The 5-year rule for DUI offences in Queensland
Learn how Queensland’s 5-year lookback works for drink and drug driving. It is the conviction date that matters, not a single “DUI” label, and it changes disqualification floors, maximum penalties, and whether you can apply for a restricted work licence.
Key point. The lookback is 5 years before this conviction, not before the roadside test or the charge. Which prior section you have (under the influence vs lower/middle/drug-present) changes the floor. A listed prior in 5 years also bars a s 87 restricted work licence.
This is general information about Queensland law, current as at 28 August 2026, using the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld) as in force on 1 July 2026. It is not legal advice and it is not a prediction of your sentence. See also the QLD licence disqualification guide and the QLD drink and drug driving laws hub.
Understanding the 5-year lookback
Under TORUM sections 79 and 86, the test is whether, “within the period of 5 years before” this conviction, you have been previously convicted of a listed offence. Schedule 4 defines previously convicted by reference to the later conviction, whether the later offence was committed before or after the earlier one.
If the current matter takes months to get to court, an older conviction can still sit inside the window. Dates on the bench charge sheet and on any previous court order matter more than a rough memory of “about five years ago”.
Do not treat “5 years and 1 day after the last roadside test” as a reset. Measure from the court date of this conviction back to the court date of the earlier conviction.
It is not one DUI bucket
Queensland does not charge “DUI” as a single offence. The Act splits, among other things:
- driving under the influence of liquor or a drug (s 79(1)), including over the high alcohol limit (0.150), which is presumed under the influence, and failing to provide a specimen, which is taken to be a s 79(1) offence (s 80(11));
- over the middle alcohol limit but not the high limit (s 79(1F) — 0.100);
- over the general alcohol limit but not the middle limit (s 79(2) — 0.050);
- a relevant drug present in blood or saliva (s 79(2AA));
- over the no-alcohol limit on a learner, P-plate, restricted, interlock or certain work vehicles (s 79(2A), (2B), (2J) and related provisions).
A prior conviction for dangerous operation of a vehicle (Criminal Code s 328A), or some indictment driving offences, can also take you out of first-offence treatment even if you have never had a drink-driving conviction.
A finding of guilt or a guilty plea is still a conviction for this lookback even if the court did not record a conviction last time (Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld) ss 4 and 12(4)(b)(iii)). Not recording a conviction does not wipe the 5-year lookback for the next drink or drug driving charge. That reading is from the Act. It is general information, not a case note.
What a prior in 5 years actually changes
These are the usual first-offence floors where there is no relevant conviction in the previous 5 years. The court may impose longer. It cannot impose shorter.
Open licence, first offence
| Offence (open licence, first) | s 86 floor | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Over general but not middle (0.050 to under 0.100), and other “any other case” s 86(2) matters such as a first drug-present charge on an open licence | 1 to 9 months, decided by the court | s 86(2)(f), (2A) |
| Over middle but not high (0.100 to under 0.150) | 3 to 12 months | s 86(2)(ea), (2A) |
| Under the influence, including over 0.150 or fail to provide | 6 months automatic. The court may order longer or absolute disqualification. It cannot go below 6 months | s 86(1), (5); s 80(11) |
Learner, probationary, provisional, restricted or unlicensed drivers often face a higher first-offence floor of 3 to 9 months for the lower-limit offences (s 86(2)(e)).
If you have a relevant conviction in the previous 5 years, the floors jump. Examples only. Match the sections. Do not assume every “second DUI” is the same.
| Repeat example (relevant conviction in previous 5 years) | s 86 floor | Section |
|---|---|---|
| A second offence in the lower / middle / drug-present class in 5 years | 3 to 18 months | s 86(2B) |
| More than one prior in that class | 6 months automatic | s 86(2D) |
| A current lower / middle / drug-present offence with a prior under-the-influence (or dangerous operation / indictment driving) in 5 years | 9 months automatic | s 86(2E) |
| Under the influence with one prior s 79(1) in 5 years | 1 year automatic | s 86(1A) |
| Under the influence with more than one prior s 79(1) in 5 years | 2 years automatic | s 86(1B) |
The old 1-month vs 3-month line is not a universal rule. A 1-month floor exists only in s 86(2)(f) (typically first open-licence over-general, not middle). A second offence in that class is 3 to 18 months (s 86(2B)). If the prior was under the influence, a current lower-class offence is 9 months automatic (s 86(2E)). If the current charge is under the influence, the first-offence floor is already 6 months, and one prior s 79(1) makes it 1 year.
A relevant drink, drug or dangerous-driving conviction in the previous 5 years also bars a restricted work licence under s 87. Clearing the 5-year lookback for disqualification floors is not the same as being eligible for a work licence. Other s 87 bars still apply, including under-the-influence, zero-alcohol offences, and offending while working. See s 87: am I eligible? and the QLD + Work Licence program.
Family, character and apology letters
Queensland courts can take your character, age, guilty plea, and personal circumstances into account when they decide the fine, whether to record a conviction, and where to land inside a disqualification range. Character references and an apology letter are for that work. See DUI character references in Queensland and no conviction recorded.
They are not a way around the floor. Family responsibilities, employment, and “no conviction recorded” do not authorise a disqualification shorter than s 86 requires (s 86(8)).
A restricted work licence is a separate application, made at the same hearing, with its own test: you must be a fit and proper person having regard to road safety, and refusal would cause extreme hardship by taking away your means of earning a livelihood. That is a livelihood test, not a general family-hardship discount, and a prior listed conviction in 5 years stops the application.
Dates, not strategy
If a previous conviction sits near the 5-year mark, the useful work is checking the actual conviction date against the listed date of this hearing. Do not assume the charge will be treated as a first offence, and do not delay for its own sake. Adjournments can move the conviction date either way. Rehabilitation since an old offence can matter to the fine and to recording a conviction. It does not rewrite s 86.
If you are not sure which section you have been charged under, or which section the old matter was, that is the first thing to get clear. The section number on the bench charge sheet is more reliable than the word “DUI”.
Related resources
- QLD licence disqualification for DUI
- Drink driving court in Queensland: what to expect
- First-time drink driving charge in Queensland
- QLD drink driving penalties
- QLD drink and drug driving laws and offences
- No conviction recorded in Queensland
- DUI character references in Queensland
- QLD drug driving
- Section 87 work licence: am I eligible?
External resources
- Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld) — especially ss 79, 79A, 80(11), 86 and 87
- Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld) — ss 9, 11 and 12
- Queensland Government, drink and drug driving
- Queensland Government, being charged with drink driving
- Queensland Courts
Prepare your QLD guilty plea
Know the 5-year lookback before you plead.
The DIY DUI Method is information and self-preparation only. It is not legal representation and not personal legal advice. If your matter is contested, crash-related, under the influence, or you are unsure how to plead, get advice from a qualified Queensland lawyer.
If you are pleading guilty and self-representing in Queensland, the lookback only helps you if you have the right section, the right dates, and submissions that stay inside the law. The QLD Plea Program is built for that.
QLD Plea Program
QLD + Work Licence
A listed prior in 5 years will usually close the work-licence pathway. Browse the QLD laws & offences hub.
This article is general information about Queensland drink and drug driving law. It is not legal advice, not legal representation, and not a guarantee of any outcome. Laws and court practice can change.
