Driver licence problems in Australia start with an unusual fact: nobody issues a national licence. That makes the first question “which agency?” and the scams live in the confusion around the answer. The guides below are grouped by what you are trying to do.
Start here by situation
| Your situation | Read |
|---|---|
| I saw an advert for a licence with no test | Can you buy a driver licence? |
| I want to know which agency issues mine | Driver licence by state |
| I want the real route, from the start | Getting a licence step by step |
| I hold a licence from another country | Overseas licences |
| I am travelling and need an IDP | The real International Driving Permit |
| A text says my licence or myGov needs action | myGov and government text scams |
| I am asking whether a fake ID is illegal | Are fake IDs illegal? |
| I have already paid | I paid a scammer |
The guides, in one line each
Can you buy a driver licence? is the pillar. It explains where the offers appear, the three results a buyer gets and the Criminal Code ceilings, and it sets the agency requirements in the ACT, Tasmania and the Northern Territory against the promise of “no test”.
Fake driver licences separates the novelty card from the copy sold as real, and says plainly what is documented and what we could not find, for example that no Australian government warning specific to licence sales turned up.
Driver licence by state is the directory: agency, address and what each page confirmed on 5 October 2026 for all eight places, with the South Australian caveat spelled out.
Getting a licence step by step follows the stages from identity proof to open licence, with ACT, Tasmanian and Northern Territory detail, and points to each fee table rather than quoting a single price.
Overseas licences covers driving, converting and the 25 September 2026 change to the Recognised Overseas Licences Scheme in Western Australia’s announcement.
The real International Driving Permit and fake permits deal with the document Australians buy before travelling: who may issue it, what it costs, and how a genuine one is marked.
myGov and government text scams uses Scamwatch’s June 2026 alert and its text-message guidance, including the change to branded sender names from 1 July 2026.
Are fake IDs illegal? works through the Criminal Code sections and their ceilings, and what a victim of identity crime can ask a magistrate for.
What we left out, and why
We found no source we could open for toll-road text scams, Australian Federal Police notices about fake licences, or the national police check look-alikes that search data suggests exist. Rather than guess, we did not write those pages. If you have a primary source, tell us through the contact page.
The checks that apply across all of these
Three habits protect you in every guide. Use only the .gov.au address of the agency. Never pay by transfer, gift card or cryptocurrency to a stranger for a government document. And if you did send documents, treat them as compromised and ring IDCARE on 1800 595 160. Our red flags page puts these in one list, and official checks gives the route for each document type.
How the guides fit together
Read in order, the guides tell one story. The directory says who issues licences. The step-by-step guide says what the agency requires. The pillar page explains why a seller cannot stand in for that. The fake-licence and fake-ID pages say what happens to a card that did not come from an agency, and the law page says what the Criminal Code adds. The IDP and text-message pages cover the two places where an ordinary Australian meets a licence-related scam without ever searching for one: before a trip, and in the inbox. Between them they rely on four official anchors: the state agency, the AAA through the motoring clubs, Scamwatch and IDCARE.
If you only have time for one thing, bookmark the directory. It is the page that stops the problem at the first step.
Frequently asked questions
Why are driver licences handled by states?
Because each state and territory runs its own licensing system, with its own tests, fees and agency. The directory on this site lists all eight.
Where do I start if I am unsure?
Open the by-state directory and find your agency, then read the step-by-step guide. If you were offered a shortcut, read the buying-a-licence guide to see why it cannot exist.
Do you cover every state in detail?
We confirm the agency, address and key requirements for each, and flag where a page did not display. Fee tables and some age limits differ by state, so we link to each agency for those.