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Is it illegal to drink in a parked car?

Is it illegal Safety Urban Hacks
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Confusingly, the issue of drinking alcohol in a parked car can be split between road laws and local council laws.
Iain Kelly
Contributing Journalist
12 Jun 2018
3 min read

Yes and no, depending on which state or territory you're in - and in some cases, which council area you're in. In some states of Australia it is illegal to sit in your car and drink alcohol, and people have been charged with drink driving while sleeping off a big night out in their car.

Western Australia and Queensland are super-strict on drinking alcohol even in a car that is turned off and parked to the side of the road, or in a car park. In Western Australia it is actually illegal to drink alcohol in a street, including in a car, under the Liquor Control Act (1988). This came about to kerb a problem the Western Australian politicians and police found with what is known as 'street drinking', or drinking in public areas.

Queensland is one state that has seen controversial laws passed to make it possible to be charged with drink driving, even if you aren't in the car. There have been cases before the Queensland courts where people have been convicted of drink driving as they have slept in the back seat.

The issue is these people had the car keys on their person or easily to hand in the car, which fulfils the state's requirement for being 'in charge' of the vehicle, and then open to being charged with drink driving even though they had no intention of commanding the vehicle in that state.

Legal experts from Queensland recommend handing the keys away to someone else and not entering the vehicle, even if you are only waiting for someone to pick you up, to avoid any issues with being found to be "in charge" of your vehicle.

Confusingly, the issue of drinking alcohol in a parked car can be split between road laws and local council laws. This comes depending on the council zoning as there are many places in Australia listed as alcohol-free zones, where it is illegal to consume alcohol in any form.

So, while it is not strictly illegal to drink in a parked car in NSW, Victoria, South Australia or other Aussie states, you need to double-check that you're not in an alcohol-free zone.

You can read more about Western Australia's regulations here. For more information on Queensland's drinking laws and how the Liquor Control Act works, visit this link.

This article is not intended as legal advice. You should check with your local road authority to verify the information written here is suitable to your situation before driving in this manner.

​Are you a parked car drinker? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section, on the laws in your state or territory.

Iain Kelly
Contributing Journalist
A love of classic American and European cars drove Iain Kelly to motoring journalism straight out of high school, via the ownership of a tired 1975 HJ Holden Monaro.  For nearly 20 years he has worked on magazines and websites catering to modified late model high-performance Japanese and European tuner cars, as well as traditional hot rods, muscle cars and street machines. Some of these titles include Auto Salon, LSX Tuner, MOTOR, Forged, Freestyle Rides, Roadkill, SPEED, and Street Machine. He counts his trip to the USA to help build Mighty Car Mods’ “Subarute” along with co-authoring their recent book, The Cars of Mighty Car Mods, among his career highlights.  Iain lends his expertise to CarsGuide for a variety of advice projects, along with legitimising his automotive obsession with regular OverSteer contributions. Although his practical skills working on cars is nearly all self-taught, he still loves nothing more than spending quality time in the shed working on his project car, a 1964 Pontiac. He also admits to also having an addiction to E30 BMWs and Subaru Liberty RS Turbos, both of which he has had multiple examples of. With car choices like that, at least his mum thinks he is cool.
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