Caught Driving While Suspended in Melbourne? Penalties & Defences | Burdon Legal

It is a scenario we hear often: You are driving to work, perhaps careful to stay under the speed limit, when you see the flashing lights of a police car. You pull over, expecting a random breath test.

Instead, the officer checks your licence on their iPad and tells you: "You are driving while suspended."

Your stomach drops. You might not have even known. Or perhaps you knew, but you thought, "It's just a quick trip, surely the penalty is just another fine?"

This is one of the most dangerous misconceptions in Victorian traffic law.

Driving while suspended is not a standard traffic infringement. It is a criminal offence. 

It carries severe penalties, including potential imprisonment, vehicle impoundment, and the risk of a permanent criminal record.

At Rebecca Burdon Legal  & Consulting, we help hundreds of drivers navigate this charge every year. This guide explains exactly what you are facing and, more importantly, how we can help you mitigate the damage.

Your questions answered

• The Two Types of Suspension: Why the "Reason" Matters

  • Suspension by Fines Victoria (Section 30AA)

  • Suspension by Court or VicRoads (Section 30)

• The Penalties: From Fines to Prison

  • Will I Go to Jail?

  • Will I Lose My Licence for Longer?

• The "Honest and Reasonable Mistake" Defence

• What About Impoundment? (Losing Your Car)

• Why You Need a Lawyer for a "Strict Liability" Offence

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• Your Next Step: Protect Your Future

The Two Types of Suspension: Why the "Reason" Matters

Before we look at penalties, we must identify why you were suspended. Victorian law (the Road Safety Act 1986) treats these two categories very differently.

1. Suspension by Fines Victoria (Section 30AA)

This charge has an “administrative” basis of the two charges, although still considered serious and is due to your licence being suspended because you failed to pay outstanding infringement notices (e.g., speeding fines, toll fines).  Often a court will impose a less draconian sentence in these cases, taking into account whether you have dealt with the underlying issues related to the fines.

2. Suspension by Court or VicRoads (Section 30)

This is the reason most charges are brought before a court, as the result of a suspension due to excessive demerit points, a high-speed offence, a drink/drug driving offence, or a direct court order. The court views this as a blatant disregard for the law. You have been told not to drive, and you did it anyway. The penalties here are significantly harsher.

The Penalties: From Fines to Prison

The maximum penalties for driving while suspended (Section 30) are severe.

• Maximum fine: Up to 240 penalty units. In monetary terms, this is over $47,000.

• Imprisonment: Up to 2 years.

While these are the maximums (reserved for the worst repeat offenders), they illustrate how seriously the courts take this offence.

Will I go to jail?

For a first offence, immediate imprisonment is unlikely, provided you have good legal representation. 

However, if this is a subsequent offence (i.e., you have been caught driving while suspended before), the risk of imprisonment becomes very real. Magistrates have little patience for drivers who repeatedly ignore court orders.

Will I lose my licence for longer?

This is the most confusing part for many drivers. Unlike drink driving, there is no mandatory minimum disqualification period for driving while suspended.

• The good news: The Magistrate can choose not to interfere with your licence further.

• The bad news: The Magistrate has the discretion to suspend you for any period they see fit.

Expert tip: Many Magistrates take the view that if you drove while suspended, the original suspension "didn't work." Therefore, they often impose a new suspension period starting from your court date. Our job is to persuade them otherwise—arguing that a further suspension would disproportionately impact your employment and family.

The "Honest and Reasonable Mistake" Defence

"But I didn't know I was suspended!"

We hear this every day. Often, people move house and forget to update their address with VicRoads, so they never receive the suspension letter.

This can form the basis of a complete defence known as "Honest and Reasonable Mistake of Fact."

To succeed, we must prove two things to the court:

1. Honest belief: You genuinely believed you were licensed to drive.

2. Reasonable belief: Your belief was "reasonable" in the circumstances.

3. 
   

Why "reasonable" is tricky: If you simply forgot to check your mail, or you knew you had demerit points but "hoped for the best," the court will likely say your mistake was not reasonable. However, if VicRoads made an administrative error, or you were told by an official that you could drive, you may have a strong defence.

If successful, you are found not guilty, and you face no penalty. This process will require a not guilty plea, a forensic assessment of the available evidence, which will heavily rely on your records with VicRoads.

What About Impoundment? (Losing Your Car)

Police have the power to impound or immobilise your vehicle if you are caught driving while suspended.

• First offence: Police can impound your car for 30 days. You will have to pay the towing and storage fees to get it back.

• Repeat offences: The court can order your vehicle to be forfeited (taken away permanently) or crushed.

Why You Need a Lawyer for a "Strict Liability" Offence

Driving while suspended is a "strict liability" offence. This means the police do not need to prove you intended to break the law—only that you drove while suspended.

This makes it difficult to defend without expert help. You need a Melbourne criminal lawyer to:

1. Assess the "reasonable mistake" defence: We can quickly tell you if your excuse will stand up in court.

2. Negotiate with prosecution: In some cases, we can negotiate to have the charge withdrawn or downgraded to a lesser offence if there are flaws in the police paperwork.

3. Fight for your licence: Since further suspension is discretionary, our advocacy is focused on convincing the Magistrate to let you keep your licence so you can keep your job.

4. Avoid a conviction: We can argue for a "Diversion" or a non-conviction outcome to ensure this mistake doesn't result in a permanent criminal record.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: I was only driving a short distance. Does that matter? A: To the law, no. Driving is defined as being in control of a moving motor vehicle on a road or road-related area. Whether you drove 100 metres or 100 kilometres, the offence is the same. However, we can use the short distance as a mitigating factor in sentencing to argue for a lower penalty.

Q: Can I get a work licence if I'm suspended? A: No. Victoria does not issue "work licences" or "hardship licences." If you are suspended, you cannot drive at all.

Q: My suspension was due to unpaid fines, and I've paid them now. Do I still have to go to court? A: Yes. Paying the fines after you were caught lifts the suspension for the future, but it does not erase the offence of driving while you were suspended. You will still likely receive a summons to appear in court.

Q: Will this show up on a police check? A: If you are found guilty and a conviction is recorded, yes. This is why we often advocate for a "without conviction" outcome for our clients.

Your Next Step: Protect Your Future

Being caught driving while suspended is a stressful event that can snowball into a legal disaster if ignored. The risk of losing your licence for an even longer period—or facing jail time for repeat offences—is real.

Do not face the Magistrate alone.

Contact Rebecca Burdon Legal & Consulting today for a confidential discussion. We will review your case, check for any valid defences, and fight to keep you on the road and out of prison.