Have you been charged with drink driving offences?
We can help you.
We are drink driving lawyers who can help you if you have been charged with drink driving offences,
We understand your concerns about your drink driving charge. There are minimum mandatory penalties in Western Australia for drink driving. Calculating the disqualification period starts with the BAC (blood alcohol concentration) recorded. There may be other factors that make you get a higher suspension or disqualification of your licence.
The important task of your lawyer is to keep the Magistrate to the minimum disqualification period for the drink driving charge against you.
In Western Australia, if you are charged with drink driving, you will either receive an infringement with demerit points, or a notice to appear in the Magistrates Court.
An infringement is only issued to those with a BAC of 0.05 to 0.079, or if the driver is on a zero limit and your BAC is less than 0.02. A zero alcohol limit is required for all novice drivers, holders of extraordinary licences, recently disqualified drivers, and drivers of taxis, buses and heavy vehicles. All other drink driving offences will require you to attend court, and be sentenced by the magistrate who will issue you with an appropriate fine and disqualification period.
If your BAC reading is 0.08 or higher, you will receive an automatic disqualification until your matter is finalised in court. The court will impose a fine and disqualification period. The fine amount and length of the disqualification period will depend on the BAC reading and whether it is your first, second or third or subsequent offence.
The Western Australian Road Traffic Act 1974 outlines the different drink driving offences and associated penalties.
If you are caught driving with a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) equal to or above 0.05 and less than 0.08, for the first offence, you can pay an infringement to avoid being prosecuted in court. If you are caught a second or subsequent time, you cannot be dealt with by way of infringement. Instead, you will have to appear in court and will receive a fine up to $2000, be disqualified from driving for a minimum of six months, and may be required to participate in the alcohol interlock scheme.
For court penalties, see the tables in the next section.
| BAC | Infringement | Demerits |
| ≥ 0.05 but < 0.06 | $1,000 | 3 |
| ≥ 0.06 but < 0.07 | $1,000 | 4 |
| ≥ 0.07 but < 0.08 | $1,000 | 5 |
Court Penalties for Drink Driving Offences
The following tables show the court penalties for drink driving offences. The penalties in these tables represent drivers who held a full licence at the time of the offence.
| BAC ≥ 0.05 but < 0.07 | Court Penalty |
| First Offence | $1,250 (max) (licence disqualification at Court’s discretion) |
| Second Offence | $1,250-$2,000 and 6 months disqualification (min) |
| Subsequent Offence | $1,250-$2,000 and 8 months disqualification (min) |
| BAC ≥ 0.07 but < 0.08 | Court Penalty |
| First Offence | $1,250 (max) (licence disqualification at Court’s discretion) |
| Second Offence | $1,500-$2,000 and 8 months disqualification (min) |
| Subsequent Offence | $1,500-$2,000 and 10 months disqualification (min) |
| BAC ≥ 0.08 but < 0.09 | Court Penalty |
| First Offence | $750-$2,250 and 6 months disqualification (min) |
| Second Offence | $1,600-$2,250 and 8 months disqualification (min) |
| Subsequent Offence | $1,600-$2,250 and 10 months disqualification (min) |
| BAC ≥ 0.09 but < 0.11 | Court Penalty |
| First Offence | $850-$2,250 and 7 months disqualification (min) |
| Second Offence | $1,700-$2,250 and 10 months disqualification (min) |
| Subsequent Offence | $1,700-$2,250 and 13 months disqualification (min) |
| BAC ≥ 0.11 but < 0.13 | Court Penalty |
| First Offence | $1,000-$2,250 and 8 months disqualification (min) |
| Second Offence | $1,800-$3,000 and 14 months disqualification (min) |
| Subsequent Offence | $1,800-$3,000 and 17 months disqualification (min) |
| BAC ≥ 0.13 but < 0.15 | Court Penalty |
| First Offence | $1,150-$2,250 and 9 months disqualification (min) |
| Second Offence | $2,400-$3,750 and 18 months disqualification (min) |
| Subsequent Offence | $2,400-$4,500 and 30 months disqualification (min) |
| BAC ≥ 0.15 | Court Penalty |
| First Offence (no relevant prior convictions) | $1,700-$3,750 and 10 months disqualification (min) |
| First Offence (previously convicted of a drink driving offence involving ≥ 0.08 BAC) | $2,400-$3,750 and 18 months disqualification (min) |
| First Offence (previously convicted of a polydrug driving offence involving ≥ 0.08 BAC) | $2,700-$3,750 and 27 months disqualification (min) |
| Second Offence | $3,150-$5,250* and 30 months disqualification (min) |
| Subsequent Offence | $3,150-$7,500** and disqualification for life |
*Alternative to fine for second offence is 9 months imprisonment
**Alternative to fine for third and subsequent offences is 18 months imprisonment
Zero BAC Drivers
In Western Australia, some drivers are subject to zero Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) when they are behind the wheel. Penalties apply to those drivers who exceed the zero BAC limit.
A zero BAC applies to:
- Novice Drivers
- Holders of Extraordinary licences
- Recently Disqualified Drivers
- Drivers of:
- vehicles exceeding 22.5 tonne gross combination mass (GCM)
- vehicles carrying dangerous goods (when such goods are being carried)
- buses (while carrying passengers where the vehicle is equipped to carry more than 12 adults including the driver)
- small charter vehicles (when carrying passengers for hire or reward)
- taxis (when carrying passengers for hire or reward)
| Offence | Infringement | Demerits | Court penalty |
| BAC > 0 but < 0.02 | $400 | 3 Demerits | $400-$750 |
| BAC ≥ 0.02 but < 0.05 | – | 3 months disqualification (min)* | $400-$750 |
*If a novice driver is disqualified, the licence is cancelled. For all other licence holders, a disqualification will result in a suspension.
Getting the best result
Defending a drink driving charge will require your lawyer to plan a strategy that suits your particular matter. We recommend you do the following:
Complete a Road Trauma Course This demonstrates that you are serious about improving your driving behaviour and are truly reflecting on the issue of drink driving.
Arrange effective character references It is our experience that a properly drafted character reference can have an impact upon the sentence that is imposed by the court. They should tell the positives about you. You can learn more about writing character references here.
Arrange alcohol counselling if you have an alcohol problem If an offender has several alcohol-related offences on their record, a Magistrate will wonder if they have an alcohol problem. If you do have an alcohol problem, it is wise to have alcohol counselling. The court will take into account your attempts at rehabilitation when imposing a sentence.
Liver function test A liver function test might be important to explain why your blood alcohol reading was high. This can happen even if you were trying to be very careful with your alcohol intake. The liver processes alcohol and a liver function test can explain why a person had a much higher reading than they would have expected.
