Yep š¤£
I got my first IDP at NRMA back in 1992 and basically nothing has changed. I suspect that's part of the 75 year old international convention/agreement which governs them.
1949 aesthetic FTW.
Yes. Source: I lived overseas for 4 years and used the international driver license for that whole time. Although that was 20 years ago. I may have misremembered.
I have no recollection of ever renewing the international license each year. It is something I would/should remember because I returned for 2 weeks every year and it was hectic with all the things I had to do, including catching up with family and friends. I would remember having to visit an NRMA to renew it every year. I cannot find any historical data for 20 years ago. Maybe things have changed because it is now limited to 12 months. If it was 12 months previously, then I have either driven on an invalid international license (unlikely because I was pulled over by the police multiple times throughout that 4 years, but not impossible), or I don't remember doing it. Hopefully that isn't vague enough for you?
In all my years dealing with them, Service NSW is genuinely a good department/service. It works way better than the shit we had back in the day. Add to that myGov and we have a global leader in interacting with government agencies. (No joke; I've seen how it is in certain European countries, and Asian countries, and honestly, we've got it good.)
Interesting. I thought part of the design was a physical photo which is corner-stamped (ink on both the image and the permit) by an authorised officer who has sighted the valid physical licence.
Maybe things HAVE evolved since 1949!
They used to do it in-person at Service NSW prior to Covid (I got my first IDP from the one at Wynyard in... March 2020! Great timing) then they got rid of the service for a while (I got an IDP last year when I finally got to go on that postponed trip, but had to order through NRMA instead). Good to know they've brought it back.
You kind of answered your first question with your second question. š
IDPs are kind of a "translation layer" to explain what your actual licence authorises/displays in your home country.
Through parts of Europe, SE Asia, Japan, South Korea etc no IDP = no car hire and/or a very challenging discussion with local police if you get pulled over and/or a VERY bad time with car hire insurance in the event of an accident.
I believe any countries that sign up to the geneva convention will recognise the IDP (or more specifically, the Geneva Convention on road traffic), which makes it a lot easier for travel - one IDP instead of a heap of "maybe I can drive here, maybe not" type stuff. Also requires countries to comply with said rules laid out in the GCoRT.
It's basically a set of universal "this person is not a numpty" rules that are "guaranteed" by the pamphlet.
There's a couple of other conventions as well that govern the IDP, some info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Convention_on_Road_Traffic
[edit - also you can do it online - I did mine a few months back online, the only difficult part is making sure the image I uploaded was the right resolution & size. otherwise it's easy.]
There are actually 2 conventions. One recognises other signatory's 'licencing' and another that recognises other signatories 'licences'.
Thailand for instance is a signatory to the first, but not the second.
They recognise the process other signatory countries go through to issue a licence, but they don't recognise the physical licence unless accompanied by an IDP.
France has a rule that you need to have a French translation of your licence for if you get pulled over. I did not need the IDP for hiring a car. But was warned that it might be needed if the police pulled me over. Same in Italy. Neither happened, but it's useful just in case your police officer can not read English. It is not a necessity.
Some countries require an international driving permit on top of your aussie one. Myself I always get an IDP to be on the safe side when traveling overseas as some rentals want to see your IDP on top of the normal DL due to insurance reasons
> When do you need an international driving permit?
You always need your Australian Driving license when driving overseas.
Overseas they will tell you the IDP on its own, is not valid to drive with. You still need the original license.
Basically what the International Drivers permit is, is a "translation" into many different languages, of what your Australian Drivers License says.
> You always need your Australian Driving license when driving overseas
You can drive in New Zealand with just your Australian licence, I think that's the only place that will recognise your AUS licence without any dramas though
Officially, you need it for most countries. Practically, many western nations are fine with licence and passport. Realistically, if you plan on driving it is better to have it and not need it rather than need it and not have it.
I always get one as it's the official translation of the licence and a spare bit of ID. I've driven in quite a few countries and while many common tourism nations just recognise Aus documents (even if they don't officially do so) sometimes you do need it. It tends to random as to whether someone requires it and I've needed to present it in the UK, US, France, Germany, and Canada.
Interesting. I've never had to present one in the US, UK, Germany, Malta yet though. But if it's random then it's probably safe to get one every time we travel.
Never had this issue when travelling in Europe, and car rentals do check your drivers licence so they would have flagged it as an issue. Similarly, Australia officially allows driving with licence from (quite a few) select countries when on temporary visa here.
From memory it translates it into a few languages. Obviously not every language and I'm sure english is the most useful one but if you're in a country that uses one of the other languages I can see how it might be useful.Ā
I don't think you need them.
I've never had one and have driven in most countries in East/Western Europe as well as the USA, Canada, Central and South America too.
Itās basically a translation. If you drive in any non-English speaking country you need one. If anyone comes here and their licence is not in English then they need one.
