Guide

Driving for work: what to prepare

This guide sets out how to evidence the effect of a licence suspension on your work, and what to gather before the hearing.

General information, not legal advice. This page sets out how the law generally applies. It does not take account of your circumstances, and you should get advice about your own situation before acting on it. The official sources this page is written from are listed on it; where they differ from anything here, they are the authority.

In short

Gather documents that explain how the suspension would affect your work. Ask for advice about what evidence is relevant and how to present it.

Ask for a letter from whoever can speak for your employer, saying what the driving is for, what it covers and what happens without it. This guide sets out what to gather.

Why this part matters so much

On a demerit point suspension appeal the court considers the circumstances of the offending, your driving record and the effect a suspension would have. On an appeal against a police immediate suspension, section 268(5)(b) of the Road Transport Act 2013 (NSW) provides that the circumstances of the alleged offence are not considered. In either case the effect of the suspension is the part you can still prepare.

Set out the specifics rather than the general position. Saying that you need your licence for work does not describe your circumstances on its own.

Be specific and, where you can, independent. Specificity means the actual driving, the actual hours, the actual distances. Independence means somebody other than you setting it out in writing, on their own letterhead, with their name and position on it.

What an employer letter should say

Ask for a letter from the person who can actually speak for the organisation about your employment: a manager, a business owner, a human resources officer. Not a colleague, and not a character reference.

The letter should be short, factual and specific. It does not need to argue that you should keep your licence, and it is better if it does not. Its job is to state facts a court can rely on.

Who is writing it, their position, and how they know about your work.
What your role is, how long you have held it, and whether it is ongoing or casual.
What the driving is actually for: site visits, deliveries, client attendance, carrying tools or equipment, travel between locations.
The hours and locations involved, including anything outside public transport hours.
Whether driving is a condition of the role, and whether the licence class matters.
What would happen if you could not drive: redeployment, reduced hours, unpaid leave, or termination. Whichever it is, plainly.
Whether any alternative arrangement is possible, and if not, why not.
Contact details, so the statement is checkable.

Ask for a letter that states the position accurately. If the honest position is that you would probably lose your job, the letter should say that rather than more.

If you are self-employed or run a business

For self-employed drivers, gather existing business records that describe driving tasks and the consequences of a suspension.

Show the business rather than describe it. Contracts and work orders that require attendance at sites. Invoices showing where the work is. A letter from a principal contractor or a regular client saying the work requires you to attend. Financial records showing what a period without driving would cost.

If you employ people, set out what happens to them, and gather evidence of it.

Beyond work: who else depends on your driving

Work may not be the whole of the consequence. If other people depend on your driving, set out who and for what.

Set out who depends on your driving and for what: a child taken to school or to treatment, a parent with medical appointments and no other transport, a family member with a disability, a person you care for. Evidence it the same way — a letter from a school, a treating doctor, a care provider.

Where health is part of it, ask the treating practitioner for a short letter confirming the treatment, the travel it requires and why public transport is not practical.

Distance and transport

Whether you could reasonably get to work without driving is a question with a checkable answer, and checking it is straightforward.

Set out the distance between home and work, what services run, and at what times. If your shift starts before the first service or ends after the last, say so and show the timetable. If a trip that takes half an hour by car takes two hours by three connections, that is a fact rather than a complaint.

Do not overstate it. If a service exists and would work, acknowledge it and explain what else makes driving necessary — tools, equipment, multiple sites during a day, or care responsibilities either side of the shift.

Print the timetables and the route so they can be handed up.

What to avoid

Three things to avoid.

The first is exaggeration. Do not ask for a letter that says you will certainly be dismissed if the employer has said no such thing. Ask for a letter that states the position accurately.

The second is leaving out material that is relevant. Legal Aid NSW lists character references, letters from your employer, medical evidence and information about public transport among the things to prepare. Gather what applies to your circumstances.

The third is leaving it late. The period on your notice is short, and letters from employers and treating practitioners take time to obtain. Ask for the material the day you decide to appeal.

What happens

Ask for the employer letter first

Ask on the day you decide to appeal, and tell the writer exactly what it needs to cover.

Gather the documents that show the driving

Rosters, job descriptions, contracts, work orders, invoices, site addresses.

Get the medical and care evidence

Short letters from treating practitioners, schools or care providers confirming what the driving is needed for.

Prove the transport position

Distances, routes, services and times, printed and ready to hand up. Acknowledge what does exist rather than overstating.

Read it as the other side would

Anything overstated, unverifiable or inconsistent with your record should be fixed before it is filed rather than defended at the hearing.

Common questions

My employer will not write a letter. What else can I do?

Use what already exists: a contract, a position description, a roster, an email about shifts, a payslip showing the hours. Documents created in the ordinary course of the work may help explain your position.

Should the letter say I will lose my job?

Only if that is true and the person writing it is willing to stand behind it. If the honest position is reduced hours or redeployment, the letter should say that.

Do character references help?

Legal Aid NSW lists character references among the material to prepare for a licence appeal. Gather one if it applies to your circumstances, along with the letters and records that describe your work and the driving it requires, and ask for advice about what to include.

What if I do not drive for work at all?

Then the case rests on the other consequences. Care responsibilities, medical travel, distance from any service, and hardship to people who depend on you can all be put before the court when they are evidenced.

Can I write my own statement?

Yes, and it has its place, particularly for the circumstances and for what has changed since. It should be short, factual and consistent with everything else. It does not replace independent evidence and should not try to.

How much material is too much?

Keep the bundle to what is relevant. Every document should relate to your circumstances or to the effect of the suspension.

Start gathering today

The period on your notice is short. Tell us what your driving is for and we will tell you what the material needs to cover.