The Legal Alcohol Limit for Driving in Australia

Reviewed against official state and territory road authority sources, July 2026.

The legal alcohol limit for full licence holders in every Australian state and territory is a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) under 0.05. Learner and provisional drivers must have a zero BAC nationwide, and stricter limits apply to professional and heavy vehicle drivers, which vary by state.

That single national rule hides a lot of detail. The drink driving limit in Australia depends on your licence class, the vehicle you are driving, and in some cases which side of a state border you are on. This guide sets out the limit for every jurisdiction, with each figure cited to that state's own road authority, and explains what 0.05 actually means in practice. It covers the limits, not the penalty amounts: fines and disqualification periods change often, so those stay with the state authority pages linked throughout.

What does BAC actually mean?

Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is the amount of alcohol in your body, measured in grams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. A BAC of 0.05 means 0.05 grams of alcohol in every 100 millilitres of blood.

Two things about BAC catch people out. First, it can keep rising for 30 to 60 minutes or more after you stop drinking, so you can be under the legal BAC limit when you leave the venue and over it by the time you are pulled over. Second, the same drinks produce different BACs in different people. Body size, sex, food, and general health all shift the number, which is why counting drinks is such an unreliable guide. If you want to see how those variables interact, our BAC calculator lets you model them.

Drink driving limits by state and territory

The 0.05 full licence limit is uniform across Australia. The differences sit in the zero-limit categories and in the professional and heavy vehicle rules. The table below is drawn from each state and territory's official road safety source, linked in the last column.

State / Territory	Full licence	Learner & provisional	Professional, heavy & public passenger	Official source
NSW	Under 0.05	Zero (L, P1, P2)	Under 0.02: buses, coaches, taxis, rideshare, hire cars; vehicles over 13.9 t GVM/GCM; dangerous goods	NSW Government
VIC	Below 0.05	Zero (L, P1, P2)	Zero: trucks over 4.5 t GVM, buses and commercial passenger vehicles (incl. taxis), driving instructors, Z/I licence conditions	Transport Victoria
QLD	Below 0.05 (open licence)	Zero (L, P1, P2, probationary, restricted)	Zero: trucks over 4.5 t GVM, buses over 12 adults, articulated vehicles, dangerous goods, taxis and rideshare on duty, driver trainers	Queensland Government
WA	Under 0.05	Zero (learners and provisional)	Zero: vehicles over 22.5 t GCM, dangerous goods, buses carrying passengers, small charter vehicles, taxis; also recently disqualified and extraordinary licence holders	WA Road Safety Commission
SA	Under 0.05	Zero (L, P, probationary)	Zero: vehicles over 15 t GVM, prime movers over 4 t unladen, buses over 12 persons, vehicles carrying passengers for hire, dangerous goods	Legal Services Commission of SA
TAS	Under 0.05	Zero (learners and P plates)	Zero for commercial drivers	Road Safety Advisory Council (Tas)
ACT	Under 0.05	Zero (L, P, probationary, restricted)	Zero ("special drivers"): dangerous goods, vehicles over 15 t GVM/GCM, hire cars, buses, light rail, taxis, rideshare, driver trainers	ACT City Services
NT	Under 0.05	Zero (learner and provisional)	Zero: buses and taxis, coaches and heavy vehicles over 15 t GVM/GCM, dangerous goods, instructors while teaching	Northern Territory Government

Three details worth noticing. NSW is the outlier for professional drivers: its commercial tier is under 0.02 rather than zero, where every other jurisdiction sets these categories at 0.00. The heavy vehicle threshold also moves around, from 4.5 tonnes in Victoria and Queensland to 13.9 tonnes in NSW, 15 tonnes in SA, the ACT and the NT, and 22.5 tonnes in WA. And Queensland adds a zero limit for RE class motorcyclists in their first year, even on an open licence.

If you drive interstate, the practical rule is simple: your licence conditions travel with you, and the limit of the state you are driving in applies.

Who must drive with a zero alcohol limit?

Across Australia, a zero BAC applies to:

Learner drivers in every state and territory
Provisional and probationary drivers (P1 and P2) in every state and territory
Drivers with an alcohol interlock condition on their licence
Driving instructors while teaching in several jurisdictions (Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and the NT set instructors at zero; in Victoria, a supervising driver alongside a learner must also be below 0.05)
Taxi, rideshare and bus drivers while working (zero in most states, under 0.02 in NSW)
Dangerous goods and heavy vehicle drivers, at the tonnage thresholds in the table above

Zero means zero. For these licence classes, one light beer is over the limit, and morning-after alcohol from a big night can still register. If any of these categories applies to you, the only workable policy is a complete separation of drinking and driving.

How many standard drinks is 0.05?