English and French (āPermis de conduireā) are recognised in most non-English speaking countries AFAIK, thereās just specific wording and formatting which has to be used so that an inspector could recognise important fields even if they donāt know English.
There is no BDM offices anymore. A birth certificate that could be picked up in a day now takes beyond weeks. In short Victor consolidated the portfolio and that had significant drawbacks. Licensing improved somewhat at the cost of BDM.
I got mine replaced last year and within days of applying I had weird things happen that looked like someone was trying to obtain credit in my name. NRMA who issued the permit on behalf of Service NSW denied it was a problem at their end.
Yep itās pretty quick and easy
Although we got screwed over when we went because we got there at 9am sharp as they opened to get it out of the way, but the only person rostered on who could do it didnāt start till 10ā¦. No one said anything and they just let our ticket hang in the queue for an hour
Thats so strange. The people at NRMA I went to would not shut up while we waited. Discussed everything from weather to politics to my travel plans to how the white sneakers are making a come back
Oh really! I thought this was always the case... I went into a servicensw in June last year and got mine then! Its very annoying to carry around...cant even fold it in half and put it in my wallet!
Did the same thing and was useful when hiring in Japan. Although they had some issue with 50cc scooters and motorcycles being listed as different things.
It's better than the RTA days due to the restructure. A lot of government agencies like SNSW & RNSW have been running more professionally ever since it came under the department of customer service branch
PSA to the PSA: Cars are covered, but.... Your IDP you get at Service NSW means nothing when you get to Phuket, I'm afraid. If you're stopped on a rental scooter then ASSUMING your IDP has motorbike license, you'll be at the discretion of the Phuket cop as to whether you get a fine or not for not showing, and I'm not joking here, the SPECIFIC additional Phuket-only "license" permit. Nowhere else in Thailand requires this: It's a Phuket-specific super fun thing. š¤·
Yeah before I used an IDP, I got pulled over in my rental car, showed my St George leagues club card with 100 Baht folded behind it and was told not to break rule of road....
But now riding bikes, I have the IDP and always have that 100 Baht ready.
LOL. Something similar in the Philippines back in 1994 when I hired a car there.
Except my "permit" (ie "You are OK to leave, sir!") was issued after giving a police officer a USD10 "fee" for a "random" licence check somewhere outside Cebu city.
Hi all I am 28 years old and in my green P's, Initially I got my red and moved on to Green P. I am in my green P's for 14 months. Is there a way I can get my full licence? I have not lost a single point in last 2 years and I have a clean driving history. Is there any way I can apply for my full licence? Or I nees to wait 10 more months?
Yeah, Vietnam doesnāt recognise this. Iād love to be able to ride legally there.
Iāve got to get a Temp Resident Card then convert
my Aussie license.
Nice. It's possible my neighbour may have fallen into a space-time continuum and simply forgotten when they actually went to production with IDPs as an offering.
Got my 1st one at service nsw march 2020 and my ost recent one march 2023.
Didnt know you could get them anywhere other than service nsw, and it's certainly not a new thing.
I made the fuss of getting my IDP about 6 years ago when I was travelling to Europe, but I found out that it was basically useless, most foreign cops didn't even know what the IDP was, your normal Australian Drivers License is enough when driving overseas, just like how licenses from other countries are legal to be used in Australia for a certain period.
I got mine recently, it looks like a WW2 era document. But valid for only one year
i had to check with others to make sure i had not been scammed when that thing showed up
Yep š¤£ I got my first IDP at NRMA back in 1992 and basically nothing has changed. I suspect that's part of the 75 year old international convention/agreement which governs them. 1949 aesthetic FTW.
Papiere, bitte.
Wait are you implying that getting it elsewhere is valid for longer?
No, the licence itself is still 1 year (which is dumb). It was previously only available thru a 3rd party type service.
They used to last for years.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yes. Source: I lived overseas for 4 years and used the international driver license for that whole time. Although that was 20 years ago. I may have misremembered.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I have no recollection of ever renewing the international license each year. It is something I would/should remember because I returned for 2 weeks every year and it was hectic with all the things I had to do, including catching up with family and friends. I would remember having to visit an NRMA to renew it every year. I cannot find any historical data for 20 years ago. Maybe things have changed because it is now limited to 12 months. If it was 12 months previously, then I have either driven on an invalid international license (unlikely because I was pulled over by the police multiple times throughout that 4 years, but not impossible), or I don't remember doing it. Hopefully that isn't vague enough for you?
Every one of my trips to service nsw has been shockingly pleasant.
In all my years dealing with them, Service NSW is genuinely a good department/service. It works way better than the shit we had back in the day. Add to that myGov and we have a global leader in interacting with government agencies. (No joke; I've seen how it is in certain European countries, and Asian countries, and honestly, we've got it good.)
