Drug Driving at Bankstown: No Conviction, Licence Saved

Result at a glance

• Charge: Drive with a prescribed illicit drug present in oral fluid (s111(1) Road Transport Act 2013).
• Plea: Guilty.
• Court: Bankstown Local Court.
• Outcome: 18-month conditional release order without conviction. No conviction, no fine, no licence disqualification.

The charge

Our client was charged with driving with a prescribed illicit drug present in oral fluid, under s111(1) of the Road Transport Act 2013. This is the common drug driving offence dealt with in the Local Court. The prosecution does not need to prove the driver was affected by the drug. It needs to prove that a prescribed illicit drug was present in the person's oral fluid, blood or urine while they were driving. That distinction matters: a person can be charged even where they do not believe they were impaired. The offence is based on presence, not impairment.

Our client pleaded guilty. The issue then became sentence.

What a conviction would have meant

Drug driving can carry both a financial penalty and a licence consequence. For a first offence under s111(1), the maximum fine is 20 penalty units. The licence risk is usually the bigger problem. If a conviction is recorded, the Road Transport Act provides for an automatic disqualification of 6 months for a first offence, which the Court can reduce to a minimum of 3 months. Even a 3-month disqualification can affect work, family commitments, caring responsibilities and basic travel. That is why these matters need to be prepared properly, even where the person intends to plead guilty. A guilty plea does not end the sentence argument.

The sentencing issue

Following the plea, we tendered subjective material and made submissions from the bar table. The sentence argument was directed to one practical outcome: dealing with the matter without conviction. If the Court dealt with the matter without conviction, there would be no fine and no licence disqualification. The matter would still be dealt with by the Court, but without the extra consequences that follow a conviction-based sentence. A no-conviction result is not automatic. The Court still has to consider the offence, the person before it, the need for deterrence, road safety, the plea, and any material placed before it.

The order

The Court imposed a conditional release order, a court-supervised good behaviour order, for 18 months without conviction. That meant no conviction, no fine, no licence disqualification, and an 18-month good behaviour bond. A conditional release order is still a court order. Our client must be of good behaviour for the period, and a breach can bring the matter back before the Court. The practical result was clear: our client kept their licence and avoided a conviction.

Why the result mattered

Drug driving matters are often treated as routine. They should not be. A conviction can bring an automatic licence disqualification and a mark on the record, and the result can be more disruptive than people expect, especially where driving is needed for work or family responsibilities. Here, the Court accepted that the matter could be dealt with by an 18-month conditional release order without conviction. It avoided the fine, the disqualification and the recorded conviction.

What this case shows

A guilty plea to drug driving does not always mean a conviction will be recorded. The sentence still needs to be argued. The Court will consider the circumstances of the offence, the person's background, the plea, any traffic history, the subjective material, and whether a conviction is required to meet the purposes of sentence. Some drug driving matters result in conviction, fine and disqualification. Others can be dealt with without conviction where the Court is satisfied that outcome is appropriate. The result here followed from the facts of this particular matter.

Charged with drug driving?

A guilty plea is not the end of the matter. How the sentence is argued can decide whether you keep your licence and avoid a conviction. If you've been charged with drug driving anywhere in Sydney, call JBP Law on 1800 527 529 or book a case review. We're based in Parramatta and appear in courts across Sydney and NSW, including Bankstown.

This case study is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Each criminal matter depends on its own facts, evidence, and personal circumstances. Past outcomes are not indicative of future results.