Special hardship orders

Suspended from driving. There may be a restricted pathway forward.

Special hardship orders allow limited driving for extreme hardship where a demerit point or prescribed suspension has been imposed.

Call (07) 5554 6116 Send a short enquiry

A licence suspension imposed by Transport and Main Roads, rather than by a court, creates a particular kind of problem. There is no sentencing judge to address. There is no plea to enter. The suspension is administrative and, unless something is done about it, it runs until the period expires.

For most people, waiting it out is the answer. For some, it is not. Employment that depends on driving, a medical condition requiring regular transport, geographic isolation with no public transport alternative, or caring responsibilities that cannot be transferred: these are the kinds of circumstances the special hardship order regime was designed to address.

A special hardship order (SHO) is a court order made under s 131 of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld) that permits restricted driving during a qualifying suspension period. It is not available for every suspension. It is not available simply because losing your licence is inconvenient. The test is deliberately narrow.

The application is made to the Magistrates Court. The burden falls on the applicant. Fraser Lawyers advises on eligibility, prepares the evidence, and appears at the hearing.

Scope of work

What we help with

Fraser Lawyers assists with special hardship order applications, including matters arising from:

Matter: What it usually involves
Accumulated demerit point suspension: The most common basis for SHO eligibility, including open, P2, and in limited cases provisional licences.
Double-demerit suspension: Suspension triggered by doubled points during a declared enforcement period.
High-speed infringement suspension: Prescribed licence suspension following an infringement notice for excessive speed.
SPER licence suspension: Suspension for unpaid fines through the State Penalties Enforcement Registry in certain circumstances.
Employment hardship: Loss of employment or inability to perform work duties that require driving.
Medical transport necessity: Regular travel required for medical treatment or care of a dependant.
Geographic isolation: No adequate public transport alternative to reach work, medical appointments, or essential services.
Affidavit and evidence preparation: Preparation of the sworn material and supporting documents required for the application.
Magistrates Court appearance: Advocacy at the hearing, including response to any police objection.
Conditions advice: Advising on the driving conditions the court is likely to impose and how to comply.
Refusal and appeal: Advice on grounds of appeal under the Justices Act 1886 (Qld) if the application is refused.

The SHO is a restricted licence, not a restoration of the ordinary one. The court will impose conditions: typically, driving for specified purposes, during specified hours, in a specified vehicle. Driving outside those conditions is an offence.

Fraser Lawyers is straightforward about which situations are likely to meet the test and which are not. An application that cannot succeed serves no one. The assessment of eligibility is the first conversation, not the last.

Process

What happens after you are charged.

The eligibility framework for a special hardship order is set out in s 131 of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld). There are several threshold questions before the substantive hardship test is even reached.

The suspension must be a qualifying suspension. The SHO regime applies to:

a suspension for accumulating too many demerit points under the demerit point scheme;
a suspension imposed following a prescribed high-speed infringement notice;
in certain circumstances, a suspension imposed by SPER for non-payment of fines.

A special hardship order is not available for a court-imposed disqualification. If you have been disqualified by a court following a conviction, including for drink driving, drug driving, or a dangerous driving offence, the work licence provisions under s 87 of TORUM apply instead. Those applications are covered separately at /work-licence-qld/. The two pathways are distinct, and applying for the wrong one wastes time and costs money.

High-range drink driving disqualifications and repeat offence disqualifications are expressly excluded from the SHO regime. If you have been disqualified following a charge under the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld) or a serious traffic offence, get specific advice about which pathway applies before filing anything.

The hardship test. Once the eligibility threshold is passed, the court must be satisfied that:

driving is essential for the applicant to carry out a business or employment, or to avoid extreme hardship to the applicant or a member of the applicant’s family; and
the order would not be contrary to the public interest.

Extreme hardship is a higher bar than ordinary hardship. That the suspension is inconvenient, expensive, or professionally embarrassing does not satisfy the test. The question is whether the impact rises to a level that the legislature intended to address through a restricted licence regime.

Evidence

What the application actually requires.

The application is made by sworn affidavit. An employer letter is not sufficient on its own. The court needs evidence, not assertions.

The affidavit needs to address the factual circumstances directly: what the applicant does for work, why driving is required to do it, what would happen to the employment if the suspension ran its full course, and why no reasonable alternative exists. Vague statements about the importance of a licence are not persuasive. Specific evidence about specific consequences is.

Employer evidence is typically a separate sworn document or a signed letter from the employer, identifying the applicant, their role, the driving requirements, and the employment consequence if the applicant cannot drive. A generic character reference is not employer evidence. It does not address the question the court is asking.

