Teri Mitchell

As I understand it, if you take a driving test within 3 months of arrival in Oz, you only have to sit a written test. I also believe there is a site on the web somewhere which has the questions the test asks. Does anyone know the site where I can find the questions for the test please??? (NB if it differs from state to state, I need the one for Queensland).

Thanks.

Dean

See http://www.gomatilda.com/news/article.cfm?articleid=104

"Teri Mitchell" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > As I understand it, if you take a driving test within 3 months of arrival in Oz,
    > you only have to sit a written test. I also believe there is a site on the web
    > somewhere which has the questions the test asks. Does anyone know the site where I
    > can find the questions for the test please??? (NB if it differs from state to
    > state, I need the one for Queensland).
    >
    > Thanks.
    >
    >
    >
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Raffi Balmanouk

in article [email protected], Dean at
[email protected] wrote on 3/30/02 5:24 PM:

    > See http://www.gomatilda.com/news/article.cfm?articleid=104
    >
    > "Teri Mitchell" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    >> As I understand it, if you take a driving test within 3 months of arrival in Oz,
    >> you only have to sit a written test. I also believe there is a site on the web
    >> somewhere which has the questions the test asks. Does anyone know the site where I
    >> can find the questions for the test please??? (NB if it differs from state to
    >> state, I need the one for Queensland).
    >>
    >> Thanks.
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >> --
    >> Posted via http://britishexpats.com
    >
    >

I can't speak for Qld., but in South Australia they give the written test to
o/s experienced drivers. That gives you a full license (i.e. no embarassing "P" or
"L" plates) subject to your taking the road test within something like three
months. So you're on the road but it's not "only" the written test. HTH

Raffi Balmanouk

    >
    > I can't speak for Qld., but in South Australia they give the written test to
    > o/s experienced drivers. That gives you a full license (i.e. no embarassing "P" or
    > "L" plates) subject to your taking the road test within something like three
    > months. So you're on the road but it's not "only" the written test. HTH
    >

Sorry - it's within one month...

Paul O'Brien

As soon as you arrive, get a copy of the Traffic Code - available from any newsagent.
All questions come from there!!

Good Luck!

--
Paul O'Brien [email protected] "Teri Mitchell" <[email protected]>
wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    > As I understand it, if you take a driving test within 3 months of arrival in Oz,
    > you only have to sit a written test. I also believe there is a site on the web
    > somewhere which has the questions the test asks. Does anyone know the site where I
    > can find the questions for the test please??? (NB if it differs from state to
    > state, I need the one for Queensland).
    >
    > Thanks.
    >
    >
    >
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Hills

Teri Mitchell wrote:

    > As I understand it, if you take a driving test within 3 months of arrival in Oz,
    > you only have to sit a written test. I also believe there is a site on the web
    > somewhere which has the questions the test asks. Does anyone know the site where I
    > can find the questions for the test please??? (NB if it differs from state to
    > state, I need the one for Queensland).
    >
    > Thanks.
    >
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

http://www.transport.qld.gov.au

should help. AFAIR, my S-I-L had to do a practical test in Qld as well as written.
But after driving for 3 months on the Brisbane roads, she wasn't particularly
worried. Much more worrying is the thought of DH, who got his license in Brisbane,
returning to drive in the UK next week. AAaaaaargh. LJ

Also try www.qld.gov.au ('home' page for QLD govermment)

Roger Martin

"Teri Mitchell" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > As I understand it, if you take a driving test within 3 months of arrival in Oz,
    > you only have to sit a written test. I also believe there is a site on the web
    > somewhere which has the questions the test asks. Does anyone know the site where I
    > can find the questions for the test please??? (NB if it differs from state to
    > state, I need the one for Queensland).
    >
    > Thanks.
    >
    >
    >
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

You only need a driving licence if you are resident in any Australian State for 3
months or longer, so if you are travelling around Australia you can do so without the
need to get a local licence. All States now require persons to undergo a written road
rules test and then a practical driving examination when exchanging a licence. Old
licences are taken off you so that you cant drive around with a stack of licences -
as was the case a few years back.

The only exception to that is for holders of truck and bus licences which are
National licences - although issued by each State, you dont undergo another test -
just address change.

Depending on where you become resident will depend on the level of the driving test
- eg a metropolitan area or large town expect to get a thorough practical test,
remote area expect the local police to give you a fairly lax test, especially if you
turn up in a vehicle and can obviously drive. They can best be described as "drive
around the block" tests, God help the kids who pass a test that way then have to
drive in a City!!

Queensland produces a booklet for learner drivers which most newsagents will sell,
the written test is multiple choice and you are only allowed to get a few wrong - 5
out of 30 I think it is. If you fail the written test you cannot retake it for a few
weeks. I think that failure also excludes the use of your other licence to drive -
I'm not sure about that, but best to check before sitting the test in case some over
zealous person takes your car keys off you.