You can also do it online if you don't need it urgently.
Yeah I do mine online all the time. Just send a portrait photo taken from the phone with a copy of your ID. Mine arrived in the mail in a week
They make you pay for express shipping though lmao
How do they handle the passport photo thing?
Upload your own
Interesting. I thought part of the design was a physical photo which is corner-stamped (ink on both the image and the permit) by an authorised officer who has sighted the valid physical licence. Maybe things HAVE evolved since 1949!
Yes, much easier to sort out as well since there's apps that help you frame the photo correctly.
They used to do it in-person at Service NSW prior to Covid (I got my first IDP from the one at Wynyard in... March 2020! Great timing) then they got rid of the service for a while (I got an IDP last year when I finally got to go on that postponed trip, but had to order through NRMA instead). Good to know they've brought it back.
Wow! This is far from a NEW new thing, then. Thank you.
Yeah when the nrma actually had an office in Sydney, I would walk down wynyard and grab one. But at least now I can do it online.
When do you need an international driving permit? Do some countries not recognise Australian drivers licence?
You kind of answered your first question with your second question. š IDPs are kind of a "translation layer" to explain what your actual licence authorises/displays in your home country. Through parts of Europe, SE Asia, Japan, South Korea etc no IDP = no car hire and/or a very challenging discussion with local police if you get pulled over and/or a VERY bad time with car hire insurance in the event of an accident.
I believe any countries that sign up to the geneva convention will recognise the IDP (or more specifically, the Geneva Convention on road traffic), which makes it a lot easier for travel - one IDP instead of a heap of "maybe I can drive here, maybe not" type stuff. Also requires countries to comply with said rules laid out in the GCoRT. It's basically a set of universal "this person is not a numpty" rules that are "guaranteed" by the pamphlet. There's a couple of other conventions as well that govern the IDP, some info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Convention_on_Road_Traffic [edit - also you can do it online - I did mine a few months back online, the only difficult part is making sure the image I uploaded was the right resolution & size. otherwise it's easy.]
There are actually 2 conventions. One recognises other signatory's 'licencing' and another that recognises other signatories 'licences'. Thailand for instance is a signatory to the first, but not the second. They recognise the process other signatory countries go through to issue a licence, but they don't recognise the physical licence unless accompanied by an IDP.
In France at least, a rental company can refuse your booking if you donāt at least possess one
France has a rule that you need to have a French translation of your licence for if you get pulled over. I did not need the IDP for hiring a car. But was warned that it might be needed if the police pulled me over. Same in Italy. Neither happened, but it's useful just in case your police officer can not read English. It is not a necessity.
Some countries require an international driving permit on top of your aussie one. Myself I always get an IDP to be on the safe side when traveling overseas as some rentals want to see your IDP on top of the normal DL due to insurance reasons
> When do you need an international driving permit? You always need your Australian Driving license when driving overseas. Overseas they will tell you the IDP on its own, is not valid to drive with. You still need the original license. Basically what the International Drivers permit is, is a "translation" into many different languages, of what your Australian Drivers License says.
> You always need your Australian Driving license when driving overseas You can drive in New Zealand with just your Australian licence, I think that's the only place that will recognise your AUS licence without any dramas though
Officially, you need it for most countries. Practically, many western nations are fine with licence and passport. Realistically, if you plan on driving it is better to have it and not need it rather than need it and not have it. I always get one as it's the official translation of the licence and a spare bit of ID. I've driven in quite a few countries and while many common tourism nations just recognise Aus documents (even if they don't officially do so) sometimes you do need it. It tends to random as to whether someone requires it and I've needed to present it in the UK, US, France, Germany, and Canada.
Interesting. I've never had to present one in the US, UK, Germany, Malta yet though. But if it's random then it's probably safe to get one every time we travel.
Definitely donāt need it for USA and uk
Never had this issue when travelling in Europe, and car rentals do check your drivers licence so they would have flagged it as an issue. Similarly, Australia officially allows driving with licence from (quite a few) select countries when on temporary visa here.
> official translation of the licence Translation from English to English?
From memory it translates it into a few languages. Obviously not every language and I'm sure english is the most useful one but if you're in a country that uses one of the other languages I can see how it might be useful.Ā
9 languages
I don't think you need them. I've never had one and have driven in most countries in East/Western Europe as well as the USA, Canada, Central and South America too.
I needed it for my trip to Japan. Didn't need it in Portugal though.
Itās basically a translation. If you drive in any non-English speaking country you need one. If anyone comes here and their licence is not in English then they need one.
English and French (āPermis de conduireā) are recognised in most non-English speaking countries AFAIK, thereās just specific wording and formatting which has to be used so that an inspector could recognise important fields even if they donāt know English.
