Double Demerits: Which States Use Them, When They Start, and What Doubles

The question most drivers ask before a holiday trip, “are double demerits on this weekend?”, is in fact two questions. The first is when the doubling applies. The second is to which offences it applies. Neither has a national answer, because there is no single national double demerit scheme in Australia. Each state and territory sets its own road rules, in the same way that the rules for riding an e-scooter differ from one state to the next, and the arrangements for demerit points differ accordingly.

This article sets out the position jurisdiction by jurisdiction, as published by the responsible agency, with the date on which each source was read. It is intended to help a driver identify the rules that apply in the state in which they will be driving over the Christmas and New Year period. It is general information. It does not set out fine amounts, and it is not legal advice.

New South Wales

Transport for NSW, through its Centre for Road Safety, operates double demerit periods attached to public holidays.

1. Offences to which the scheme applies. During a double demerit period in New South Wales, the scheme applies to the following offences:
2. speeding;
3. illegal use of a mobile phone;
4. not wearing a seatbelt, or wearing it incorrectly;
5. driving with a passenger who is not wearing a seatbelt or an approved restraint; and
6. riding a motorcycle without a helmet.
7. The Christmas period. The double demerit period for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day runs from 24 December 2026 to 3 January 2027, according to the Transport for NSW list read on 17 October 2026.
8. School zones. Transport for NSW notes that additional penalties may apply to offences committed in school zones on school days that fall within a double demerit period.

The Christmas period is not the only one. Because the New South Wales periods attach to public holidays, Transport for NSW publishes a list of periods across the year, and the list is the document to consult before any long weekend, not only before Christmas.

A driver in New South Wales should therefore treat the offences above as those of concern, and the dates above as the period during which they attract additional points over the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Western Australia

The Road Safety Commission of Western Australia publishes its own arrangements, most recently updated on 4 August 2026.

1. Offences to which the scheme applies. During holiday periods and long weekends, double demerits apply in Western Australia to:
2. speeding;
3. drink or drug driving;
4. failing to wear a seatbelt or child restraint correctly;
5. running a red light;
6. illegal use of a mobile phone; and
7. driving in a manner, or with a device, designed to evade a speed camera.
8. The speed camera evasion offence. The Road Safety Commission states that this offence attracts 14 points during a double demerit period.
9. The Christmas period. The Western Australian period runs from Friday 18 December 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, according to the Road Safety Commission page read on 17 October 2026.

Two points of difference from New South Wales deserve attention. The Western Australian list of offences is longer, and includes drink or drug driving and red light offences, which do not appear on the New South Wales list. The Western Australian Christmas period also begins earlier, on 18 December rather than 24 December. A driver who travels between the two states over the holidays should not assume that the rules or dates of one apply in the other.

As in New South Wales, the Christmas period is one of several. The Road Safety Commission applies double demerits during holiday periods and long weekends generally, and its page should be read before each of them.

Queensland: all year, for repeat offences

Queensland operates on a different model. The rule that the Queensland Government describes is not tied to holiday periods. Double demerit points apply all year, to repeat offences.

1. The rule. Double points apply to a second or later offence in the same offence group, committed within one year of the previous offence in that group. The rule applies at any time of year.
2. The offence groups. The Queensland Government lists the following groups:
3. speeding more than 20 km/h over the speed limit;
4. mobile phone offences;
5. driver seatbelt offences;
6. failing to ensure that passengers under 16 are restrained; and
7. motorcycle helmet offences.
8. The group, not the offence. The second offence need only fall within the same group as the first. It need not be an identical offence.

The practical consequence is that a Queensland driver does not need to check a calendar to know whether the rule applies. The relevant question is whether that driver has committed an offence in the same group within the previous year.

An illustration, drawn only from the rule as the Queensland Government states it, may assist. A driver who is detected speeding at more than 20 km/h over the limit in March, and again at more than 20 km/h over the limit in November of the same year, has committed a second offence in the same group within one year, and double points apply to the November offence. The month of November is irrelevant to that outcome. The same reasoning applies to the other groups: a second mobile phone offence within a year of the first attracts double points whether it occurs in a holiday week or an ordinary one.

The Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory also runs double demerit periods over holidays. The dates and the offences to which they apply are published by the territory’s own authorities. A driver who will be in Canberra or elsewhere in the territory over Christmas should confirm the current dates and the offence list with Access Canberra or ACT Policing before travelling. This article does not set them out.

Everywhere else

The remaining states and territories do not appear in the schemes described above. That statement should not be read as a guarantee about any particular jurisdiction. Road rules change, and the authority responsible in each state is the only reliable source for the rules in force on a given date.

The recommended course is straightforward. Before a long drive, a driver should check the road authority of every state or territory through which the route passes, rather than assuming that the rules of the home state apply on the other side of a border.

One further boundary should be stated. This article makes no statement about how demerit points incurred in one state are recorded against a licence issued in another. That question is a matter for the licensing authority that issued the licence, and a driver with a concern about it should put the question to that authority directly.

Practical points for the Christmas drive

The following points apply to drivers planning a trip over the Christmas and New Year period.

1. Confirm the dates at the source. The Transport for NSW and Road Safety Commission pages publish the dates of each double demerit period. The Queensland Government page sets out the repeat-offence rule. Each should be read close to the date of travel.
2. Mobile phones. Mobile phone offences appear on the New South Wales and Western Australian lists and in a Queensland offence group. Mobile phone detection cameras exist, and a driver should not assume that an offence will go unobserved on a quiet road. The phone should be set up before departure and left alone while driving.
3. Seatbelts for every passenger. Seatbelt and restraint offences appear in all three schemes. In New South Wales the scheme extends to driving with a passenger who is not restrained, and in Queensland it extends to passengers under 16. The responsibility therefore rests with the driver as well as the passenger.
4. Provisional drivers. Provisional drivers face licence suspension at fewer demerit points than drivers on a full licence. A provisional driver on a holiday trip has less margin than an experienced driver in the same car.
5. The vehicle. A long drive in summer places demands on a vehicle that a daily commute does not. The service history, including what logbook servicing does and does not mean for a warranty, is worth reviewing before departure, as is the cooling system, given the conditions on inland highways in December. Thinker has set out ways to keep an engine cool and efficient in hot weather.
6. Drink and drug driving in Western Australia. Drink or drug driving appears on the Western Australian list of offences that attract double demerits during a holiday period. A driver attending Christmas or New Year gatherings in that state should arrange the journey home before the gathering begins, not after.
7. Rest. The holiday period is also a period of long distances and heat. Planned stops at rest areas break up the drive and give the driver an opportunity to check the route and the conditions ahead.

Check the dates before the drive

The position can be summarised in five clauses.

1. There is no national double demerit scheme. Each jurisdiction sets its own rules.
2. In New South Wales, the Christmas period runs from 24 December 2026 to 3 January 2027 (Transport for NSW, read 17 October 2026), and the scheme applies to speeding, mobile phone, seatbelt, restraint and motorcycle helmet offences.
3. In Western Australia, the Christmas period runs from Friday 18 December 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027 (Road Safety Commission, read 17 October 2026), and the list of offences is longer, including drink or drug driving and red light offences.
4. In Queensland, double points apply all year to a second or later offence in the same group within one year.
5. In the Australian Capital Territory, the dates should be confirmed with Access Canberra or ACT Policing, and in every other jurisdiction, with the relevant road authority.

A driver who has confirmed the dates and the offence list for each state on the route has done what the rules require of a careful driver before the trip begins. The remaining obligation is the same in every jurisdiction and in every period: to drive within the rules for the whole of the journey.

Sources: Double demerits, Transport for NSW Centre for Road Safety (https://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/campaigns/double-demerits.html); Double demerits, Road Safety Commission WA (https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/road-safety-commission/double-demerits); Double demerit points, Queensland Government (https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/safety/fines/demerit/double)