One million drivers across New South Wales who remained offence-free on the road over the past 12 months have had a demerit point removed from their licence. This is the outcome of the second year of the Minns Labor Government’s demerit point return scheme.
Dylan Anderson
Biggest Beneficiaries
Drivers in car-dependent areas of Western Sydney and regional NSW were the main beneficiaries this year. Almost 1.5 million drivers were eligible when the second year of the trial began on January 17, with 1,003,610 maintaining an offence-free record. Over 420,000 drivers have now benefited two years in a row.
Blacktown topped the list with more than 6,000 drivers having a point removed. Other major suburbs include Castle Hill, Merrylands, Auburn, and Maroubra, each with at least 4,500 drivers benefiting. Regional centres like Orange, Dubbo, Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour saw over 16,000 demerit points removed collectively.
Licence Updates and New Timeline
Motorists will start to see their demerit tallies updated from the second quarter of 2025. As the scheme moves into its third year, the NSW Government will shift the end date of the qualifying period to 31 January starting in 2026. This means drivers will need to maintain safe driving records through the high-risk holiday month of January.
As of January 2025, 1,483,926 drivers are eligible to benefit if they stay offence-free until the new cut-off.
Dylan Anderson
Additional Road Safety Measures
The NSW Government introduced several new road safety measures in 2024 which will continue or expand into 2025. These include:
- A trial of average speed cameras for light vehicles
- Doubling roadside enforcement sites for mobile speed cameras by adding 2,700 new locations
- Seatbelt enforcement through existing mobile phone detection cameras
- Closing a loophole requiring motorists on foreign licences to convert to NSW licences within six months
- Implementing recommendations from the Demerit Point Integrity Taskforce
- Releasing more bicycle helmet ratings under the star system
- Signing the National Road Safety Data Agreement with the Commonwealth
Scheme Details
The demerit point reward scheme is available to eligible unrestricted and professional licence holders with active demerit points.
Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns stated: "The number one aim of rewarding drivers for with a demerit point removal is safety."
Dylan Anderson
Dylan Anderson
