New South Wales Demerit Points Lookup

How the threshold and window work

For a suspension, the offences must all have been committed within a 3-year period. Transport for NSW does not count offences older than 40 months toward a suspension, and the offences themselves stay on the driving record permanently.

The threshold itself depends on licence type. A full, unrestricted licence has the highest tolerance in the state, and a professional driver (someone paid to drive for more than 20 hours a week, transporting goods or driving a bus, taxi or hire car) who reaches exactly 13 points and receives a Notice of Suspension can apply in person at a service centre to have the limit raised to 14. Provisional P2 licence holders face a lower limit, and Provisional P1 and Learner licence holders share the lowest limit of all, reflecting the graduated licensing scheme's tighter tolerance for newer drivers.

All of these thresholds are tested against the same three year window. A driver does not get a separate, shorter window just for holding a P1 or Learner licence in New South Wales, unlike some other states.

The good behaviour period option

A fully licensed NSW driver who reaches the threshold may be able to choose a **good behaviour period** instead of serving a straight suspension. This is not automatic, it depends on the driver's own suspension notice stating that the option applies.

The good behaviour period runs for 12 months. During that time the driver's effective tolerance drops sharply, and picking up 2 or more demerit points suspends every licence the person holds for double the length of the original suspension.

It is not available to a driver who holds only a provisional or learner licence.

Double demerit periods

New South Wales doubles the demerit points allocated for speeding, illegal mobile phone use, seatbelt non-compliance and motorcycle helmet offences during declared holiday periods. These are the long weekends and holiday stretches gazetted each year, including Christmas and New Year, Australia Day, Easter and Anzac Day.

Only these offence types are doubled during a declared period (speeding, illegal mobile phone use, seatbelt and passenger restraint offences, and riding without a helmet), not every offence on the demerit schedule. The exact start and end times are announced ahead of each period, so a driver should confirm the current dates rather than assume a given weekend is included.

How to check your official points

The official way to check a running demerit point total in New South Wales is the Service NSW demerit point checker, available online through a MyServiceNSW Account.

The Service NSW check shows the active demerit points on your licence within the last 3 years and 4 months, and your demerit point limit. You need a MyServiceNSW Account, or you can check at a service centre.

What this lookup does not do

This tool checks a point total against the suspension threshold for a chosen licence class. It does not look up how many points a specific offence carries, since NSW's detailed offence by offence point schedule is not reproduced here.

It also cannot confirm a driver's actual, current point balance. Only Transport for NSW and the Service NSW checker hold that record.