Actually, I did know this. It’s in the introductory section of the ANU’s student diary (the one given out free to all students at O-Week)… Of course the diary itself is a useless flimsy piece of crap that falls apart within the first week if you try to use it … but I digress.

Basically, you don’t have to give them your name, or show them any ID unless you are in a place to which entry is restricted (eg. bar, nightclub). If you are on the street, you can refuse to show them your ID. You don’t have to do anything they ask unless you’re actually being arrested for something, and even then you don’t have to say anything, just go where they tell you. You have the right to have an attourney present during questioning (which is useful to know), and also they can’t hold you for more than 24 hours without actually laying charges.

Of course my memory of this is a bit hazy .. I haven’t touched one of those diaries since first year.

Yeah. With arrest, they’re not meant to be able to arrest you unless they have reasonable grounds to suspect you’ve done something dodgy. They must read you your rights if they start questioning you about stuff in connection with a crime, and once you get back to the station, they have to inform you of your right to contact a friend or a lawyer. We don’t technically have attorneys in Australia – that’s the States. We have barristers and solicitors. For some reason though, we have an “Attorney-General” along with a “Solicitor-General”.

What about if they pull you over in a car and ask for your license (random license check etc..) do you have to give them that if they don’t have a reason for pulling you over? Can you ask what they pulled you over for before giving your license?

The Road Transport (General) Act 1999 NSW (s 19) permits police to request from a driver their licence, name and address, as long as it’s in connection with “enforcing road transport legislation”. This is valid for NSW, but since it’s adapted from a national code of road rules, I’d assume it’d be the same for Victoria as well. Looks like the penalty for not complying is about $220.

See also s 23. It doesn’t look like you can demand that police have a reason for pulling you over. As all things, you can challenge all police actions or things such as parking tickets in court, but all the police have to say is they were doing something connected with “enforcing road transport legislation” (which sounds pretty broad). So it seems to me that the safe thing to do is not kick up a fuss. None of this is legal advice, of course, but it’s what you can find by looking up Austlii or the RTA site.

In NSW they also have a power under the Crimes Act to stop and search your car if they have reason to suspect you have something dodgy in your car.

Thanks stu..

the reason i asked is because i drive a high performance import, they seem to target a lot – there is nothing illigal/unroadworthy about my car, so its not a big deal, just interested

They can check your license if you’re driving, because you’re doing something that is essentially restricted – it’s illegal to drive unless you have a valid license and it’s fine for them to enforce that. Makes sense.

Just like they can ask you for proof of age in a place where entry is restricted to those over 18, eg. a bar or club.

What they can’t do is ask for anything if you aren’t doing something that’s not limited by law to people with a certain privelege. You don’t need a license to be walking down the street.

As for driving a high performance import, a friend of mine who drives a heavily modded (but street legal) car recently got booked for speeding, after the officer inspected his car (and the engineer’s report) for a long time … and then booked him anyway, saying “I know your type.” He successfully disputed the fine. There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that police are bastards when it comes to modded cars (and in many cases with good reason, if I see another car with those bright blue eye-melting headlights, unattended, I will make sure the only thing still serviceable when I leave is the chassis), so best keep your wits about you and don’t do anything stupid. Dispute success rate is very strongly (negatively) correlated with how abusive you were to the police officer booking you.

those neons/washer neons, 8000k headlighs are so annoying and pointless, but i would never vandalize another person pride and joy just because they don’t know any better