QUEENSLAND TO DOUBLE DRINK AND DRUG DRIVING PENALTIES FROM DECEMBER

di Giovanni Testa

The Crisafulli government has announced tougher fines, immediate licence suspensions and prison sentences of up to 25 years for the most serious road offences. A zero-tolerance approach will also apply to drivers using prescribed medicinal cannabis

Queensland is preparing a major crackdown on drink and drug driving, with doubled penalties, longer licence disqualification periods and tougher prison sentences for motorists who cause death or grievous bodily harm.

The Liberal National government led by David Crisafulli will introduce two separate bills to parliament aimed at significantly strengthening the state’s road laws.

The new measures are expected to take effect from December 1, 2026, and will target drink driving, drug driving, extreme speeding and serious or repeat dangerous driving offences.

Attorney-General Deb Frecklington said the reforms were necessary in response to the growing number of deaths on Queensland roads.

“If people do the wrong thing on the road and put other lives at risk, whether through dangerous driving, drugs or alcohol, they will face serious consequences,” she said.

PRISON SENTENCES OF UP TO 25 YEARS

One of the most significant changes concerns motor vehicle offences resulting in death or grievous bodily harm.

The maximum prison term would increase from 16 years to 25 years.

The government also plans to increase minimum licence disqualification periods and expand mandatory imprisonment provisions for serious and repeat offenders.

According to Frecklington, the new system is intended to ensure that penalties better reflect the seriousness of the harm caused.

The reforms will also introduce minimum court-imposed fines so that punishments cannot be reduced to a level considered inadequate for serious offences.

METHAMPHETAMINE TO BECOME AN AGGRAVATING FACTOR

The government also intends to close what it describes as a loophole in the current legislation.

The presence of methamphetamine in the system of a dangerous driving offender would be treated as an aggravating circumstance without prosecutors having to prove that the drug impaired the person’s driving.

“The fact that you are driving with meth in your system will now be enough to establish a circumstance of aggravation,” Frecklington said.

This would lower the evidentiary threshold required in serious cases.

Prosecutors would no longer need expert evidence proving that the substance directly affected the motorist’s ability to drive.

DRINK AND DRUG DRIVING PENALTIES TO DOUBLE

From December, penalties for drug driving are expected to double.

Motorists will face higher fines and longer licence disqualification periods.

The government also plans stronger penalties for drivers found to have both alcohol and drugs in their system, a combination regarded as increasingly common and especially dangerous.

Authorities say mixing alcohol and drugs significantly increases the risk of losing control of a vehicle, making poor decisions and causing fatal crashes.

Repeat offenders will face even more severe consequences.

IMMEDIATE SIX-MONTH SUSPENSION FOR EXTREME SPEEDING

The package also includes an immediate six-month licence suspension for motorists caught driving more than 40 kilometres per hour above the speed limit.

The suspension would apply without waiting for court proceedings to be completed.

The government considers this level of speeding to be deliberately dangerous conduct that places drivers, passengers, pedestrians and other road users at risk.

Seatbelt enforcement rules will also change.

Drivers will be allowed to nominate adult passengers responsible for not wearing a seatbelt so that the penalty can be issued to the correct person.

ZERO TOLERANCE FOR MEDICINAL CANNABIS

The most controversial part of the reforms concerns legally prescribed medicinal cannabis.

Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg confirmed that Queensland would maintain a zero-tolerance approach to prohibited substances in drivers’ systems, including cannabis prescribed by a doctor.

The government has rejected the approach adopted by some other Australian states.

New South Wales has recently introduced reforms offering limited protection to drivers who hold a valid prescription and have THC levels below a specified threshold.

Tasmania and Victoria also have provisions that can take authorised medicinal use into account.

Queensland, however, has chosen to strengthen its existing laws.

“Rather than weakening drug-driving laws, we will strengthen the provisions applying to people who choose to drive with a drug in their system,” Mickelberg said.

The government pointed to a Queensland drug-driving review that found current methods for measuring actual impairment had significant limitations.

EXPERTS CRITICISE THE POLICY

The decision has been criticised by former New South Wales magistrate David Heilpern, now Dean of Law at Southern Cross University.

He said Queensland was becoming increasingly isolated from the rest of Australia.

“This is extremely disappointing. Queensland is out of touch with the rest of the country,” Heilpern said.

He argued that there was no clear evidence that patients who use medicinal cannabis consistently and in accordance with their prescription cause more road trauma.

Critics say THC can remain detectable in a person’s body long after its impairing effects have ended.

A driver could therefore test positive even though they are no longer affected by the drug.

Heilpern warned that the zero-tolerance policy could force some patients to stop taking legally prescribed medication or switch to alternatives such as opioids or benzodiazepines, which can also affect driving ability.

The government maintains that road safety must come first and that, without a universally reliable impairment test, any detectable presence of a prohibited drug should continue to attract penalties.

MORE THAN 150 ROAD DEATHS THIS YEAR

The announcement comes after Queensland’s road toll passed 150 deaths for the year.

Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Rhys Wildman said every fatal crash had far-reaching consequences for families and the wider community.

Police have carried out about 1.25 million random breath tests and detected 8,000 more impaired drivers than in previous years.

The figures have reinforced the government’s view that existing penalties are not strong enough to deter dangerous behaviour.

Police will also conduct a high-visibility operation during the winter school holidays.

Extra enforcement will focus on major highways and motorists travelling long distances.

SAFETY VERSUS PATIENT RIGHTS

The proposed laws are likely to generate significant debate during the parliamentary process.

The government argues that the rising road toll requires immediate action and penalties strong enough to act as a genuine deterrent.

Legal experts and advocates, however, say the law should distinguish between the simple presence of a substance and actual impairment, particularly for patients following a lawful medical prescription.

The reforms will nevertheless significantly strengthen Queensland’s punitive approach.

Drivers caught with alcohol or drugs in their system will face higher fines, longer licence suspensions and, in the most serious cases, prison terms of up to 25 years.

The Crisafulli government’s message is clear: there will be no tolerance for motorists who endanger the lives of others.

The unresolved question is whether the same principle should be applied without distinction to thousands of medicinal cannabis patients who may test positive even when they are no longer impaired.

fonte ABC

The post QUEENSLAND TO DOUBLE DRINK AND DRUG DRIVING PENALTIES FROM DECEMBER first appeared on Allora! Italian Australian News.