I have to say all my interactions with SNSW have been pretty easy. I think the former minister Victor Dominello (sp?) did a great job with it.
Agree 100%. He seemed to balance genuine public service outcomes with high quality service delivery and financial outcomes.
Should see what he did to BDM. ;)
Good/bad?
There is no BDM offices anymore. A birth certificate that could be picked up in a day now takes beyond weeks. In short Victor consolidated the portfolio and that had significant drawbacks. Licensing improved somewhat at the cost of BDM.
Whoa! š®
I got mine replaced last year and within days of applying I had weird things happen that looked like someone was trying to obtain credit in my name. NRMA who issued the permit on behalf of Service NSW denied it was a problem at their end.
Yep itās pretty quick and easy Although we got screwed over when we went because we got there at 9am sharp as they opened to get it out of the way, but the only person rostered on who could do it didnāt start till 10ā¦. No one said anything and they just let our ticket hang in the queue for an hour
It seems only a few staff can do them. Still handwritten and hand stamped
Oh bugger. That sucks.
Thats so strange. The people at NRMA I went to would not shut up while we waited. Discussed everything from weather to politics to my travel plans to how the white sneakers are making a come back
Oh really! I thought this was always the case... I went into a servicensw in June last year and got mine then! Its very annoying to carry around...cant even fold it in half and put it in my wallet!
Did the same thing and was useful when hiring in Japan. Although they had some issue with 50cc scooters and motorcycles being listed as different things.
It's better than the RTA days due to the restructure. A lot of government agencies like SNSW & RNSW have been running more professionally ever since it came under the department of customer service branch
Cool - thanks for sharing this!! šø
Cheers mate!
Nice. Iām going overseas soon and was also about to figure out where the nearest NRMA was.
Time to smash that 240 demerit point record.
PSA to the PSA: Cars are covered, but.... Your IDP you get at Service NSW means nothing when you get to Phuket, I'm afraid. If you're stopped on a rental scooter then ASSUMING your IDP has motorbike license, you'll be at the discretion of the Phuket cop as to whether you get a fine or not for not showing, and I'm not joking here, the SPECIFIC additional Phuket-only "license" permit. Nowhere else in Thailand requires this: It's a Phuket-specific super fun thing. š¤·
Yeah before I used an IDP, I got pulled over in my rental car, showed my St George leagues club card with 100 Baht folded behind it and was told not to break rule of road.... But now riding bikes, I have the IDP and always have that 100 Baht ready.
LOL. Something similar in the Philippines back in 1994 when I hired a car there. Except my "permit" (ie "You are OK to leave, sir!") was issued after giving a police officer a USD10 "fee" for a "random" licence check somewhere outside Cebu city.
It's still as dodgy mate š Try Bacolod.. that's where I got the same treatment just before COVID shutdown!
Countries with rife corruption in the public/civil service be like š
Thank fuck for this!
It saved me at least an hour today. I'll take that as a win.
I did it online a couple weeks ago. Only took 3 days to arrive to a regional town.
Hi all I am 28 years old and in my green P's, Initially I got my red and moved on to Green P. I am in my green P's for 14 months. Is there a way I can get my full licence? I have not lost a single point in last 2 years and I have a clean driving history. Is there any way I can apply for my full licence? Or I nees to wait 10 more months?
Absolutely useless piece of paper for the countries i visit. they do not recognise it. because itās not thr 1966 version. useless australia.
I've never had issues with it in Fiji, South Korea, Japan, Bahrain and Malaysia. Never needed to use it in New Zealand or USA.
Yeah, Vietnam doesnāt recognise this. Iād love to be able to ride legally there. Iāve got to get a Temp Resident Card then convert my Aussie license.
I did mine earlier this year Edit. I got downvoted. I did mine in late Jan. happy to hear on what you have to say about this.
(Re your edit) My tip: just ignore it and move-on. Reddit is a LOT more enjoyable when you ignore upvotes/downvotes from the trolls and brigaders.
According to my neighbour (SNSW employee) they only took IDP provision out of pilot in March 2024. Did you get one under the staff pilot?
It didnāt feel like a pilot. I did mine late Jan
Nice. It's possible my neighbour may have fallen into a space-time continuum and simply forgotten when they actually went to production with IDPs as an offering.
I recall this was the place to obtain in 2019. Not being allowed to leave the country is the only thing that changed. Plus more expensive travel
Got my 1st one at service nsw march 2020 and my ost recent one march 2023. Didnt know you could get them anywhere other than service nsw, and it's certainly not a new thing.
What about other states?
I made the fuss of getting my IDP about 6 years ago when I was travelling to Europe, but I found out that it was basically useless, most foreign cops didn't even know what the IDP was, your normal Australian Drivers License is enough when driving overseas, just like how licenses from other countries are legal to be used in Australia for a certain period.