Medical and geographic hardship follow the same logic. A certificate that says “patient needs to drive” does not carry the same weight as a letter from a treating physician explaining the treatment schedule, the transport distance, and why public or alternative transport is not viable.

Fraser Lawyers prepares the affidavit with the client, identifies the gaps in the evidence before filing, and ensures the material addresses the statutory test rather than the applicant’s sense of how unfair the situation feels. Those are different documents.

Conditions and refusal

What happens if the order is granted, and what happens if it is not.

If the application is granted, the court will impose conditions on the SHO. These typically specify the purposes for which driving is permitted (work, medical appointments, essential family transport), the hours during which driving may occur, and in many cases the vehicle or class of vehicle that may be driven. The conditions are part of the order. Driving outside them is a criminal offence, not a technical breach of a civil arrangement.

If the application is refused, that refusal is a decision of the Magistrates Court. It can be appealed to the District Court under the Justices Act 1886 (Qld). An appeal is not a fresh application. It is a review of the Magistrates Court decision on the material that was before the court. If the original application was inadequately prepared, the appeal starts from a weak position.

The better approach is to prepare the application properly the first time. Fraser Lawyers advises on whether the evidence is sufficient before the application is filed, not after the refusal is received.

Time matters

Deadlines and risks.

A special hardship order application should be made promptly once the suspension notice is received. The suspension may take effect within days or weeks of the notice. Once it takes effect, driving is prohibited. If the application has not been filed and listed before the suspension date, the driver must stop driving and wait for the hearing.

Court listing times in Queensland Magistrates Courts vary. In busier registries, a matter filed today may not be heard for two to three weeks. If the suspension starts before the hearing, the order, if made, applies from the date it is made, not the date the suspension commenced. There is no retroactive cover for the period before the order is in place.

If you are already driving while the suspension is in force, stop. Driving on a suspended licence is a separate criminal offence under the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld). A conviction for that offence can itself result in disqualification and may affect the court’s assessment of your application.

If the suspension is approaching or has already started, call today.

What we do

How Fraser Lawyers acts in these matters.

Fraser Lawyers assesses whether the suspension type qualifies for SHO relief and, if so, whether the factual circumstances satisfy the extreme hardship test. That assessment is given plainly, including where the answer is that the application is unlikely to succeed.

Where an application is viable, the firm prepares the affidavit material, identifies what supporting evidence is needed from the employer or treating practitioner, and ensures the application addresses the statutory criteria directly. The application is filed in the Magistrates Court in the correct registry and listed for hearing.

At the hearing, Fraser Lawyers appears and makes submissions. If police oppose the application, those submissions are addressed. If the application is refused, the firm advises on whether an appeal has prospects.

The firm also advises on the conditions that are likely to be imposed and what compliance with those conditions looks like in practice.

Practical

Documents to bring.

Suspension notice from Transport and Main Roads The original notice, including the suspension start date.
Infringement notices contributing to the suspension All relevant notices, paid or unpaid.
Queensland driver licence Current or most recently held licence.
Driving history extract Obtainable from Transport and Main Roads; confirms the point tally and any prior suspensions.
Employment evidence Employment contract, letter from employer, or ABN registration (if self-employed). Should confirm role and driving requirements.
Payslips or business income records Evidence of financial dependence on employment requiring driving.
Medical evidence If hardship relates to medical appointments or care of a dependant: treating practitioner letter, appointment schedule.
Evidence of transport alternatives (or absence of them) Public transport schedules for the relevant routes; statutory declaration as to geographic isolation.
SPER correspondence If the suspension relates to SPER enforcement: notices, payment history.
Any prior SHO or work licence orders Court orders from any earlier applications; relevant to the public interest test.

Pathway

The likely path.

Step 1 — Eligibility assessment.

The first question is whether the suspension type qualifies for a special hardship order. Not all suspensions do. Administrative demerit point suspensions and prescribed high-speed suspensions are within the regime; court-imposed disqualifications are not. If the suspension arose from a conviction, the work licence pathway under s 87 of TORUM applies instead (see /work-licence-qld/). Fraser Lawyers identifies the correct pathway at the first consultation, so the right application is prepared the first time.

Step 2 — Hardship assessment.

If the suspension qualifies, the next question is whether the factual circumstances satisfy the extreme hardship test. Fraser Lawyers takes instructions about employment, income, transport alternatives, medical needs, and caring responsibilities. The assessment is honest: if the circumstances do not reach the statutory threshold, that is the advice given. If they do, preparation begins.

Step 3 — Evidence gathering and affidavit preparation.

