Queensland to introduce new drink and drug driving laws to fix 'loophole'

Queensland to enforce harsher penalties on drink and drug driving laws from December Fri 26 Jun 2026 at 12:49pm In short: The Queensland LNP government has announced a suite of new laws creating tougher penalties for dangerous drivers. An expert has criticised the state's "zero-tolerance" approach for motorists with medical cannabis prescriptions. What's next? Doubled drink and drug driving penalties are expected to come into effect on December 1. The Crisafulli government has announced a crackdown on dangerous driving while doubling down on a "zero-tolerance" approach to drug driving, including for medical cannabis users. Attorney General Deb Frecklington said two new bills will be introduced to parliament which will double the penalties for drink and drug drivers and create tougher consequences for other offences. "We will be introducing not one, but two bills into the parliament to ensure that people know that if you do the wrong thing on the road, then you will suffer the consequences by putting other people's lives at risk, whether it's dangerous driving, driving with drugs, or endangering people's lives," she said. The reforms include increasing the maximum penalty for motor vehicle offences which result in death or grievous bodily harm from 16 years to 25 years, increasing minimum licence disqualification periods, and expanding mandatory imprisonment requirements for serious and repeat dangerous driving offenders. Ms Frecklington said the reforms were "fixing a loophole" which now meant meth found in the system of dangerous driving offenders would be considered an aggravating factor, without having to prove the meth affected the driving. "The fact that you are driving with meth in your system, that is now enough to prove that is a circumstance of aggravation," she said. The announcement on Friday also included other reforms to be introduced on December 1, 2026 including: - Doubled penalties for drug driving, with higher fines and longer licence disqualifications. - Stronger penalties for combined drink and drug offences, targeting a growing and highly dangerous behaviour. - Minimum court-imposed fines to ensure penalties match the seriousness of offences. - Immediate six-month licence suspensions for drivers caught more than 40km/h over the speed limit. - Improved seatbelt enforcement, allowing drivers to nominate adult passengers so the right person is held accountable. Transport Minister Brent Mickleber reiterated the state would take a zero-tolerance approach to drug driving, including for people with medicinal marijuana prescriptions. "Rather than weakening the drug driving laws like other states have chosen to do so, we will be strengthening the provisions in relation to those who choose to drive with a drug in their system," he said. He referred to a Queensland drug driving review, which found there were limitations to impairment testing options. New South Wales has recently introduced drug driving reforms that would exempt drivers who have a prescription and are found to have less than 50 nanograms per millilitre of THC in their system. Tasmania and Victoria also have provisions for people with prescriptions. Former magistrate and Dean of Law at Southern Cross University David Heilpern said the stance was "extremely disappointing". "What we're seeing is Queensland is out of touch with the rest of Australia," he said. "There is absolutely no evidence that medicinal cannabis users, using consistently within their prescription, have increased road trauma anywhere." He said the hard-line approach meant Queenslanders with prescriptions either "run the gauntlet" or did not use their medication because they were too afraid of drug driving laws. "Instead [they] use their opioids or their benzodiazepines … all of which is shown to increase road trauma," he said. The announcement comes ahead of the winter school holidays, where police will be running a high-visibility operation. Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Rhys Wildman said the road toll in Queensland had surpassed 150 for the year. "The rippling effect through our families and broader through the community itself has far-reaching consequences," he said. He said that through 1.25 million random breath tests police had detected 8,000 more impaired drivers than in previous years. He urged all motorists, especially anyone driving long distances for the holidays, to abide by the road rules. "We want to make sure people get to their destination safely," he said. [Image text:] Polic Folice