Digital Drivers Licences Are Now Available for All Sydneysiders So You Can Use Your Phone as ID
You can use it for both roadside checks and as ID at bars and clubs.
These days, a simple flash of your smartphone can let you pay for stuff without tapping your debit card, see a gig without a hard-copy ticket and even split dinner bills without carrying around a heap of cash. For NSW residents, it can now also double as your driver licence.
After a successful trials in Dubbo and the eastern suburbs, the digital version of licences have now been made available to the whole state, which means any NSW driver can now access a digital version of their licence via the Service NSW app on their smartphone.
The digital licences will be accepted as proof of identity at police roadside checks; proof of age to get into bars, pubs and nightclubs; and can be used at petrol stations, supermarkets, convenience stores and tobacco retailers.
There are a couple of rules, though: you can't access your digital licence when driving (even when stationary) unless asked to do so by a police officer, and your digital licence may be refused if your screen is cracked or dim. You don't have to hand over your smartphone to the person checking your licence, either, and the licences work even when you have no data coverage.
https://www.facebook.com/ServiceNSW/photos/a.584446361616956/1634718353256413/?type=3&theater
Service NSW has also suggested that you continue to carry your plastic card "while venues get used to seeing and accepting the digital driver licence as identification" and when travelling interstate and overseas.
Plans for to make the switch to digital were first announced back in 2016, but South Australia has since beaten NSW to the punch, introducing digital licences in 2017.
To activate your digital driver licence, you'll need to download the Service NSW app, login using your MyServiceNSW Account details and follow the prompts. You can also use the app to check your rego details, view fines and check on your demerit points, as well as download digital versions of your boat driver licence, RSA/RCG competency card and Working with Children check clearance.
To download the Service NSW app, head to the Google Play or App Store. To read more about NSW Digital Driver Licence, head to the Service NSW website.
- The Best Mexican Restaurants in Sydney
- Ten of the Most Luxurious Stays You Can Book on the Mornington Peninsula
- Where to Find the Best Breakfast in Sydney
- Ten Next-Level Australian Stays with Outdoor Baths for the Ultimate Relax and Rewind Getaway
- Where to Find the Best Yum Cha in Sydney
- Your Essential Guide to SXSW Sydney 2024