For health professionals

This edition of Assessing Fitness to Drive is effective from Wednesday 22 June 2022, from which date all assessments conducted to determine fitness to drive must be conducted according to the new standard. There are a small number of significant changes that reflect developments in medical management of certain conditions. There are also several changes reflecting the need for clearer guidance to ensure consistent management with respect to driving.

The Austroads Fact Sheet “Driving and your health” can help support these conversations. Driver licensing authorities also have a range of resources.

The summary of changes can be viewed online and downloaded.

Also coinciding with the new edition of the standards is a new user-friendly online version. It intuitively guides you to the management guidance and fitness to drive criteria, as well as linking you to consumer information to share with your patients.

Start your journey here.

What is your role?

Health professionals have a vital role in advising their patients about the impact of their medical conditions/disabilities on driving in both the short and long term. This underpins a driver's ability to fulfill their responsibility to report to the Driver Licensing Authority any condition that is likely to affect safe driving. Where possible, early conversations with drivers will help engage them and their families and help them plan for when driving may no longer be possible. The conversation then becomes about supporting them to drive for as long as it is possible.

Multidisciplinary management of drivers is also important, including sharing of fitness to drive information between treating health professionals.

Making a fitness to drive assessment

The new edition of Assessing Fitness to Drive guides you through the common scenarios when:

• in the course of their routine treatment a patient presents to you with a condition that may impact their fitness to drive
• the Driver Licensing Authority requests that you make an assessment of a patient with a condition that may impact their fitness to drive.

Follow this link to find out more including flow charts for the assessment process.

Making a report

All decisions about driver licensing are made by the relevant State or Territory Driver Licensing Authority.

Reports about fitness to drive must be sent to the Driving Licensing Authority, not to Austroads.

To find out more, contact your local Driver Licensing Authority.