For the practical test I suggest that you have at least two driving lessons to learn
how to pass a test, rather than drive, there is a big difference and lots of bad
habits will get you a failure.

dugongs

In Qld, despite 10 years of UK driving, I had to sit the written multiple choice test and do a complete practical test taking about an hour and as comprehensive as the UK one I passed 10 years earlier. Anyone that thinks that it is a walk in the park is kidding themselves and try to imagine sitting your Uk test again after all those years of learning bad habits etc.

There are positives in terms of refreshing your driving skills but quite frankly i think it is a bit over the top. There is also a lot of conflicting stories with one offical telling you one thing and then another something else. We are in Qld and that probably explains part of it. A UK couple in Victoria only had to sit the written test.

My Australian wife when we were living in UK simply sent her Ozzie license to the DVLC and they sent her back by return the UK license and her Ozzie one. Having driven in London and Oz there is certainly more danger in letting an Ozzie loose in London traffic than visa versa (although Sydney compares favourably !).

Rich Ireland

If you get an international driver's license (twenty CDN dollars here) you won't need
to qualify for an Aus license UNLESS you plan on working there as a driver?

Teri Mitchell wrote:

    > As I understand it, if you take a driving test within 3 months of arrival in Oz,
    > you only have to sit a written test. I also believe there is a site on the web
    > somewhere which has the questions the test asks. Does anyone know the site where I
    > can find the questions for the test please??? (NB if it differs from state to
    > state, I need the one for Queensland).
    >
    > Thanks.
    >
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Raffi Balmanouk

in article [email protected], dugongs at [email protected] wrote on
4/1/02 4:35 AM:

    > In Qld, despite 10 years of UK driving, I had to sit the written multiple choice
    > test and do a complete practical test taking about an hour and as comprehensive as
    > the UK one I passed 10 years earlier. Anyone that thinks that it is a walk in the
    > park is kidding themselves and try to imagine sitting your Uk test again after all
    > those years of learning bad habits etc.
    >
    > There are positives in terms of refreshing your driving skills but quite frankly i
    > think it is a bit over the top.

The irony is those rules are the same (as I understand it) for any overseas license -
in your case, you've driven on the left side of the road all the time, but I would be
issued a temporary license (in SA anyway) just on the basis of the written test
although all my instincts are reversed! (well, they were for a while anyway...)

Raffi Balmanouk

in article [email protected], Rich Ireland at [email protected] wrote on
4/1/02 2:36 AM:

    > If you get an international driver's license (twenty CDN dollars here) you won't
    > need to qualify for an Aus license UNLESS you plan on working there as a driver?
    >

After three months (SA, probably similar elsewhere) you are supposed to have a
domestic license. However, I managed to register a car in SA when I was there for
just under 3 months and nobody asked if I would be getting a SA license (or, for
that matter, how long I had been in AUS already). The one time I was pulled over
(booze bus on the GOR) I produced my Nova Scotia license (not international) and
was not asked anything either. S'pose you might find yourself in a spot of trouble
if you were in an accident and had been driving over 3 months without an AUS
license - technically that would probably be "driving without a valid permit" or
something similar.

Joseph McDonnel

Raffi Balmanoukian wrote:

    > in article [email protected], dugongs at [email protected] wrote
    > on 4/1/02 4:35 AM:
    >
    > > In Qld, despite 10 years of UK driving, I had to sit the written multiple choice
    > > test and do a complete practical test taking about an hour and as comprehensive
    > > as the UK one I passed 10 years earlier. Anyone that thinks that it is a walk in
    > > the park is kidding themselves and try to imagine sitting your Uk test again
    > > after all those years of learning bad habits etc.
    > >
    > > There are positives in terms of refreshing your driving skills but quite frankly
    > > i think it is a bit over the top.
    >
    > The irony is those rules are the same (as I understand it) for any overseas license
    > - in your case, you've driven on the left side of the road all the time, but I
    > would be issued a temporary license (in SA anyway) just on the basis of the written
    > test although all my instincts are reversed! (well, they were for a while
    > anyway...)

Maybe I'm missing something here, but if someone migrates to Oz, he/she has to
undergo a test, but if that same person comes to Oz as a short-term visitor, he does
not. If a short-term visitor is considered safe enough to be allowed on the roads,
so should the immigrant i.e. he should be able to obtain a licence without a test.
When I moved to Holland, I obtained a Dutch licence simply by surrendering my
Australian one.

