Work Diary Offences SA: Fatigue, Work Hours and Logbook Charges

Fatigue and work diary offences in South Australia

A fatigue or work diary charge can cost a professional driver demerit points and, with enough of them, the licence that pays the bills. Talon Legal defends drivers and operators across South Australia on fatigue, work and rest hours and logbook charges, from a single recording error to a critical risk breach. Every hour matters: book a same-day free 30-minute consultation or call (08) 7094 2021 now.


Fatigue and work diary snapshot

IssuePosition in South Australia
Governing lawChapter 6 of the Heavy Vehicle National Law, applied in South Australia by the Heavy Vehicle National Law (South Australia) Act 2013 (SA), and the Heavy Vehicle (Fatigue Management) National Regulation, which applies here as in force from time to time (section 6 of the 2013 Act).
Who the hours apply toDrivers of fatigue-regulated heavy vehicles: a motor vehicle or combination with a gross vehicle mass over 12 tonnes, or a fatigue-regulated bus (section 7 and regulation 73 of the General National Regulation).
Fatigue offenceDriving any heavy vehicle over 4.5 tonnes while impaired by fatigue or unfit to drive (section 228(1)). Maximum $28,230 and 3 demerit points.
Standard hours, solo driverNo more than 12 hours of work and at least 7 continuous hours of stationary rest in any 24-hour period, with shorter limits in 5.5, 8 and 11 hour periods and longer ones over 7 and 14 days (Schedule 1, Table 1).
Breach gradingMinor, substantial, severe or critical, set by how far the driver went over the limit or under the rest (regulation 5 and Schedule 1).
Penalty rangeStandard hours: $4,230 for a minor breach up to $21,170 for a critical breach. Work diary: from a $212 infringement up to $28,230 for a false or misleading entry.
Demerit points3 for a severe and 4 for a critical work and rest hours breach, and 3 for the fatigue offence (Motor Vehicles Regulations 2025 (SA), Schedule 4).
Counting timeEach period is counted forward from the end of the longest major rest break required in the period under the driver's work and rest hours option (section 247).
When a work diary is requiredFor 100+km work under standard hours, and for work under alternative compliance or exemption hours, now or in the last 28 days (section 291).
Time limit to prosecuteWithin 2 years after the offence, or within 1 year after it comes to the complainant's knowledge but within 3 years after the offence (section 707A).
First stepSame-day free 30-minute consultation. Call (08) 7094 2021.

Charged with a fatigue or work diary offence in South Australia?

Work diary offences in South Australia and the work and rest hours rules behind them sit in Chapter 6 of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (the Law), with the hours themselves set by the Heavy Vehicle (Fatigue Management) National Regulation. Many drivers still call the work diary a logbook. This page states the law as it stands after the amendments of 1 August 2026, and flags where an earlier offence is treated differently.

This guide is part of our heavy vehicle offences practice. Related guides cover mass, dimension and loading offences, chain of responsibility, heavy vehicle speeding and truck driver licence appeals.

Free Consultation. Talk to a lawyer before you pay an infringement notice or answer questions about your diary. Book a same-day free 30-minute consultation or call (08) 7094 2021.

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Who do the fatigue rules apply to?

The work and rest hours and work diary rules apply to drivers of fatigue-regulated heavy vehicles. That means a motor vehicle or combination with a gross vehicle mass of more than the figure the national regulations prescribe, or a fatigue-regulated bus, subject to the exclusions in section 7(2). Regulation 73 of the Heavy Vehicle (General) National Regulation prescribes 12 tonnes. Before 1 August 2026 the 12 tonne figure was written into section 7 itself.

The fatigue offence is wider. From 1 August 2026 section 228 applies to the driver of any heavy vehicle, which is a vehicle with a gross vehicle mass or aggregate trailer mass of more than 4.5 tonnes (section 6). A driver of a 6 tonne rigid truck is outside the hours and diary rules but inside the fatigue offence.

The duty also reaches the business. Every party in the chain of responsibility owes the primary duty in section 26C, and section 26E prohibits asking, directing or requiring a driver to drive while impaired by fatigue or unfit to drive, or in breach of the driver’s work and rest hours option. Our chain of responsibility guide covers those duties.


