Assessing Fitness to Drive

The Standards apply in every Australian state and territory and are used when making licensing decisions for private and commercial drivers of heavy vehicles, light vehicles and motorcycles. They support nationally consistent, evidence-based decisions that balance road safety with personal mobility.

Health professionals use the Standards to assess a patient's medical fitness to drive and provide recommendations to driver licensing authorities. The Standards include advice on how medical conditions may impact a person’s ability to drive safely and are informed by the latest medical evidence and input from:

• medical associations
• patient representative groups
• driver licensing authorities
• industry.

We review the medical standards approximately every three years. The review of the 2022 Edition of the Assessing Fitness to Drive Standards has now begun. 

Learn more about the changes from the previous edition (2016) and the current edition.

The AFTD Standards are a joint publication of the National Transport Commission (NTC) and Austroads.

The NTC leads the development and review of the medical content in consultation with health professionals, clinical experts, driver licensing authorities, industry, consumer groups and road safety researchers. Austroads publishes the Standards and supports their implementation by organisations that use them.

The Standards are approved by Commonwealth, state and territory transport ministers through the Infrastructure and Transport Ministers' Meeting.

The Standards are used by driver licensing authorities in every Australian state and territory when considering medical fitness to drive for:

• heavy vehicles
• light vehicles
• motorcycles.

While the Standards provide nationally agreed medical guidance, the final licensing decision is made by the relevant state or territory driver licensing authority.

In a statement issued by Austroads, they confirmed neurodevelopmental disorders have been included in the Standards for many years. The licensing criteria for assessing a person with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were not changed in the 2022 edition.

The NTC does not have a role in applying the medical standards. While the  NTC develops the guidelines with Austroads, decisions about how the Standards are applied to individual drivers are made by driver licensing authorities in each state and territory. 

For questions about the application of the Standards, please contact your local driver licensing authority. We apologise for any concern caused by misreporting in the media.
 

The review of the 2022 Edition of the Standards has now begun. We are currently consulting to identify key stakeholder issues which will inform the review process. Have your say here.

Contact the relevant organisation depending on your enquiry:

• Your relevant driver licensing authority – questions about how the Standards affect a driver licence or licensing decision.
• Austroads – questions about using the Standards.
• NTC – provide feedback to be considered in the review of the Standards.

During development of the current edition, the heavy vehicle industry identified two issues that were outside the scope of the review:

• guidance on mandatory screening for heavy vehicle drivers
• guidance on "fitness for duty" for heavy vehicle drivers.

These issues are being considered through separate NTC projects.