Just my 2 Euro-cents

Regards

Joseph

Roger Martin

"Joseph McDonnell" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    >
    >
    > Raffi Balmanoukian wrote:
    >
    > > in article [email protected], dugongs at
[email protected]
    > > wrote on 4/1/02 4:35 AM:
    > >
    > > > In Qld, despite 10 years of UK driving, I had to sit the written multiple
    > > > choice test and do a complete practical test taking about an hour and as
    > > > comprehensive as the UK one I passed 10 years earlier. Anyone that thinks that
    > > > it is a walk in the park is kidding themselves and try to imagine sitting your
    > > > Uk test again after all those years of learning bad habits etc.
    > > >
    > > > There are positives in terms of refreshing your driving skills but
quite
    > > > frankly i think it is a bit over the top.
    > >
    > > The irony is those rules are the same (as I understand it) for any
overseas
    > > license - in your case, you've driven on the left side of the road all
the
    > > time, but I would be issued a temporary license (in SA anyway) just on
the
    > > basis of the written test although all my instincts are reversed! (well, they
    > > were for a while anyway...)
    >
    > Maybe I'm missing something here, but if someone migrates to Oz, he/she
has to
    > undergo a test, but if that same person comes to Oz as a short-term
visitor, he
    > does not. If a short-term visitor is considered safe enough to be allowed
on the
    > roads, so should the immigrant i.e. he should be able to obtain a licence without a
    > test. When I moved to Holland, I obtained a Dutch licence
simply by
    > surrendering my Australian one.
    >
    > Just my 2 Euro-cents
    >
    > Regards
    >
    > Joseph
    >
Does seem a bit crazy, I'm not sure where and how Australia got into the additional
testing of migrants (I took only a written test in 1980) but I think it came about
due to a couple of things. Migrants were coming from countries where a driving
licence was purchased as a means of raising government revenue, secondly there was
widespread fraudulant issuing of drivers licences in some countries. Now Australia
being the caring multi cultural society that we are - we could not single out
countries which had "good" and "bad" driving tests or no tests. So we just test
everyone, voila, no racial overtones or persecuting an individual because he/she came
from a third world country.

Dave Noble

On Tue, 02 Apr 2002 10:53:28 +0200, Joseph McDonnell <[email protected]> wrote:

    >
    >
    >Raffi Balmanoukian wrote:
    >
    >> in article [email protected], dugongs at [email protected] wrote
    >> on 4/1/02 4:35 AM:
    >>
    >> > In Qld, despite 10 years of UK driving, I had to sit the written multiple choice
    >> > test and do a complete practical test taking about an hour and as comprehensive
    >> > as the UK one I passed 10 years earlier. Anyone that thinks that it is a walk in
    >> > the park is kidding themselves and try to imagine sitting your Uk test again
    >> > after all those years of learning bad habits etc.
    >> >
    >> > There are positives in terms of refreshing your driving skills but quite frankly
    >> > i think it is a bit over the top.
    >>
    >> The irony is those rules are the same (as I understand it) for any overseas
    >> license - in your case, you've driven on the left side of the road all the time,
    >> but I would be issued a temporary license (in SA anyway) just on the basis of the
    >> written test although all my instincts are reversed! (well, they were for a while
    >> anyway...)
    >
    >Maybe I'm missing something here, but if someone migrates to Oz, he/she has to
    >undergo a test, but if that same person comes to Oz as a short-term visitor, he does
    >not. If a short-term visitor is considered safe enough to be allowed on the roads,
    >so should the immigrant i.e. he should be able to obtain a licence without a test.
    >When I moved to Holland, I obtained a Dutch licence simply by surrendering my
    >Australian one.

Driving test standards vary from country to country. There are international
agreements around that allow visitors to drive on their own licences. I think it is
perfectly reasonable that they ensure that long stayers have an acceptable knowledge
of local driving laws and can demonstrate a competance to drive there.

Dave

Joseph McDonnel

Dave Noble wrote:

    > On Tue, 02 Apr 2002 10:53:28 +0200, Joseph McDonnell <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > >
    > >
    > >Raffi Balmanoukian wrote:
    > >
    > >> in article [email protected], dugongs at [email protected]
    > >> wrote on 4/1/02 4:35 AM:
    > >>
    > >> > In Qld, despite 10 years of UK driving, I had to sit the written multiple
    > >> > choice test and do a complete practical test taking about an hour and as
    > >> > comprehensive as the UK one I passed 10 years earlier. Anyone that thinks that
    > >> > it is a walk in the park is kidding themselves and try to imagine sitting your
    > >> > Uk test again after all those years of learning bad habits etc.
    > >> >
    > >> > There are positives in terms of refreshing your driving skills but quite
    > >> > frankly i think it is a bit over the top.
    > >>
    > >> The irony is those rules are the same (as I understand it) for any overseas
    > >> license - in your case, you've driven on the left side of the road all the time,
    > >> but I would be issued a temporary license (in SA anyway) just on the basis of
    > >> the written test although all my instincts are reversed! (well, they were for a
    > >> while anyway...)
    > >
    > >Maybe I'm missing something here, but if someone migrates to Oz, he/she has to
    > >undergo a test, but if that same person comes to Oz as a short-term visitor, he
    > >does not. If a short-term visitor is considered safe enough to be allowed on the
    > >roads, so should the immigrant i.e. he should be able to obtain a licence without
    > >a test. When I moved to Holland, I obtained a Dutch licence simply by surrendering
    > >my Australian one.
    >
    > Driving test standards vary from country to country. There are international
    > agreements around that allow visitors to drive on their own licences. I think it is
    > perfectly reasonable that they ensure that long stayers have an acceptable
    > knowledge of local driving laws and can demonstrate a competance to drive there.
    >
    > Dave

Fair enough point, but both long and short stayers should have an acceptable
knowlerdge of local driving laws and can demonstrate sufficient competance. During
the 3 month 'run-in', period, long stayers will (hopefully) acquire these qualities.

Joseph