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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Road Transport (General) Amendment
(Consecutive Disqualification Periods)
Bill 2009
No , 2009
A Bill for
An Act to amend the Road Transport (General) Act 2005 to make further provision
for the commencement of consecutive driver licence disqualifications and to make
consequential amendments to certain other legislation.
Road Transport (General) Amendment (Consecutive Disqualification
Clause 1 Periods) Bill 2009
The Legislature of New South Wales enacts: 1
1 Name of Act 2
This Act is the Road Transport (General) Amendment (Consecutive 3
Disqualification Periods) Act 2009. 4
2 Commencement 5
This Act commences on a day to be appointed by proclamation. 6
Page 2
Road Transport (General) Amendment (Consecutive Disqualification
Periods) Bill 2009
Amendment of Road Transport (General) Act 2005 No 11 Schedule 1
Schedule 1 Amendment of Road Transport (General) 1
Act 2005 No 11 2
[1] Section 188A 3
Insert after section 188: 4
188A Bringing forward of consecutive disqualification periods to avoid 5
orphan periods 6
(1) This section applies to a licence disqualification (an orphan 7
licence disqualification) imposed on a person if: 8
(a) the licence disqualification is to be completed 9
consecutively with another licence disqualification (the 10
primary licence disqualification) for the person, and 11
(b) the primary licence disqualification ends prematurely 12
because it is annulled, quashed or set aside, or is varied to 13
shorten its period, before the date for its completion 14
(whether or not the disqualification has already 15
commenced), and 16
(c) the premature ending of the primary licence 17
disqualification results in a period (the disqualification 18
orphan period) during which the person would, but for this 19
section, not be disqualified from holding a driver licence 20
before the consecutive licence disqualification 21
commences. 22
(2) An orphan licence disqualification is taken by operation of this 23
section (and without the need for a further order of a court): 24
(a) to commence at the beginning of what would otherwise 25
have been the disqualification orphan period, and 26
(b) to be completed after the expiry of a period that is 27
equivalent in length to the period that the licence 28
disqualification would have been in force if it had 29
commenced and ended as intended. 30
Note. Section 25A (1A) of the Road Transport (Driver Licensing) 31
Act 1998 provides that the driver of a motor vehicle who drives the 32
vehicle during a period of licence disqualification the commencement 33
and completion dates of which have been altered by operation of this 34
section is not guilty of driving while disqualified unless the Authority has 35
previously given written notice of the altered dates to the driver. 36
However, the operation of this section in other contexts (such as when a 37
person seeks to apply for a driver licence) is not affected. 38
Page 3
Road Transport (General) Amendment (Consecutive Disqualification
Periods) Bill 2009
Schedule 1 Amendment of Road Transport (General) Act 2005 No 11
(3) If the operation of this section in bringing forward the 1
commencement of an orphan licence disqualification would 2
result in: 3
(a) any other licence disqualifications intended to be 4
completed consecutively with any different licence 5
disqualifications (whether or not the orphan licence 6
disqualification) not having effect consecutively, or 7
(b) any other licence disqualifications intended to be wholly or 8
partly completed concurrently with any different licence 9
disqualifications (whether or not the orphan licence 10
disqualification) not having effect concurrently, 11
the commencement and completion dates for each of those other 12
licence disqualifications are also brought forward by operation of 13
this section (and without the need for a further order of a court) 14
to the extent necessary to ensure that they continue to have effect 15
consecutively or concurrently, as the case may be. 16
(4) If the primary licence disqualification is reinstated by a court 17
(whether on appeal or otherwise) after this section operates to 18
bring forward the commencement of the orphan licence 19
disqualification, the balance of the reinstated primary licence 20
disqualification remaining to be completed is, unless the court 21
orders otherwise, to be completed: 22
(a) if only the commencement of the orphan licence 23
disqualification is brought forward by operation of this 24
section--immediately after the completion of that 25
disqualification, or 26
(b) if the commencement of more than one consecutive 27
licence disqualification is brought forward by operation of 28
this section--immediately after the last of the consecutive 29
licence disqualifications is completed. 30
(5) For the purposes of this section, a licence disqualification is 31
consecutive with another licence disqualification if it is to 32
commence: 33
