High-Range Drink Driving (High-Range PCA)

About high-range PCA in NSW

Driving with a high-range prescribed concentration of alcohol (PCA) is an offence under section 110(1) of the Road Transport Act 2013 (NSW). The offence is committed when a person drives, or attempts to drive, a motor vehicle on a road with a blood or breath alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more.

High-range PCA is a major offence under the Road Transport Act — and it is the most serious PCA offence on the books. It carries the highest maximum penalties of any PCA charge, an automatic 3-year disqualification on a first offence, and a Mandatory Interlock Order (MIO) that applies automatically — even where it is your first offence. That last point is what most often surprises people: unlike mid-range PCA, you do not need a prior major offence for the interlock program to be triggered.

A high-range PCA conviction is also one of the most common offences for which NSW Local Courts impose imprisonment — either as an Intensive Correction Order (ICO) served in the community, or, in a meaningful minority of matters, as full-time custody.

Maximum penalty for high-range PCA in NSW

The penalties for high-range PCA under section 110(1) are set out in the Road Transport Act 2013 and the NSW Judicial Commission Local Court Bench Book — Road Transport Legislation. They are:

First offence

• Maximum fine: 30 penalty units ($3,300 at $110 per unit)
• Maximum imprisonment: 18 months
• Automatic licence disqualification: 3 years (the default)
• Minimum disqualification: 12 months (the lowest the court can reduce it to without making an MIO)
• Mandatory Interlock Order (MIO): Disqualification of 6 months minimum / 9 months maximum, followed by a 24-month interlock program

Second / subsequent offence

• Maximum fine: 50 penalty units ($5,500)
• Maximum imprisonment: 2 years
• Automatic licence disqualification: 5 years
• Minimum disqualification: 2 years
• Mandatory Interlock Order: Disqualification of 9 months minimum / 12 months maximum, followed by a 48-month interlock program

A “second offence” is calculated based on any alcohol-related major offence in the previous 5 years — not on whether you have any PCA history at all. A previous mid-range PCA, drink-drive causing death or injury, or refusing breath analysis within the last 5 years will trigger the second-offence regime.

Note also that the Local Court is bound by section 268 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986, which caps any individual sentence of imprisonment at 2 years per offence.

Will I go to jail for high-range PCA?

The honest answer is: imprisonment is a real possibility, and it must be taken seriously from the first court date.

High-range PCA is one of the offences for which NSW Local Courts most frequently impose imprisonment. NSW BOCSAR sentencing statistics consistently show that:

• Intensive Correction Orders (ICOs) and Community Correction Orders (CCOs) are the most common dispositions
• Full-time imprisonment is imposed in a meaningful minority of first-offence matters (broadly around 5–10%, depending on the year)
• For second and subsequent high-range PCA offences, the rate of full-time custody rises sharply

Under the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999, the sentencing options available to the court — from least to most severe — are:

• Section 10(1)(a) dismissal (charge proved, no conviction recorded)
• Conditional Release Order (CRO) without conviction under section 10A
• Conditional Release Order with conviction
• Fine with a conviction
• Community Correction Order (CCO) with a conviction
• Intensive Correction Order (ICO) — a custodial sentence served in the community
• Full-time imprisonment — up to 18 months on a first offence, up to 2 years on a second

Section 5 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 requires the court to be satisfied that no penalty other than imprisonment is appropriate before imposing a custodial sentence. The aggravating factors that push a high-range PCA into custody territory are well-known: very high readings, collision, injury, prior major offences, attempts to evade police, disqualified or unlicensed driving in addition to the PCA, and driving with passengers (especially children) in the vehicle.

If imprisonment is on the table, a properly prepared plea — character references, a Traffic Offender Intervention Program (TOIP) certificate, a psychologist’s report, evidence of alcohol counselling and abstinence — can be decisive in keeping the sentence to an ICO or CCO instead of full-time custody.

Can you get a section 10 for high-range PCA?

A section 10 dismissal or non-conviction CRO for high-range PCA is rare — substantially rarer than for mid-range.

