The Legal Alcohol Limit in NSW

Reviewed against NSW Government sources, August 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice.

In New South Wales, the legal alcohol limit for a full licence holder is a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) under 0.05. Learner and provisional drivers (L, P1 and P2) must have a zero BAC. Professional drivers, including taxi, rideshare and bus drivers, drivers of heavy vehicles over 13.9 tonnes, and dangerous goods drivers, must stay under 0.02 (NSW Government). Those three tiers cover every driver on a NSW road. This guide explains each one, how police enforce them, and what a personal breathalyser can and cannot tell you.

The NSW limits at a glance:

• Full (unrestricted) licence: BAC under 0.05
• Learner, P1 and P2 drivers: zero
• Taxi, rideshare, bus, heavy vehicle (over 13.9 t) and dangerous goods drivers: under 0.02

NSW alcohol limits by licence type

NSW does not have one alcohol limit. The limit that applies to you depends on your licence class and the vehicle you are driving. The table below sets out every category, drawn from the NSW Government's official guidance (NSW Government).

Licence or driver category	Legal BAC limit
Full (unrestricted) licence	Under 0.05
Learner licence	Zero
Provisional P1	Zero
Provisional P2	Zero
Public passenger vehicles: buses, coaches, taxis, rideshare and hire cars	Under 0.02
Heavy vehicles over 13.9 t GVM or GCM	Under 0.02
Dangerous goods vehicles	Under 0.02

One row is worth stressing, because summary pages regularly get it wrong. NSW's professional tier is under 0.02, not zero. Most other states hold taxi, bus and heavy vehicle drivers to 0.00; in NSW those drivers can legally record up to 0.019. In practice the margin is so thin it behaves like zero: even a single standard drink can put a 0.02-category driver over.

The zero limit for learner and provisional drivers is strict in the other direction. Zero means any detectable alcohol at all, and alcohol from the previous night can still be in your system the next morning. For L and P platers, the only workable approach is a complete separation of drinking and driving.

If your licence carries an alcohol interlock condition, a zero limit applies no matter what class of licence you hold. The interlock program is covered further down this page.

The five NSW BAC ranges, from novice to high range

NSW law does not treat every reading over the limit the same way. Drink driving offences are charged as driving with a "prescribed concentration of alcohol", usually shortened to PCA, under the Road Transport Act 2013 (NSW), and readings are divided into five ranges (NSW Government).

Which range you fall into depends on your reading and your licence category together. A BAC of 0.03 is not an offence on a full licence, but it is a special range offence for a taxi driver on shift, and it puts a P plater well over their zero limit. The range recorded then determines how the matter is dealt with: consequences scale up from novice and low range through to high range, where courts treat drink driving most seriously. That is why the same reading can mean very different things for two drivers in the same breath testing queue.

How many standard drinks is 0.05 in NSW?

An Australian standard drink contains 10 grams of alcohol. That is roughly a 285 ml glass of full strength beer, a 100 ml glass of wine, or a 30 ml nip of spirits, and that is where the honest answers end, because there is no reliable formula linking a number of drinks to a BAC of 0.05.

The problem is variability. The same two drinks can produce quite different BACs in two people depending on body size, sex, how recently they have eaten, and general health. Real-world pours rarely match the standard measures either: a restaurant glass of wine is commonly 150 ml, and many craft beers carry nearly double the alcohol of a standard lager. BAC can also keep rising after you stop drinking, so your number when you leave the venue is not your number ten minutes down the road.

The NSW Government's own advice is blunt: it is impossible to estimate your own BAC, even if you think you know how many drinks you have had (NSW Government).

Two honest options remain. If you are driving in NSW, the only certain answer is zero drinks. If you want to understand how alcohol, time and body type interact, our Australian BAC calculator estimates a time-to-zero for your inputs, including NSW licence classes. This page explains the law; the calculator does the arithmetic. And if the morning after is your question, see how long alcohol stays in your system.

RBT in NSW: how police testing works

NSW Police run random breath testing (RBT) across the state. You can be stopped anywhere, at any time, without any suspicion of an offence: at a fixed RBT site, by a highway patrol car, or on a quiet street on a Tuesday morning. Refusing a breath test is itself an offence (Transport for NSW).

Testing happens in two stages. The roadside screening device gives an initial indication. If it is positive, you are taken for a second test on an evidential breath analysis instrument, usually at a police station or mobile testing bus, and it is that second reading that matters legally.

Personal breathalysers are a different class of device again, and since we sell them, we want to be precise about the difference. A quality fuel cell breathalyser, calibrated on schedule, gives an indicative reading: genuinely useful for understanding how alcohol affects you and for morning-after awareness, but it is not an evidential instrument, and it is not a tool for confirming you are legally clear to drive. No consumer device can do that. If the question is whether you are right to drive, the only guaranteed-safe answer is not to drive after drinking.

