Information for healthcare professionals

The health professional has an ethical and legal responsibility to give clear advice to you where an illness or injury may affect your safe driving ability and whether it should be reported to us.

The health professional should also consider reporting to us in situations where a patient is either:

• unable to appreciate the impact of their condition
• unable to take notice of the health professionals advice due to cognitive impairment or
• continues to drive despite appropriate advice and is likely to endanger the public.

We may request a licence holder (or licence applicant) to undertake a Medical Fitness to Drive Assessment (MFDA) with a health professional (e.g. medical practitioner, occupational therapist, optometrist etc.).

It is important that health professionals are aware that the decision to suspend or cancel a person’s driver licence is made by the Department. In these circumstances we will consider all the relevant information that is available.

Patients presenting for a MFDA should be assessed according to the Assessing Fitness to Drive Guidelines.  There are two medical assessment standards:

• Private Standard - for those driving a car, motorcycle or light rigid vehicle (unless they are also driving public passenger vehicles)
  • Commercial Standard - for those driving heavy vehicles (medium rigid class and above), public passenger vehicles for hire or reward, those carrying dangerous goods, drivers subject to basic or advanced fatigue management or others who have certification requirements of an authorising body or required by specific industry standards).

Further information regarding medical assessment standards is available in the Assessing Fitness to Drive Guidelines.