What do tourists need to know about driving in Australia?

Licence rules: state by state, but broadly the same

Each state and territory licenses drivers separately, so there is no single national rule. For a short holiday the outcome is similar everywhere:

• English-language licence (US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland): your home licence is enough to drive as a visitor. Carry the physical card and your passport.

• Licence not in English: Tasmania, Western Australia and others require you to carry either an International Driving Permit or an accredited English translation with the original. Get the IDP at home before you leave; it cannot be issued in Australia.

• Time limits: state rules for visitors are usually framed around three months. The Northern Territory, for example, lets you use an overseas licence as long as you have not been in the territory continuously for three months, while Victoria lets temporary visa holders drive on an overseas licence for the length of their stay. Long-stay and working-holiday visitors should check the road authority for the state they will be in (Service NSW, VicRoads, Queensland's TMR).

Rental companies set their own minimum ages, commonly 21 or 25 for standard cars, with young-driver surcharges. You also need an ETA or visa to enter: see our Australia ETA guide.

Road rules that differ from home

• Drive on the left, give way to the right at uncontrolled intersections, and on multi-lane roads keep left unless overtaking (signed on most highways).

• Speed limits: the default in built-up areas is 50 km/h, and open roads are usually 100 km/h or 110 km/h on major highways and freeways. School zones drop to 40 km/h at signed times. The Northern Territory is the exception, with 130 km/h limits on parts of the Stuart and Barkly highways, and a trial raising further sections of the Stuart Highway to 130 km/h reported in 2026.

• Alcohol: the limit for fully licensed drivers is 0.05 BAC across Australia, with zero for learner and provisional drivers. Random breath testing is routine, including on weekday mornings.

• Mobile phones: hand-held use is illegal everywhere, and New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria use roadside cameras that detect drivers holding phones. Fines are large and arrive by post, via your rental company.

• Hook turns in Melbourne: at signed intersections in central Melbourne, you turn right from the left lane to keep clear of trams. Watch the signs on Flinders, Collins and similar CBD streets.

Emergency number for police, fire and ambulance is 000.

Tolls: all electronic, and easy to miss

Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane run cashless toll roads. There are no booths and no option to pay at the road. Most rental cars carry an e-tag and the company bills tolls plus a daily or per-toll service fee; ask at the counter what that fee is, because it can exceed the tolls on a short trip.

If your car has no tag, you pay by buying a pass online. In Melbourne, Linkt's Visitor's Pass covers CityLink and EastLink and can be bought after the trip: Linkt says it covers CityLink trips made up to 5 days earlier and EastLink trips up to 3 days earlier, with an opening fee of A$3.50 online. Miss the window and the registered owner (the rental company) gets an invoice with an admin fee, which they pass on with their own.

The Great Ocean Road, the Grampians, the Adelaide drive and Far North Queensland routes are toll-free. You mainly meet tolls getting in and out of the big-city airports, notably Melbourne's CityLink between Tullamarine airport and the CBD.

Distances: the real planning constraint

A map of Australia hides how far things are. Some legs from our route, as rough driving times without long stops:

• Melbourne to Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road: about 3.5 to 4 hours via Torquay and Lorne, longer in summer traffic. Our Great Ocean Road guide covers how many days to give it.

• Apollo Bay to Halls Gap (Grampians): a long half day past the Twelve Apostles and inland. We stayed two nights in Halls Gap, then one in Coonawarra wine country before Adelaide.

• Alice Springs to Uluru: about 450 km, roughly 4.5 to 5 hours each way. Many visitors fly into Uluru instead; if you drive, it is not a day trip.

• Cairns to the Daintree: about 2 hours north via the coastal Captain Cook Highway and a cable ferry across the Daintree River. North of Cape Tribulation the Bloomfield Track is 4WD only, and standard hire cars are not allowed on it. See how many days in Cairns and our Tropical North Queensland guide.

We did not drive between regions: our route jumped from Adelaide to Alice Springs to Townsville to Sydney, which is what most visitors with two to four weeks should do. A Melbourne to Sydney drive alone is roughly 9 hours inland on the Hume, or two to three days on the coast.

Wildlife, heat and the outback

• Kangaroos and wallabies are most active around dawn and dusk and are the classic rural crash. Many rental contracts restrict or exclude cover for driving outside towns at night in remote areas; read yours, and in the Grampians or outback simply avoid driving at dusk.

• Unsealed roads: most standard rental contracts exclude unsealed roads apart from short access roads, and damage there is not covered. Outback gravel routes need a 4WD hire with the right permissions.

• Fuel and water: in central Australia fuel stops can be 100 km to 200 km apart. Fill up whenever you can, carry several litres of water, and if you break down in the outback, stay with the car. Mobile coverage disappears between towns in the outback, so download offline maps before leaving Alice Springs or Cairns.

• Summer heat and the wet season: in the tropical north, the wet season roughly November to April brings flooding that can close roads; see best time to visit Australia.

Fuel, rental costs and insurance

Petrol is sold by the litre and prices move weekly. In Perth, Western Australia's FuelWatch put average regular unleaded between about A$2.35 and A$2.45 a litre in October 2026; remote outback stations charge noticeably more.

Basic rental cover includes a large excess (deductible), often several thousand dollars, which counter staff will offer to reduce for a daily fee. A travel insurance policy or credit card with rental excess cover can be cheaper; our travel insurance guide explains what to check. One-way rentals between states often carry a relocation fee, so compare that with flying between regions.

Parking in Sydney and Melbourne CBDs is expensive and time-limited, so many visitors skip the car in the cities and rent only for the regional legs, as the Great Ocean Road and Daintree both need a car. Tipping is not expected at fuel stations or rental desks; see tipping in Australia.

Frequently asked questions