There is no reliable number, and any page that gives you one is guessing with your licence. An Australian standard drink contains 10 grams of alcohol, which is roughly a 285 ml glass of full strength beer, a 100 ml glass of wine, or a 30 ml nip of spirits. The trouble is that a "glass" of wine poured at home is usually closer to 150 ml, a full-strength pint is closer to two standard drinks, and craft beers can be nearly double the alcohol of a standard lager.

You may have heard the old guide of two standard drinks in the first hour and one per hour after that. That guide is only ever an average, and averages are exactly the problem: the same intake can leave a 60 kg woman and a 100 kg man at very different BACs, and food, fatigue and health shift the result again. The NSW Government is blunter about it, advising that it is impossible to estimate your own BAC, even if you think you know how many drinks you have had.

Two honest options remain. If you need to drive, the only certain answer is zero drinks. If you want to understand how alcohol, time and body type interact, use our Australian BAC calculator, which estimates a time-to-zero for your inputs and covers every state's licence classes. This page explains the law; the calculator does the arithmetic.

How is the limit enforced? Police testing vs personal breathalysers

Every Australian police force runs random breath testing (RBT). You can be stopped anywhere, any time, and asked to blow into a roadside screening device; refusing is an offence, usually treated more severely than a low-range reading. If the roadside screen is positive, you are tested again on an evidential breath analysis instrument, and that second reading is what stands up in court.

Personal breathalysers are a different class of device, and it matters that we are straight with you about this, since we sell them. A quality fuel cell unit, calibrated on schedule, gives an indicative reading that helps you understand how alcohol affects you and supports better decisions the morning after. It is not an evidential instrument, and no consumer device can tell you that you are legally clear to drive. Transport Victoria's own guidance is that commercially available breath testers can be used as a guide but should not be relied on. That is exactly how we position them. If the decision is "am I right to drive", the only guaranteed-safe BAC is zero.

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

What happens if you are over the limit?

Penalties apply in every jurisdiction and scale with your BAC, from immediate fines and licence loss at the low range through to interlock orders, disqualification and imprisonment at the high range. The details differ by state and change often, so check your state authority's page: they are linked in the table above.

Frequently asked questions

What is the legal alcohol limit for driving in Australia?

The legal limit for full licence holders is a BAC under 0.05 in every Australian state and territory. Learner and provisional drivers must be at zero, and professional drivers are held to zero.

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

There is no safe universal number. BAC from the same drinks varies with body size, sex, food and time, and pour sizes rarely match standard drinks. If you plan to drive, the only reliable figure is zero; to see how the variables interact, use our BAC calculator.

Is the drink-driving limit the same in every Australian state?

The 0.05 full licence limit is national, and learners and P platers are zero everywhere. The differences are in professional and heavy vehicle rules: NSW uses an under 0.02 tier where other states use zero, and the truck weight thresholds vary by state.

Can a personal breathalyser tell me if I am legal to drive?

No. A personal breathalyser gives an indicative reading only; police evidential instruments are a different class of device. A good unit helps you understand your own responses and make safer calls, but the only guaranteed-safe BAC for a driving decision is zero.

How long after drinking until my BAC is back to zero?

On average the body clears roughly one standard drink per hour, the rate varies from person to person, and nothing speeds it up: not coffee, cold showers or exercise. After a heavy night you can be over the limit well into the next day. See how long alcohol stays in your system, or estimate a time-to-zero with the calculator.

Know your numbers, not just the law. Australia Breathalyser is a Melbourne-based supplier of personal and workplace breath testing devices. If you want an indicative reading of how alcohol affects you, browse our personal breathalyser range, start with the BAC calculator, or call our Melbourne team on 03 9360 0780. A breathalyser is a self-awareness tool, not a licence to drive at 0.049.

Sources (official state and territory road authorities, accessed July 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 Victoria, Alcohol and driving laws: transport.vic.gov.au/road-and-active-transport/road-rules-and-safety/alcohol-drugs-and-driving/alcohol-and-driving-laws
Queensland Government, Alcohol limits: qld.gov.au/transport/safety/road-safety/drink-driving/blood-alcohol
WA Road Safety Commission, Drink and drug driving: wa.gov.au/organisation/road-safety-commission/drink-driving
Legal Services Commission of South Australia, Prescribed concentration of alcohol: lawhandbook.sa.gov.au/ch12s08s03s13.php
SA Government MyLicence, The Driver's Handbook, Alcohol: mylicence.sa.gov.au/road-rules/the-drivers-handbook/alcohol
Road Safety Advisory Council (Tasmania), Driving under the influence: rsac.tas.gov.au/driving-under-the-influence/
ACT City Services, Drink and drug driving: cityservices.act.gov.au/roads-and-paths/road-safety/drink-and-drug-driving
Northern Territory Government, Alcohol, drugs and driving: nt.gov.au/driving/safety/alcohol-drugs-and-driving