The application requires a sworn affidavit from the applicant and, in most cases, supporting material from an employer, treating practitioner, or other independent source. Fraser Lawyers prepares the affidavit, advises on what the supporting material must contain, and reviews that material before it is included in the application. Incomplete or vague supporting documents are identified and addressed before filing, not on the day of the hearing.

Step 4 — Filing and listing in the Magistrates Court.

The application is filed at the appropriate Magistrates Court registry and listed for hearing. The court gives notice to Queensland Police Service, which has the right to appear and oppose the application. Fraser Lawyers advises the client about what to expect at the hearing and what the likely conditions of any order would be.

Step 5 — Hearing and outcome.

Fraser Lawyers appears at the hearing, makes submissions on the statutory criteria, and responds to any police opposition. If the order is made, the firm advises on the conditions and what compliance requires. If the application is refused, the firm advises on whether an appeal to the District Court under the Justices Act 1886 (Qld) has realistic prospects.

Frequently asked

Questions we hear often.

Plain-English answers to the questions clients tend to ask. If your question is not here, call us.

Get in touch

Can I apply for a special hardship order after a drink driving disqualification?

No. A special hardship order under s 131 of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld) is not available for court-imposed disqualifications. If you have been disqualified by a court following a drink driving conviction, the relevant pathway is a work licence application under s 87 of TORUM. That is a separate application with different eligibility rules and a different process. Fraser Lawyers advises on work licence applications at /work-licence-qld/. If you are unsure which applies to your situation, call and confirm before filing anything.

What does "extreme hardship" mean in practice?

The statute uses the phrase “extreme hardship to the applicant or a member of the applicant’s family.” Courts have interpreted this to require more than ordinary inconvenience or financial difficulty. Loss of employment where driving is a core requirement of the role, inability to access essential medical treatment with no realistic alternative transport, and geographic isolation with genuinely no public transport options have been accepted in appropriate cases. That the suspension makes life difficult, or that it will cost money to manage, is not ordinarily sufficient. The circumstances must be genuinely exceptional in the context of what a suspended driver ordinarily faces.

Do I need a lawyer to apply for a special hardship order?

You are not legally required to have representation. The application can be filed by the applicant in person. However, the quality of the affidavit material and the way submissions are framed at the hearing can affect the outcome, particularly where police oppose the application or where the factual case is close to the boundary of the statutory test. Fraser Lawyers sees a meaningful number of SHO refusals that arose from inadequately prepared applications. Preparing the application properly the first time is less expensive than appealing a refusal.

Will conditions be placed on the order if it is granted?

Yes. The court will impose conditions specifying the purposes for which driving is permitted, typically confined to the purpose that established the hardship (work travel, medical appointments, essential family transport). Conditions will also commonly specify hours of driving and may identify the vehicle or vehicle class. Driving outside the conditions of the order is a criminal offence. The court does not grant an unrestricted licence. If the conditions the court is likely to impose would not actually address the hardship, that is worth raising before the application is filed.

What happens if the application is refused?

If the Magistrates Court refuses the application, the driver serves the suspension in full. The refusal can be appealed to the District Court under the Justices Act 1886 (Qld). An appeal is a review of the decision made on the material before the Magistrates Court. It is not a fresh hearing where new evidence is freely admitted. If the original application was inadequately prepared, an appeal faces structural difficulties. Fraser Lawyers advises on whether an appeal has realistic prospects before recommending that course.

Is a special hardship order different from a work licence?

Yes, and the difference matters. A special hardship order applies to administrative suspensions (demerit points, prescribed high-speed infringements, SPER). A work licence under s 87 of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld) applies to court-imposed disqualifications following a conviction. The eligibility tests are different, the court processes are different, and the types of driving permitted under each differ. Drink driving disqualifications, including for charges at the drink driving lawyers page, go through the work licence pathway, not the SHO regime. Fraser Lawyers advises on both, and the first step is confirming which one applies.

Can a P-plate driver apply for a special hardship order?

The eligibility of a provisional licence holder depends on the type of suspension and the specific provisions that apply. Provisional licence holders who receive a demerit point suspension may apply in some circumstances, but the good behaviour period election available to open licence holders is not available to P-platers. The assessment of whether an SHO is available, and whether the hardship threshold can be met, is the same substantive analysis regardless of licence class. Fraser Lawyers advises P-plater clients on eligibility at the first consultation.

Talk to Fraser Lawyers about your special hardship order application.

A short enquiry is usually enough to confirm which pathway applies to your suspension and whether the eligibility threshold can realistically be met. Fraser Lawyers is based at 86 Bundall Road, Bundall, and acts for clients across the Gold Coast and Queensland.