licence was suspended or cancelled, who was disqualified, or who was convicted of dangerous operation of a vehicle, within 5 years before the suspension. A short list is carved out, including a 24-hour roadside suspension, but a court disqualification is not on it.
Service, the court and the stay
The application goes under s 312 to a Magistrates Court in the district where the applicant resides, in the approved form, with the material relied on. A copy must reach the chief executive at least 7 days before the hearing, or as soon as practicable if the hearing falls within 8 days of the application. The hearing is not always a formality: under s 315 the chief executive may appear, call evidence against the order and cross-examine. Chapter 10 sets no deadline for making the application, but s 317 requires the applicant to hold a licence that would be valid but for the suspension, so it has to be decided while the suspension is still running.
The stay is the trap. Section 314 stays the suspension from the day the chief executive receives that copy, not the day the application is filed, and the stay ends the day before the hearing. Driving in the gap between filing and service is driving while suspended. If the court refuses the application, s 320 restarts the suspension for the balance not served before the stay began.
Living with the order
An order under chapter 10 runs for a period equal to the suspension it displaces, starting the day it is made, and must state the purpose, the class of vehicle and the times of permitted driving, and that a vehicle may be driven only while the person is carrying a copy of the order. A replacement licence bearing the order code must be applied for within 14 days under s 321. Restrictions can be varied later under s 322, and a work licence under s 88 of the Act, though only where the circumstances connected with earning a livelihood have altered.
Breach is punished on both sides. On a work licence, driving outside the restrictions carries up to 20 penalty units, cancels the licence on conviction and adds a further 3-month disqualification under s 87(10) and (10A). On a special hardship order the same maximum applies under s 328, and the court must then disqualify the holder.
There is also a trap with no equivalent on a work licence. A single demerit point for an offence committed during the order period suspends the licence for double the order period under ss 277 and 278, and s 289 does the same for a further 40km/h speeding offence.
Published 17 August 2026.
Getting the scheme right
The practical question is rarely which scheme is preferable, but which one the facts have already selected, and whether the eligibility rules leave anything standing. For a work licence that has to be settled before the sentence hearing, because the section allows no second attempt. The current text of s 87 is on the Queensland Legislation site, and chapter 10 is in the driver licensing regulation.
Related reading
- How Fraser Lawyers helps with work licence applications
- How Fraser Lawyers helps with special hardship orders
- Getting your licence back after disqualification in Queensland
- Traffic law at Fraser Lawyers
- Contact Fraser Lawyers
Need advice? Both schemes turn on strict timing, and for a work licence the only opportunity is the sentence hearing. If you have a suspension notice or a court date, contact Fraser Lawyers to understand your rights and where you stand, with no obligation. |
This article is general information only and is not legal advice. Queensland law and the figures referred to can change, and every situation turns on its own facts. Contact Fraser Lawyers for advice specific to your circumstances.
If you would like to discuss your matter, you can book a consultation or call (07) 5554 6116.