(a) when the other licence disqualification is completed, or 34
(b) on a date that coincides with the anticipated date for the 35
completion of the other licence disqualification. 36
(6) Nothing in this section limits any power that a court has: 37
(a) to make an order for licence disqualification (whether or 38
not to be completed concurrently or consecutively with 39
any other licence disqualification), or 40
(b) to annul, quash, set aside or vary a licence disqualification. 41
Page 4
Road Transport (General) Amendment (Consecutive Disqualification
Periods) Bill 2009
Amendment of Road Transport (General) Act 2005 No 11 Schedule 1
(7) This section has effect despite anything to the contrary in: 1
(a) the road transport legislation or any other Act or statutory 2
rule, and 3
(b) any order of a court that imposes a licence disqualification 4
(or a period for a licence disqualification) to which this 5
section applies. 6
(8) In this section: 7
licence disqualification means the disqualification of a person 8
under the road transport legislation from holding a driver licence 9
as a consequence of the person being convicted of an offence by 10
a court (whether or not the disqualification is imposed by an order 11
of a court). 12
[2] Section 189 Effect of disqualification 13
Omit "under the road transport legislation" from section 189 (1). 14
[3] Section 189 (1) 15
Insert "under the road transport legislation" after "a person is disqualified". 16
[4] Section 201 Period of disqualification of habitual traffic offender 17
Insert at the end of section 201 (6): 18
Note. Section 188A brings forward a licence disqualification of a person 19
that is to commence on the completion of a previous licence 20
disqualification in circumstances where the previous licence 21
disqualification ends prematurely resulting in the person ceasing to be 22
disqualified for a period before the new licence disqualification 23
commences. 24
[5] Schedule 1 Savings, transitional and other provisions 25
Insert at the end of clause 1 (1): 26
Road Transport (General) Amendment (Consecutive 27
Disqualification Periods) Act 2009 28
Page 5
Road Transport (General) Amendment (Consecutive Disqualification
Periods) Bill 2009
Schedule 1 Amendment of Road Transport (General) Act 2005 No 11
[6] Schedule 1 1
Insert at the end of the Schedule (with appropriate Part and clause numbers): 2
Part Provisions consequent on enactment of 3
Road Transport (General) Amendment 4
(Consecutive Disqualification Periods) 5
Act 2009 6
Application of section 188A to certain existing licence 7
disqualifications 8
(1) Section 188A (as inserted by the amending Act) extends to a 9
licence disqualification (an existing licence disqualification) 10
that: 11
(a) was imposed before the relevant day, and 12
(b) had commenced (or had not yet commenced) immediately 13
before the relevant day. 14
(2) If a disqualification orphan period in relation to an existing 15
licence disqualification was already in existence immediately 16
before the relevant day, section 188A (as inserted by the 17
amending Act) applies in relation to that licence disqualification 18
as if the disqualification orphan period for the purposes of that 19
section had come into existence on the relevant day. 20
(3) In this clause: 21
amending Act means the Road Transport (General) Amendment 22
(Consecutive Disqualification Periods) Act 2009. 23
disqualification orphan period and licence disqualification 24
have the same meaning as they have in section 188A (as inserted 25
by the amending Act). 26
relevant day means the day on which the amending Act 27
commences. 28
Page 6
Road Transport (General) Amendment (Consecutive Disqualification
Periods) Bill 2009
Consequential amendment of other legislation Schedule 2
Schedule 2 Consequential amendment of other 1
legislation 2
2.1 Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Act 1998 No 99 3
Section 25A Offences committed by disqualified drivers or drivers 4
whose licences are suspended or cancelled 5
Insert after section 25A (1): 6
(1A) Subsection (1) does not apply to a driver of a motor vehicle in 7
relation to a period of disqualification the commencement and 8
completion dates of which have been altered by operation of 9
section 188A of the Road Transport (General) Act 2005 unless 10
the Authority has given written notice of the altered dates to the 11
driver before the driver is alleged to have driven the vehicle. 12
Note. Section 239 of the Road Transport (General) Act 2005 (and 13
regulations made for the purposes of that section) provide for the service 14
and giving of documents to persons under the road transport legislation, 15
which includes this Act. 16
2.2 Road Transport (General) Regulation 2005 17
Clause 6 Service of notices on persons under Road Transport (Driver 18
Licensing) Act 1998 19
Insert "or a notice under section 25A (1A) of that Act" after "Road Transport 20
(Driver Licensing) Act 1998" in clause 6 (3). 21
Page 7
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