What is the offence of driving while fatigued or unfit?

A person must not drive a heavy vehicle on a road while impaired by fatigue or unfit to drive (section 228(1)). The maximum is $28,230 for 1 August 2026 to 30 June 2027, and the offence carries 3 demerit points. Before 1 August 2026 the offence was confined to fatigue-regulated heavy vehicles and to impairment by fatigue, and its base maximum was $6,000 rather than $20,000.

The Law defines the terms. Fatigue includes feeling sleepy, feeling physically or mentally tired, weary or drowsy, feeling exhausted or lacking energy, and behaving in a way consistent with those feelings (section 223). A driver is impaired by fatigue if fatigue affects the driver’s ability to drive safely, and unfit to drive if the driver is not of sufficiently good health or fitness to drive safely (section 225).

The court has guidance on proof. It may consider what being fatigued or unfit commonly means, the causes and signs of fatigue, and any relevant body of knowledge, such as codes of practice, standards, scientific knowledge and expert opinion (section 224). It may also consider any sign or cause of fatigue that was evident, and the driver’s behaviour, such as the circumstances of a crash or near miss or poor driving judgement (section 226).

One rule protects against doubling up. If the driver has been convicted of a prescribed offence under another law for the same conduct, or the same kind of conduct on the same journey, the court must discharge the section 228 proceedings (section 228(2)).


What are the standard hours for a solo driver?

Standard hours are the default work and rest limits for a driver who is not working under an accreditation or exemption. Section 249 leaves the hours to the national regulations, and regulation 5 applies Table 1 of Schedule 1 to a solo driver of a fatigue-regulated heavy vehicle. The table states the maximum work time and minimum rest time for each period.

In any period ofWork no more thanRest no less than
5.5 hours5 hours 15 minutes15 continuous minutes
8 hours7.5 hours30 minutes, in blocks of at least 15 continuous minutes
11 hours10 hours60 minutes, in blocks of at least 15 continuous minutes
24 hours12 hours7 continuous hours of stationary rest
7 days72 hours24 continuous hours of stationary rest
14 days144 hours2 night rest breaks, and 2 night rest breaks taken on consecutive days

Two-up drivers have their own table. In any 24-hour period a two-up driver may work 12 hours, and must have 5 continuous hours of stationary rest or 5 continuous hours of rest in an approved sleeper berth while the vehicle is moving (Table 3). A bus driver working solo may use Table 1 or Table 2, but not both (regulation 5(1)(b)).

Two allowances matter in practice. A driver who could not take a required short rest break because there was no suitable rest place has a defence if the break was taken at the next suitable rest place (section 252). And a minor risk breach in a period of 24 hours or less is not committed if the driver went over by 8 minutes or less and recorded the time in an electronic work diary (regulation 5(5)).


How are work and rest breaches graded?

Every breach of the maximum work or minimum rest requirements falls into a risk category declared by the national regulations (section 222). Column 4 of Table 1 sets the category by how far the driver went over the work limit or under the rest requirement. For a solo driver in a 24-hour period, the regulation sets these bands:

24-hour periodMinorSubstantialSevereCritical
Work timeUp to 12.75 hoursMore than 12.75, up to 13.25 hoursMore than 13.25, up to 13.5 hoursMore than 13.5 hours
Continuous stationary restLess than 7, but at least 6.25 hoursLess than 6.25, but at least 5.75 hoursLess than 5.75, but at least 5.5 hoursLess than 5.5 hours

Longer periods have wider bands. In any 7 days, work of up to 73.5 hours is a minor breach, more than 73.5 and up to 74.5 hours substantial, more than 74.5 and up to 75 hours severe, and more than 75 hours critical. For work time, the shorter periods of 5.5 and 8 hours produce only minor breaches, and the 11 hour period minor or substantial ones.

The category decides the maximum penalty, whether an infringement notice can issue and whether demerit points attach. The Supreme Court set out the same 24-hour bands in Obst in 2021 ([20]), so the levels have not moved.


How is work and rest time counted?

Section 247 fixes where each period starts. From 1 August 2026 time is counted forward from the end of the longest major rest break required in the period under the driver’s work and rest hours option. Time is counted by reference to the time zone of the driver’s base (section 248).