For what separates a serious device from a novelty one, see our guide to AS 3547, the Australian Standard for breath alcohol testing devices.

The NSW alcohol interlock program

An alcohol interlock is an electronic breath testing device wired into a vehicle's ignition. The driver provides a breath sample before starting the engine, and the vehicle will not start if the sample records alcohol. NSW runs a mandatory interlock program: drivers convicted of mid-range, high-range, repeat and other serious drink driving offences are required to have an interlock installed, serving a licence disqualification first and then driving on an interlock licence for 12 to 48 months depending on the offence (NSW Government interlock program).

Two things are worth knowing even if the program never applies to you. First, a zero alcohol limit applies to all interlock drivers: while the condition applies, the driver must not have any alcohol in their system when driving. Second, the program reaches further down the range table than most people assume, starting at mid range, not just high range.

Who is ordered onto the program, and for how long, is set by the courts and Transport for NSW, and the official guidance is the right place for those details.

Is the limit the same in other states?

Mostly, yes. Every Australian state and territory sets the full licence limit at under 0.05, and learner and provisional drivers are zero everywhere. The differences sit in the professional categories: NSW's under 0.02 tier for taxi, bus, heavy vehicle and dangerous goods drivers is unusual, because most other jurisdictions hold those drivers to zero, and the heavy vehicle threshold itself moves around: 4.5 tonnes in Victoria and Queensland, 13.9 tonnes in NSW, and 15 tonnes or more in several other jurisdictions. If you drive interstate, your licence conditions travel with you and the limit of the state you are driving in applies. For the full state-by-state breakdown, see our guide to the legal alcohol limit across Australia.

Over the limit in NSW?

Penalties for drink driving in NSW scale with the range recorded, from fines and immediate licence suspension at the lower ranges through to disqualification, interlock orders and imprisonment at high range. The amounts and periods change over time, so we keep them off this page: the current figures are maintained on the NSW Government's alcohol and drug offences page.

Frequently asked questions

What is the legal alcohol limit in NSW?

The legal alcohol limit in NSW is a BAC under 0.05 for full licence holders. Learner, P1 and P2 drivers must have a zero BAC, and drivers of public passenger vehicles, heavy vehicles over 13.9 tonnes and dangerous goods vehicles must stay under 0.02. The limits are set under the Road Transport Act 2013 (NSW).

How many standard drinks can I have and stay under 0.05 in NSW?

There is no safe number. BAC from the same drinks varies with body size, sex, food and time, and real-world pours rarely match standard drinks. The NSW Government advises that it is impossible to estimate your own BAC. If you plan to drive, the only reliable figure is zero; to see how the variables interact, use our BAC calculator.

What is the alcohol limit for P-platers in NSW?

Zero. Both P1 and P2 drivers in NSW must have no alcohol in their system when driving, the same rule that applies to learners. Any detectable reading is a novice range offence, and alcohol from a late night can still register the next morning.

Can a personal breathalyser tell me if I'm under the NSW limit?

No. A personal breathalyser gives an indicative reading only, and the evidential breath analysis instruments police use are a different class of device. A quality unit helps you understand how alcohol affects you and make safer calls, but the only guaranteed-safe choice is not to drive after drinking.

What BAC counts as low-, mid- and high-range in NSW?

In NSW, low range is a BAC of 0.05 to 0.079, mid range is 0.08 to 0.149, and high range is 0.15 or above. Two further ranges apply to restricted drivers: novice range, any detectable reading under 0.02, for zero-limit licence holders, and special range, 0.02 to 0.049, for drivers on the under 0.02 limit.

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Knowing the limit is half the picture; knowing your own numbers is the other half. Australia Breathalyser is a Melbourne-based supplier of personal and workplace breath testing devices, shipping across NSW and Australia-wide. If you want an indicative picture of how alcohol affects you, browse our personal breathalyser range or start with the free BAC calculator. A breathalyser is a self-awareness tool, not permission to drive at 0.049.

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Sources (official NSW Government sources, accessed August 2026):

• NSW Government, Alcohol limits, drugs and medicines: nsw.gov.au/driving-boating-and-transport/roads-safety-and-rules/safe-driving/alcohol-and-drugs
• Transport for NSW, Road safety – alcohol: transport.nsw.gov.au/roadsafety/topics-tips/alcohol
• NSW Government, Alcohol and drug offences: nsw.gov.au/driving-boating-and-transport/demerits-penalties-and-offences/offences/alcohol-and-drug-offences
• NSW Government, Drink and drug driving penalties (PCA ranges): nsw.gov.au/driving-boating-and-transport/demerits-penalties-and-offences/offences/alcohol-and-drug-offences/drink-and-drug-driving-penalties
• NSW Government, Alcohol interlock program: nsw.gov.au/driving-boating-and-transport/demerits-penalties-and-offences/offences/alcohol-and-drug-offences/alcohol-interlock-program
• Road Transport Act 2013 (NSW), cited by name for the PCA range taxonomy