Drivers Authority Discrepancies

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DriversGirl
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Drivers Authority Discrepancies

Post by DriversGirl »

Hello. My British-born partner is currently working as a long distance Coach driver in Europe. We've been researching how he might be able to move to Australia and work in a similar role. Visas and residency aside, I've noticed there is a big discrepancy in the application and granting of a Drivers Authority/Accreditation, depending on which state you apply to. In NSW the applicant must have held a NSW licence for 2 years before applying, with QLD and VIC the same, yet in the NT there doesn't seem to be any waiting period. I think sitting around for 2 years or more is far too long! Would it be worth it to apply directly to NT (we'd have to move there of course), and if that was successful, could the DA then be transferred to other states? If anyone has any suggestions or advice it would be greatly appreciated.
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DiAmOnD T
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Re: Drivers Authority Discrepancies

Post by DiAmOnD T »

Try contacting the relevant state you wish to move to and ask. I know there is mutual recognition between states for authority cards, I got a QLD one done based on the fact I held a NSW authority and had a job in QLD with a residential address there. took about twenty minutes and a heap of dotted lines to sign on but was reasonably painless
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boronia
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Re: Drivers Authority Discrepancies

Post by boronia »

IIRC, NSW was the first state to bring in the 2 year rule, mainly because of the large number of Asian drivers coming out on working holiday visas and jumping into buses to do inbound work. They then tried getting DAs in Qld, and moving to NSW, and I believe this was stopped also.

Rules may have changed again since then, but I think you might need to have had any Australian licence for 2 years to get a DA here
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DriversGirl
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Re: Drivers Authority Discrepancies

Post by DriversGirl »

Thank you very much. I have been contacting the various states. As far as I can tell, in SA, WA and NT there is (currently) no waiting time, and if DA's can be transferred easily enough between states then that is some good news.
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mrobsessed
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Re: Drivers Authority Discrepancies

Post by mrobsessed »

Six to eight weeks wait in WA for the F extension, with no mutual recognition between States.
AussieCoachDriver
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Re: Drivers Authority Discrepancies

Post by AussieCoachDriver »

In regards to NSW going to Sth Aust i know that a transfer is not on as i have a cleint that i was trying to get an SA one but was informed that he now has to sit their assessment process
Croc
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Re: Drivers Authority Discrepancies

Post by Croc »

I dont know about transferring accreditation interestate as a means to get the local one but I believe that under federal law a licence (including a DC) remains valid for work in any state. Which may not be the policy of the relevant state authority but may be legally valid all the same - especially if your employer operates in more than one state (which lots of them pretend to do so they can buy their vehicles cheaper in SA)
Make friends with someone who works for someone who is based in one state but operates in others and ask them. Better still why not ask the federal department of road safety (DOTARS)? (I would think any driver authority would be valid in any states as federal law allows for free trade between states. I'd like to hear what you find out)
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boronia
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Re: Drivers Authority Discrepancies

Post by boronia »

I think you will find that the DA is "attached" to a licence. If you live in NSW you should have a NSW Licence and thus a NSW DA. Of course if you are simply driving in another state, then NSW documents can be used.

However if you move permanently to another state to live, you would need a new licence for that state and presumably a new DA. Licences are usually transferable, but seems there are different rules for DAs? When your NSW licence is cancelled at changeover, then so would your DA.
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