Queensland Drink Driving Penalties: Fines, Disqualification and Interlock (2026)

Queensland prosecutes drink driving under the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld) ("TORUM"), current as at 1 July 2026. Unlike some other states, Queensland prices its fines in penalty units rather than flat dollar amounts, and structures its offences differently from a simple low/mid/high naming scheme. Every figure below is stated as of the current in-force Act and the current penalty unit value.

How Queensland Structures Drink Driving Offences

TORUM section 79A sets four alcohol limits:

• No alcohol limit - more than 0mg/100mL blood or more than 0g/210L breath (zero tolerance, for learners, P-platers and certain vehicle classes).
• General alcohol limit - at or above 0.050g/210L breath, commonly called low range.
• Middle alcohol limit - at or above 0.100g/210L breath, mid-range.
• High alcohol limit - at or above 0.150g/210L breath, high range.

These bands match the BAC limits already set out on the site's Australian drink-driving BAC limits page. Where Queensland genuinely diverges from a state with an explicit low/mid/high offence scheme: there is no standalone high-range offence provision. Instead, section 79(3) creates a rebuttable presumption that a driver with a BAC of 0.150 or above was under the influence, so a high-range reading is prosecuted under section 79(1), the Act's most serious liquor and drug offence, alongside genuine impairment cases. The middle band, 0.100 to under 0.150, is its own distinct offence under section 79(1F).

Penalties By Tier

Fines are set in penalty units under the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld), with the dollar value prescribed by regulation. The current value is $172.70 per penalty unit, confirmed from the Penalties and Sentences Regulation 2025 (Qld), current as at 1 July 2026, an increase from $166.90 as at 1 July 2025.

These are maximum court fines a driver may be ordered to pay, ceilings, not what a typical offender pays. Repeat offences within 5 years escalate sharply: a repeat section 79(1) offence carries up to 60 penalty units, $10,362, and up to 18 months' imprisonment, and two prior convictions can trigger a mandatory term of imprisonment under section 79(1C). A prior conviction at a lower tier also escalates a later section 79(1) charge, to 30 units and 1 year with one such prior under section 79(1D), or 60 units and 18 months with two under section 79(1E).

Refusal is not simply the top-tier penalty. Refusing the roadside breath or saliva screening test is its own offence under section 80(5A), carrying up to 40 penalty units, a higher maximum fine than section 79(1) itself, but a shorter maximum imprisonment term of 6 months. A separate offence under section 80(11AA), carrying the same 40 penalty units and 6-month maximum, applies to a person other than the driver who refuses an evidentiary specimen requisition at a police station. Refusing the evidentiary analysis at a police station after being taken there under section 80(11) is explicitly deemed by the Act to be an offence against section 79(1), carrying that provision's full penalty and disqualification scale. This evidentiary-stage refusal is the one that earns the reputation for being treated as the worst-case offence, not the roadside refusal.

Automatic Licence Suspension: Section 79B

Section 79B of the Act imposes an automatic suspension or disqualification from the moment a person is charged, not from conviction, for: section 79(1) offences (under the influence, including the high-BAC presumption); section 79(1F) mid-range offences; section 80(11) evidentiary-refusal offences; a repeat charge at a lower tier while an earlier charge is still pending; a charge laid while a restricted-driving order under section 79E is in effect; and aggravated dangerous operation of a vehicle under Criminal Code section 328A(1)/(4) where intoxication is a factor.

This automatic suspension runs for the full length of the court process - it starts when the person is charged and ends only when the charge is dealt with by a court, withdrawn or discontinued - unless the driver applies for and is granted a court order under section 79E permitting a restricted, replacement licence in the interim. A separate, shorter 24-hour administrative suspension also applies to lower-tier detections, at the general/low-range level and below.

Disqualification Periods

The Act was not independently confirmed to set an express statutory ceiling on a first section 79(1) disqualification beyond the 6-month automatic minimum; treat the disqualification as court-determined above that floor, based on the driver's BAC.

