Under South Australian legislation, a motor vehicle must be right-hand drive. You must apply for an exemption to this rule in order to drive a left-hand drive vehicle to and from specified destinations. This applies to:
- left-hand drive vehicles that are 25 years of age or older as of 1 January of the year of vehicle manufacture and imported under the former Motor Vehicle Standards Act (Commonwealth) (MVSA) and current Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018 (Commonwealth) (RVSA).
- left-hand drive vehicles imported under the Rarity or Personal Effects criteria under the Commonwealth RVSA.
This exemption allows you to drive your vehicle:
- home, after the initial purchase
- to a business for a quote or conversion to right-hand drive
- to a place for mechanical repair.
Single trip left-hand drive exemption is not needed to drive your vehicle to present for a DIT or SAPOL vehicle inspection. If the vehicle is unregistered, you still need an unregistered vehicle permit.
To apply you will need to make sure that the vehicle is in roadworthy condition and provide:
- driver's licence details
- VIN or chassis number of vehicle
- vehicle make, model, body type, and year of manufacture
- the date and time of your driving journey
- the name of the business converting your vehicle to right hand and drive or mechanical repairs
- the location you will be starting from, the location you will be driving to, and the specific route to be taken.
What happens next
All permits must be approved by Vehicle Standards.
Allow at least 3 business days from receipt of the application to process the exemption.
If you apply using your mySAGOV account, you can check the status of your application.
Vehicle Standards reference: MR851.
