Losing your driver’s licence can affect far more than your ability to get around. For people who depend on their car for work, medical appointments, or to transport family members, a court-imposed disqualification can put their livelihood and their family’s stability at serious risk. An extraordinary licence in Perth offers a legal pathway to keep driving in limited circumstances during a disqualification period, but it is not available to everyone, and it is not automatically granted by the court.
What Is an Extraordinary Licence?
An extraordinary licence (EL) is a court-ordered licence that allows a person who has been disqualified from driving to drive in specific circumstances. It is not a full restoration of driving rights. It comes with conditions that restrict when, where, and for what purposes you can drive.
The law governing ELs in WA is set out in the Road Traffic (Authorisation to Drive) Act 2008 (WA), primarily under sections 27 to 39. The application is made to the same court that imposed the original disqualification. For most people, that is the Magistrates Court of Western Australia.
An EL is only available for court-imposed licence disqualifications. You cannot apply if:
- Your licence is suspended for unpaid fines under the Fines, Penalties and Infringement Notices Enforcement Act 1994
- Your licence is suspended due to excessive demerit points
- A police officer issued you a roadside disqualification notice and you are still within that notice period
Who Is Eligible to Apply?
You can apply for an EL if you have been disqualified from driving by a court following a criminal conviction or traffic sentencing. However, eligibility to apply is separate from the question of whether the court will grant the application.
The Road Traffic (Authorisation to Drive) Act 2008 sets out a strict test the court must apply. The court cannot grant an EL unless it is satisfied that refusing the application would:
- Deprive the applicant of the means of obtaining urgent medical treatment for an existing illness, disease, or disability suffered by the applicant or a family member, or
- Place an undue financial burden on the applicant or their family by depriving them of their principal means of obtaining income, or
- Deprive the applicant of the only practical means of travelling to and from their place of employment or a family member’s place of employment.
The threshold is genuine necessity, not inconvenience. If your situation does not clearly fit at least one of these categories, the court will not grant the application.
When Can You Apply?
There is a mandatory waiting period between the date of your disqualification and the date you can first make an application. The length of this period depends on the offence that caused the disqualification and whether you have prior traffic convictions.
Waiting periods vary significantly. For straightforward offences without prior convictions, the wait may be a matter of weeks. For more serious offences, particularly DUI at BAC 0.15 or above, or repeat drink driving offences, the waiting period is longer. The specific waiting period table is available from any Magistrates Court registry or from a lawyer.
One critical point: if your EL application is refused, you must wait six months before you can apply again. This makes thorough preparation before your first application essential. A poorly presented application that is refused does not simply give you another attempt shortly after. The six-month gap can cause real financial and personal harm.
How to Apply: The Step-by-Step Process
Step 1: Complete Form 5
The application for an EL uses Form 5, the Application for Extraordinary Licence, available from any Magistrates Court registry or from the court’s website. This form sets out your identifying information, the nature of your disqualification, and details of the driving you need to do, including times, routes, and purposes.
Step 2: Prepare Your Affidavit
The affidavit is the most important document in the entire application. It is your sworn statement of evidence explaining why you need the licence and how refusing it would cause the harm required by the Act.
Your affidavit must be specific and backed by evidence. Stating that you need to drive to work is not sufficient on its own. You need to set out:
- The nature of your employment and why it requires driving
- Why public transport or other alternatives are not practical
- The financial impact on your family if you cannot drive
- Any other relevant circumstances, such as a family member’s ongoing medical needs
Vague or unsupported statements weaken an application. Courts expect evidence, not just assertions.
Step 3: Gather Supporting Documents
Evidence strengthens your affidavit and gives the magistrate something concrete to rely on when making their decision. Documents commonly included with a strong EL application include:
- A letter from your employer confirming your role, employment conditions, and the impact of losing driving access
- Recent payslips or other proof of income
- A description or map of your route to work and an explanation of why alternative transport is not practical
- Medical certificates or specialist letters if a medical need underpins the application
- Character references if relevant to your circumstances
Step 4: File the Application and Pay the Fee
Applications are lodged electronically through the Magistrates Court’s eCourts Portal in most cases. A filing fee applies. You will receive a hearing date after lodgement.
What Happens at the Hearing
At the hearing, a lawyer from the Department of Transport appears as the respondent. They advise the court whether the Department opposes your application and on what grounds.
If the application is opposed, you may be required to give evidence from the witness box. You will be asked questions about your driving needs, your financial situation, and the basis of your application. The magistrate hears both sides and gives their decision at the conclusion of the hearing.
If the application is granted, you receive a court order. You must then take this order to a Department of Transport licensing centre, pay a further fee, and have the EL formally issued before you can legally drive again.
Conditions Attached to an Extraordinary Licence
Every EL comes with conditions tailored to your situation. Common conditions include restricted driving hours, approved routes or geographic areas, driving only for stated purposes such as work or medical appointments, and a mandatory zero BAC requirement at all times while driving. If the Alcohol Interlock Scheme applies to your disqualification, you must also comply with interlock conditions before and during the EL period.
Breaching any condition of your EL is a criminal offence. Driving outside permitted hours or for purposes not covered by the licence can result in the EL being cancelled and your vehicle impounded.
Get Proper Advice Before You Apply
An EL application is not a formality. Courts require real evidence of genuine necessity, and a weak application is refused outright, starting that six-month wait all over again. Our team prepares extraordinary licence applications for clients across Perth and represents them at hearings with the evidence and submissions needed to give each application its best chance.