Alcohol Ignition Interlock Scheme

TORUM Part 3B establishes the interlock scheme. A "drink driving offence" that triggers a mandatory interlock condition is defined in section 91I to include: section 79(1), section 79(1F), section 80(11), section 78(1) driving while disqualified (where disqualified under section 78(3)(j)), Criminal Code section 328A aggravated by alcohol, breach offences under sections 91W(1)/91X(1), and a lower-tier offence under section 79(2)/(2A)/(2B)/(2J)/(2K)/(2L) only if committed within 5 years of a prior conviction under those same provisions or under any of the other listed drink-driving-offence categories. A clean first-offence general or low-range conviction alone does not trigger the interlock condition - a meaningful exception for a first-time, lower-tier offender.

The minimum prescribed interlock period is 12 months of compliant use, or an approved exemption, under section 91N(1). The broader interlock period runs from the end of disqualification until the earliest of the 12-month period completing, 5 years elapsing, or a further drink driving disqualification. For a compliant first-time interlock-eligible offender, that means a minimum of 12 months on the interlock after disqualification ends, extendable up to 5 years if the driver does not participate. An interlock exemption certificate exists under sections 91Q/91R, though the specific eligibility criteria were not independently confirmed. The Queensland Government's own guidance states plainly: a driver who does not participate cannot drive for 5 years from the end of their disqualification.

Vehicle Impoundment (Hoon Provisions)

Queensland's hoon vehicle-impoundment regime sits in a different Act, Chapter 4 of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 (PPRA), not TORUM itself. Section 69A(2) PPRA classes a TORUM section 79 offence as a "type 2 vehicle related offence" only where the driver was over the high alcohol limit of 0.150 - general and mid-range drink driving do not trigger hoon impoundment. Both refusal offences under section 80(5A), 80(11) or 80(22D) do trigger it. There is no impoundment on a first type 2 offence; impoundment starts at the second such offence within the relevant period, for 7 days, escalating to 90 days on a third. A fourth offence is described in the Act as triggering forfeiture, though the specific operative text of that provision was not independently confirmed for this page - confirm the exact forfeiture mechanics with Queensland Police or a lawyer before relying on this for a fourth offence.

Drug Driving: Presence Versus Impairment

Queensland charges drug driving as two distinct offences under the same Act as alcohol. A presence offence under section 79(2AA) applies to any detectable amount of a relevant drug: THC, methylamphetamine, MDMA and cocaine. It carries the same penalty as general or low-range alcohol driving: up to 14 penalty units and 3 months' imprisonment. An impairment offence is prosecuted under the same section 79(1) "under the influence" provision as alcohol impairment, carrying up to 28 penalty units and 9 months' imprisonment. Roadside testing uses a saliva swab, with a confirmatory second test if the first is positive, though the procedural detail was not independently verified against a primary police source.

Court Process and Reinstatement

Every drink and drug driving charge under section 79 or 80 is dealt with by a court, typically the Magistrates Court for summary matters, not by an infringement notice. The State Penalties Enforcement Registry (SPER), part of the Queensland Revenue Office, collects unpaid court-imposed fines and can suspend a licence, garnish wages or seize property for non-payment, a separate mechanism from the section 79B charge-triggered suspension. For interlock-eligible offenders, Part 3B of the Act governs the reinstatement path described above. For a plain, non-interlock disqualification, the licence appears to simply expire and require a fresh application once the disqualification period ends, though the exact administrative reinstatement steps were not independently verified; confirm current requirements with the Department of Transport and Main Roads before relying on them.

For BAC limits by driver category, see Australian drink-driving BAC limits. For demerit points, see Queensland demerit points and demerit points explained across Australia. For related driving offences, see speeding fines in Australia and mobile phone detection cameras in Australia, or return to the Australia driving laws hub.

This article provides general legal information about drink driving penalties under Queensland law. It is not legal advice and does not account for an individual driver's circumstances. Information was verified against Queensland Government and legislation.qld.gov.au sources on 17 August 2026. For advice on a specific situation, consult a legal practitioner admitted in Queensland, or contact the Department of Transport and Main Roads directly.