The reason is the objective seriousness of the offence. The whole point of the high-range threshold (0.15+) is that the legislature has identified it as the most serious PCA, and the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal’s PCA guideline judgment (Application by the Attorney General (NSW) under s 37 Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (No 3 of 2002)) emphasises that ordinarily a conviction should be recorded for this offence.

That said, a non-conviction outcome is not impossible. To have any realistic prospect, the matter would generally need to feature most or all of the following:

• A reading at the lower end of the high-range band (closer to 0.15 than to 0.20+)
• A very short driving distance, no collision, no aggressive driving, no children in the vehicle
• No prior traffic record and no relevant criminal history
• An early guilty plea
• Completion of a Traffic Offender Intervention Program before sentencing
• Genuine insight and remorse — typically a letter of apology, a psychologist’s report, and demonstrable steps to address the underlying alcohol use (counselling, AA, abstinence)
• Severe and disproportionate collateral consequences of a conviction (eg loss of employment, visa cancellation, professional registration)
• Strong character references

Even with all of the above, the court may still record a conviction. A section 10 for high-range PCA should be approached as the exception, not the realistic goal — the realistic goal is usually the shortest possible disqualification and the least restrictive sentencing option (CRO with conviction, fine, CCO) the facts will support.

Mandatory Interlock Order (MIO)

The Mandatory Interlock Order is the feature that most distinguishes high-range PCA from other PCA offences. Under section 211 of the Road Transport Act 2013, an MIO is automatic for high-range PCA — even on a first offence. The court does not have a general discretion to refuse to make the order; it must make it unless an exemption applies.

An MIO has two components:

1. A disqualification period — 6 to 9 months on a first offence; 9 to 12 months on a second
2. An interlock licence period — 24 months on a first offence; 48 months on a second — during which the driver must hold an interlock driver licence and operate only a vehicle fitted with an approved alcohol interlock device

The interlock device is linked to the ignition. The driver must provide a breath sample to start the vehicle, and at random points during the journey. All events are logged and reviewed by Transport for NSW. Failed tests, missed tests and tampering can result in further charges and extension of the program.

Interlock exemption — section 212

A court may make an interlock exemption order under section 212 of the Road Transport Act 2013 only if satisfied that:

1. The offender does not have access to a vehicle in which to install an interlock device; or
2. The offender has a medical condition (diagnosed by a medical practitioner) preventing them from providing a sufficient breath sample to operate the device, and modification is not reasonably practicable.

The Act expressly provides that an exemption must not be made merely because:

• The offender cannot afford the device
• The offender would be prevented from driving for work
• The vehicle’s registered owner refuses to consent to installation

In practice, exemptions are difficult to obtain for high-range PCA. The “severe hardship” pathway that exists for first-offence mid-range PCA is not available for high-range PCA — that limb of section 212 applies only to first-offence mid-range matters. For high-range, the gate is narrow: no access to a vehicle, or a qualifying medical condition.

Sentencing factors the court will consider

When sentencing for high-range PCA, the magistrate will weigh:

• The reading — a reading of 0.15 is treated very differently from a reading of 0.25 or higher
• The nature and seriousness of the driving (distance, time of day, traffic conditions, manner of driving)
• Whether a collision occurred and any injury or property damage
• Whether children or other passengers were in the vehicle
• How the offence was detected — random breath test vs erratic driving, pursuit, or accident
• Traffic history — particularly any prior major offences within 5 years
• Criminal history generally
• Early guilty plea and the discount available under the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999
• Completion of a Traffic Offender Intervention Program
• Steps taken to address alcohol use — counselling, abstinence, AA, hair-follicle testing
• Need for a licence (employment, family carer responsibilities, medical access — particularly in regional areas)
• Character references and other subjective material
• A psychologist’s report addressing the circumstances of the offending and risk of reoffending

Section 206B — backdating disqualification

Section 206B of the Road Transport Act 2013 applies where a driver licence has been suspended under the Act or the regulations for an alleged offence — typically the immediate police suspension under section 224 imposed at the roadside or after the breath analysis. The court is required to take that period of suspension into account when fixing any disqualification on conviction. In practical terms, the disqualification can be backdated to commence from the date of suspension.

