Previous Page

Driving and criminal records

Information about when a conviction will appear on your driving record or criminal record.

If a court has found you guilty and convicted you of an offence, there will be a record of your conviction. Depending on the type of offence, your conviction may be recorded on your driving record or criminal record.

A court will use your driving record and/or criminal record to sentence you if you commit any further offences.

Your driving record is a list of all traffic offences that you have committed in NSW, including:

  • any fines you have paid, except parking offences
  • any traffic offences for which a court found you guilty and convicted you
  • section 10 dismissals - where the court finds you guilty but records no conviction.

Your driving record will state:

  • the date of any offences
  • the name of the offences
  • the amount of the fine or other penalty you received
  • the demerit points you received for the offence, and 
  • where Revenue NSW has given you a caution.

If you want to get a copy of your driving record, you can request one from Service NSW.

Your criminal record is a list of all serious traffic offences and criminal offences you have pleaded guilty to or been found guilty of and convicted for committing.

Serious traffic offences include:

  • drink driving
  • dangerous or negligent driving where someone is hurt
  • driving whilst disqualified.

Your criminal record will also include criminal and traffic offences where you have taken a fine to court, and the Court convicted you.

Your criminal record doesn’t include:

  • parking offences
  • dismissed criminal charges
  • offences for which a court found you not guilty
  • Apprehended Violence Orders.

You can’t remove a conviction from your criminal record, although some offences can become spent convictions.

Anything listed in your criminal record will appear in a criminal record check.

If you want to get a copy of your criminal record, see Police check on the NSW Police Force website.

A criminal history is a list of all offences you have been to court for, including all offences where:

  • you were found guilty
  • you were given a section 10 dismissal
  • you were found not guilty
  • charges were dismissed.

A criminal history will also list any apprehended violence orders and warrants.