Unlicensed driving

Legislation: Road Safety Act 1986 (Vic) s 18(1)(a)

Maximum penalty: Varies - 20 to 240 penalty units or 1 month to 2 years imprisonment

Period: 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2024

Jurisdiction: higher courts

Charges

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Cases

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All outcomes

Males

Females

Aged under 25

Aged 25 to 54

Aged 55 and over

*Note: unavailable options have under 10 cases

Charge data

In the higher courts, 365 charges of unlicensed driving were sentenced in the five years to 30 June 2024. The most common sentence for a charge of this offence was imprisonment (71% or 259 charges).

On SACStat, a charge is a single count of a sentenced offence. Charge data is most useful in understanding how a specific crime is usually sentenced.

Case data

In the higher courts, unlicensed driving was the principal proven offence (the most serious crime in the case) in fewer than 10 cases in the five years to 30 June 2024. Therefore, outcomes for cases are not given for this offence.

Bar graph showing sentence types imposed for charges of unlicensed driving — **Figure 1**: Sentencing outcomes for all charges of unlicensed driving
**Number: 365 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for charges of unlicensed driving — **Figure 2**: Imprisonment lengths for charges of unlicensed driving
**Number: 218 charges**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 0 years (i.e. the prison sentence was one or two days), the longest is 0.5 years, and the median is 0.08 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 0.08 years and half are above.
**Note**: The graph only includes imprisonment that was not part of an aggregate sentence (non-aggregate imprisonment).

Bar graph showing lengths of community correction orders for charges of unlicensed driving — **Figure 4**: Community correction order lengths for charges of unlicensed driving
**Number: 13 charges**
**Range and median**: The shortest community correction order length is 0.75 years, the longest is 2.5 years, and the median is 1.5 years, meaning that half of the community correction order lengths are below 1.5 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing fine amounts for charges of unlicensed driving — **Figure 5**: Fine amounts for charges of unlicensed driving
**Number: 43 charges**
**Range and median**: The lowest fine amount is $100, the highest is $1,200, and the median is $400, meaning that half of the fine amounts are below $400 and half are above.
**Note**: The graph only includes fines that were not part of an aggregate sentence (non-aggregate fines).

Stacked bar graph showing sentences imposed each year for charges of unlicensed driving — **Figure 6**: Sentencing outcomes for all charges of unlicensed driving by financial year
**Number: 365 charges**

Bar graph showing the number of charges each year for the offence of unlicensed driving — **Figure 7**: Number of charges of unlicensed driving by financial year
**Number: 365 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths each year for charges of unlicensed driving — **Figure 8**: Average imprisonment lengths for charges of unlicensed driving by financial year
**Number: 218 charges**
**Note**: The graph only includes imprisonment that was not part of an aggregate sentence (non-aggregate imprisonment).

Bar graph showing community correction order lengths each year for charges of unlicensed driving — **Figure 9**: Average community correction order lengths for charges of unlicensed driving by financial year
**Number: 13 charges**

Bar graph showing fines amounts each year for charges of unlicensed driving — **Figure 10**: Average fine amounts for charges of unlicensed driving by financial year
**Number: 43 charges**
**Note**: The graph only includes fines that were not part of an aggregate sentence (non-aggregate fines).