This matters because high-range PCA disqualification periods are long. If your licence was suspended on the night of the offence and your matter takes 4–6 months to resolve, backdating can recover that lost time off the front of the disqualification — a real, tangible benefit that should always be raised on sentence.

Defences and arguments for high-range PCA

The offence is largely objective — the reading is what it is — but arguments that may be available, depending on the facts, include:

• The “two-hour rule” — under Schedule 3 of the Road Transport Act 2013, a breath analysis must not be conducted more than 2 hours after the driving event. If the analysis was conducted out of time, the certificate may be inadmissible.
• The “home safely” rule — Schedule 3 also provides that police cannot require a person to undergo a breath test or breath analysis at the person’s home. If police entered the home to compel the test, the evidence may be excluded.
• Identity — you were not the driver of the vehicle.
• Reading challenge — challenging the calibration of the device, the procedure followed by the analyst, or the chain of custody. These challenges are technical and rarely succeed without expert evidence, but they do succeed in the right matter.
• Honest and reasonable mistake of fact — that the accused honestly and reasonably believed sufficient time had passed for their BAC to fall below the threshold. The bar is high (the belief must be both honest and reasonable on the facts known to the accused), but in narrow circumstances it is available.
• The vehicle was not on a “road” or “road-related area” as defined in the Act — eg purely private land that does not fall within the definition.
• Necessity / duress — extremely narrow, but available where the driving was compelled by genuine emergency.

A defended hearing for high-range PCA is unusual, and runs significant risk — losing a defended hearing removes the early-guilty-plea discount and signals to the court that insight is absent. The decision to defend should only be made after a careful conference on the brief of evidence.

High-range PCA FAQs

What reading counts as high-range PCA in NSW?

A blood or breath alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more. Anything from 0.08 up to (but not including) 0.15 is mid-range PCA under section 110(2); anything from 0.05 up to 0.08 is low-range under section 110(3).

Can I get an interlock exemption for high-range PCA?

It is possible but difficult. Under section 212 of the Road Transport Act 2013, an exemption is only available if you do not have access to a vehicle, or if a medical condition prevents you from operating the device. The “severe hardship” pathway available for first mid-range PCA does not apply to high-range. Inability to afford the device, work impact, and lack of owner consent are expressly excluded as grounds.

Will I go to jail for a first high-range PCA?

Imprisonment is a realistic possibility, particularly where the reading is high, a collision occurred, children were in the vehicle, or there is a relevant prior record. In practice the most common dispositions are CCO and ICO, with full-time custody reserved for the more serious matters. The strategy on sentence — early guilty plea, TOIP, psychologist’s report, character references, alcohol counselling — directly affects which side of that line you land on.

How long will I lose my licence for high-range PCA?

On a first offence, the court will make a Mandatory Interlock Order: a disqualification of 6 to 9 months, followed by 24 months on the interlock program. If the court grants an interlock exemption, the disqualification is 12 months minimum / 3 years automatic. On a second offence, the MIO is 9 to 12 months disqualification followed by 48 months of interlock, or 2 years minimum / 5 years automatic with an exemption.

Do I lose my licence on the spot?

Yes. Under section 224 of the Road Transport Act 2013, police have power to issue an immediate licence suspension notice for high-range PCA. The suspension takes effect immediately and continues until your matter is finalised in court. You have a right of appeal to the Local Court against the suspension, but strict time limits apply — and on a high-range PCA the appeal is rarely successful.

Is high-range PCA an indictable offence?

No. High-range PCA is a summary offence dealt with in the Local Court. The Local Court’s imprisonment power is capped at 2 years per offence under section 268 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986. It is, however, a major offence under the Road Transport Act — which triggers the major-offence sentencing regime, the second-offence escalations, and the automatic MIO.

Charged with high-range PCA? Contact us today

High-range PCA is the most serious PCA offence in NSW — real prison exposure, an automatic 3-year disqualification, and a Mandatory Interlock Order even on a first offence. The strategy needs to be set before your first mention: early plea, Traffic Offender Program, psychologist’s report, alcohol counselling, character references, and a properly drafted submission on sentence.

We act for high-range PCA matters across NSW from our Liverpool and Wollongong offices. Contact us for a free initial consultation — we are available 24/7 for urgent matters and licence suspension appeals.