Suspended at the roadside

Immediate suspension

For certain offences police can suspend a licence on the spot and hand you the notice there and then. The suspension runs while the matter behind it is still to be decided, and the period to appeal it starts immediately.

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.

Who this page is for

Your licence was suspended at the roadside

An immediate suspension takes effect before the matter behind it has been decided. The Act allows police to suspend immediately for certain offences, whether that matter proceeds by penalty notice or by charge, and the suspension is meant to operate straight away.

The court’s power here is narrow. Service NSW states that the court cannot lift the suspension or vary its length unless there are exceptional circumstances justifying it. An appeal against an immediate suspension is therefore not an argument about hardship or a good record on its own; it is an argument that your case meets that threshold.

What the Act also does is give you a way to put that decision in front of a magistrate quickly. That is the point of the appeal. The court is not being asked whether you committed the offence. It is being asked whether the suspension should continue as it stands while the matter is dealt with.

Where there is a charge, the two proceedings run alongside each other. The charge is prosecuted in the ordinary way and will be decided on its own evidence. The appeal against the suspension is a separate application, decided on different material. What you say in one can be used in the other, which is a good reason to take advice before you say anything in either.

The period to lodge is stated on the notice you were handed and it is short. If you are reading this the same day you were stopped, that is the right day to act. If it has been a week, it is still worth asking today rather than tomorrow.

How we help

What the work actually is

Working out whether an appeal is available at all

Not every immediate suspension carries a right of appeal. Which offence is alleged decides it. That is the first question and it is answered from the notice and the offence alleged, not from a general page.

Moving at the speed the period requires

We treat these as urgent because they are. Send a short summary and the date on your notice, and we will tell you what applies and what has to be filed.

Keeping the appeal and the charge apart

The appeal is about the suspension. Where there is a charge, that is about the offence, and material put forward in one can turn up in the other. What is said and when is a considered decision rather than an accident.

Evidencing the consequences properly

Employment, care responsibilities, distance and available transport, put in a form a magistrate can act on. Our guide to evidencing work driving sets out what that looks like.

Filing the appeal correctly

The Local Court publishes the application for a licence appeal and it can be filed online or at a registry. Filing correctly and in time is not a formality, it is the whole thing.

Appearing and putting the realistic case

What the court is being asked for matters. Get advice about what to seek, and gather the material that supports it.

Questions

Questions people ask first

Can I drive while I wait for the appeal to be heard?

Do not assume so. An immediate suspension continues unless the court grants a stay, which requires exceptional circumstances. Ask before you drive. Driving while suspended is a separate offence, and being charged with it while an appeal is on foot makes the position considerably worse.

Do I have to wait until my charge is heard?

No. The period to appeal the suspension is stated on the notice and runs now. Where there is a charge, it is a separate proceeding and may not be heard for some time.

What does the magistrate actually decide?

Whether the suspension should stand, be lifted, or be varied by substituting a shorter period. The court is not deciding whether you committed the offence. Where there is a charge, that is for the hearing of the charge.

Will an appeal make the charge worse?

Appealing is a right the Act gives you and using it is not held against you. What can matter is what is said in support of it, because material put before the court on the appeal is not private. That is a reason to prepare it with advice, not a reason to stay quiet.

Police took my licence card. Does that matter?

The card is not the licence. What matters is the suspension itself and what the notice says about it. Tell us what you were given and what you were told at the time, including anything you signed.

What if I was never given a notice?

Say so, and tell us exactly what happened at the roadside and what you were handed. What you were given and when can matter a great deal, and it is worth establishing early rather than arguing about it later from memory.

Is it worth appealing if I expect to be convicted anyway?

The suspension is running now. Where there is a charge, it is decided separately, so they are different questions. We will tell you honestly if we think an appeal has little prospect.

What to bring

Gather these now rather than waiting until you have all of them. Keep a first message short: what the notice is called, and the date and time you were given it. We will explain how to provide documents securely once the first checks are done.

The suspension notice police gave you, both sides, and the date and time you received it.
The court attendance notice or charge documents, if you have been given them.
Anything else you were handed or asked to sign at the roadside.
What class and type of licence you hold, and your driving record if you can obtain it.
What driving is needed for: employment, care, medical treatment, distance from transport.
An employer letter, roster or job description, if driving is part of your work.
Any previous suspension or disqualification, and how it was dealt with.
Who depends on your driving, and what for.