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ROAD TRANSPORT (DRIVER LICENSING) AMENDMENT REGULATION 2004 (NO 1) (NO 59 OF 2004)
2004
THE LEGISLATIVE
ASSEMBLY FOR
THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL
TERRITORY
ROAD TRANSPORT
(DRIVER LICENSING)
AMENDMENT REGULATION 2004 (No
1)
SL2004-59
Explanatory
Statement
Circulated by
authority of
John Hargreaves MLA
Minister for Urban
Services
Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Amendment Regulation 2004
(No 1)
Background
The Road Transport (Driver Licensing)
Amendment Regulation 2004 (No 1) (the amending regulation) amends the
Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Regulation 2000 (the principal
regulation).
The Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Act 1999 regulates driver
licensing and provides for, among other things, a demerits points system for
drivers. Section 13A of the Act provides that the Road Transport Authority must
record demerit points in the demerit points register for a demerits point
offence where a person is served with an infringement notice for the offence and
the person pays the penalty for the offence or does not dispute the offence
within the time allowed.
Demerit points are taken to have been incurred
on the day the person, against whom they are recorded, committed the relevant
offence.
Under section 16 of the Act where the holder of a full driver
licence incurs 12 or more demerit points within a 3 year period, the Road
Transport Authority must serve a notice of licence suspension. The period of
licence suspension imposed will vary from 3 to 5 months depending on the number
of demerit points incurred in the relevant 3 year period.
Section 17 of
the Act provides that where an applicant for issue or renewal of a driver
licence has incurred 12 or more demerit points in the 3 years preceding the date
of the person’s last recorded demerit points offence, the Road Transport
Authority may refuse the application and serve a notice of licence ineligibility
or issue the licence and serve a notice of licence suspension.
Under
section 19 of the Act a person served with a notice of licence suspension can
elect, as an alternative to undergoing a period of licence suspension, to be of
good behaviour for the period of 12 months from when the suspension would have
taken effect.
Section 22 of the Act provides for regulations to be made
in support of the provisions of the Act dealing with the demerit points system.
Section 22(2)(d) provides that regulations may make provision in relation to
disregarding demerit points, or deleting demerit points from the demerit points
register, and the circumstances when such action may or must be taken. Section
22(2)(e) provides the regulations may make provision in relation to other
consequences for a person in relation to demerit points incurred by the
person.
The principal regulation does not include any provisions relating to the
disregarding or deleting of demerit points from the demerit points
register.
The amending regulation inserts a new section 137A into the
principal regulation. This is to the effect that where the issuing of a traffic
infringement notice for an alleged offence has resulted in demerit points being
recorded against the person to whom the infringement notice was issued and the
infringement notice is subsequently withdrawn the demerit points recorded in
relation to the alleged offence must be removed from the demerit points
register. (Traffic infringement notices can be withdrawn pursuant to section 31
of the Road Transport (General) Act 1999.)
The new section
137A further provides that any period of licence ineligibility,
suspension or cancellation, or period of good behaviour ends on the withdrawal
of the infringement notice.
These amendments will enable appropriate
action to be taken to remove demerit points and reverse their effect where an
infringement notice for an offence, which gave rise to the demerit points having
been incurred, is later withdrawn.
Detail of
amendments
Clauses 1, 2 and 3 – formal
provisions
Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of the amending regulation are
formal provisions setting out the name of the amending regulation, the
commencement arrangements and the name of the principal regulation being
amended.
Clause 4 inserts new section 137A into the principal
regulation. This new section sets out the consequence for demerit points where
an infringement notice, which resulted in those demerit points being recorded,
is withdrawn.
New subsection 137A(1) provides that
new section 137A applies in relation to a person if:
(a) an
infringement notice for a demerits points offence is served on the person;
and
(b) demerit points for the offence are recorded against the person in the
demerit points register; and
(c) the infringement notice is
withdrawn.
New subsection 137A(2) is to the effect that
the relevant demerit points are taken never to have been recorded and the Road
Transport Authority must delete the demerit points from the register.
The
purpose of new subsection 137A(3) is to reverse the effect of a
person having incurred demerit points for an offence in respect of which the
infringement notice is withdrawn. It is, therefore, to the effect that certain
actions, including:
(a) sending a person a warning notice;
(b) refusal
of an application of a driver licence;
(c) service of a notice of
ineligibility to obtain a driver licence or a period of ineligibility or
disqualification;
(d) service of a notice of licence suspension or a
suspension of a licence;
(e) making of an election to be of good behaviour by
a person;
(f) service of a notice of additional provisional class suspension;
and
(g) service of a notice of licence cancellation or a licence
cancellation;
which may have been taken against a person as a result of
incurring demerit points are taken never to have happened.
In addition,
new subsection 137A(3)(h) provides that the deletion of demerit
points from the register because one of the listed actions has happened is taken
never to have occurred. This is necessary because when action such as
suspension of a licence is taken against a driver licence holder as a result of
demerit points being incurred, all the demerit points incurred up to and
including the demerit points which resulted in that action being taken are
deleted from the register. This is so that, after the taking of that action,
the licence holder will start with a “clean slate” on the demerit
points register.
The intent of new subsection 137A(3)(h) is
to ensure that when demerit points are removed from the register because the
infringement notice giving rise to those particular demerit points has been
withdrawn, any other demerit points deleted, as a result of action taken against
the licence holder, are restored.
New subsection 137A(4) is
to the effect that, without limiting the effect of new subsection
137A(2), any period of licence ineligibility, disqualification, good
behaviour, licence suspension or licence cancellation to which a person is
subject because of the recording of demerit points ends by force of new
subsection 137A(2).
New subsection 137A(5) makes
clear that the requirement of new subsection 137A(2) to delete
demerit points incurred as a result of an offence for which the infringement
notice is withdrawn does not prevent the Road Transport Authority from keeping a
record of deleted demerit points. Such records may be kept for administrative
and audit purposes.
New subsection 137A(6) is included to
make it clear that new subsection 137A(5) must be read as being
subject to new subsection 137A(2).
Schedule 1 amends various division and section headings in the
principal regulation to more accurately reflect the content of those divisions
and sections and insert a note in relation to section 138.