The leading South Australian cases construed the earlier wording, which counted forward from the end of a relevant major rest break. In Barnes the Supreme Court read the maximum work time as the total of the hours worked in the period, not a continuous stretch ([32]), and held that counting did not stop each time the driver took a later major rest break, so two 24-hour periods could run at once ([37], [38]). Ballantyne applied Barnes and described the trap that overlapping periods set for drivers who count only from their own rest breaks ([6], [8]). Obst followed the same approach ([22]).

Two points carry across. The definition of maximum work time that Barnes construed did not change on 1 August 2026, so the total hours reading stands on the same words. The counting rule did change, so for an offence on or after that date the starting point has to be worked out under the current section 247, and the earlier reasoning on overlapping periods needs care.


What changed for BFM, AFM and alternative compliance hours?

Basic fatigue management (BFM) and advanced fatigue management (AFM) give way to alternative compliance hours for accreditations approved from 1 August 2026. Section 253 now provides for alternative compliance hours and section 254 for operating under them, and the former sections 255 to 258 on BFM and AFM hours were removed. Breaches of alternative compliance hours are graded under regulation 6 and Schedule 2, including a separate category of escalated risk contraventions.

Existing accreditations are protected. An accreditation in force immediately before 1 August 2026 continues under the former Law until it expires or is cancelled (section 761). The Motor Vehicles Regulations 2025 still list demerit points for severe and critical breaches of the former BFM and AFM hours, and the Regulator’s penalty schedule lists the former BFM offence in section 254(1) as a transitioned offence.


What are the work diary rules?

Work diary offences start with the question whether a diary was required at all. A work diary is required when the driver of a fatigue-regulated heavy vehicle is doing 100+km work under standard hours, or is working under alternative compliance or exemption hours, or was doing either in the last 28 days (section 291). A driver is doing 100+km work when driving in an area with a radius of more than 100 km from the driver’s base, and the whole journey then counts, including the part within 100 km (section 289).

The core duty is in section 293(1). The driver must keep a work diary, make sure it records the required information for each day in the previous 28 days, and have it in the driver’s possession while driving. The maximum is $14,120. It is a defence that the missing information was recorded in a diary that was destroyed (other than by the driver), lost or stolen, or in an electronic work diary that lost it through a malfunction before the information reached the record keeper (section 293(3)). If a diary is filled up, destroyed, lost or stolen, or an electronic diary malfunctions, the driver must make supplementary records (section 305).

Recording offences are a separate group of work diary offences. The driver must record the required information in the manner and at the time the regulations require (section 296(1)), and must record some information immediately after starting work on a day (section 297(2)). A driver charged under section 297 for not recording at the start of 100+km work has a defence if the driver did not know the day would involve 100+km work and recorded the information as soon as practicable (section 297(3)).

Integrity offences carry the highest penalties. Recording something in a work record that the person knows, or ought reasonably to know, is false or misleading is an offence (section 325(1)), and the charge need not say whether the entry was false or misleading (section 325(2)). A driver must not possess more than one written work diary in which information can be recorded, or record the same period in two diaries (section 326). Possessing purported work records, false representations about work records, defacing or changing them, and making entries in someone else’s are separate offences (sections 327 to 330).


What are the penalties?

Work diary offences and work and rest hours breaches carry the amounts below, which are the Regulator’s published maximums for 1 August 2026 to 30 June 2027, indexed under section 737. This page is current to 24 October 2026. Infringement amounts are one tenth of the court maximum, and none is available where the maximum is $21,170 or more.

OffenceMaximum court penaltyInfringement amount
Driving while impaired by fatigue or unfit to drive, section 228(1)$28,230None
Solo driver standard hours, section 250(1)Minor $4,230; substantial $8,480; severe $14,120; critical $21,170$423; $848; $1,412; none for critical
Keep and carry a work diary, section 293(1)$14,120$1,412
Record information as required, section 296(1)$2,120$212
Record information immediately after starting work, section 297(2)$5,630$563
False or misleading entry in a work record, section 325(1)$28,230None
More than one work diary, section 326$14,120None
Possession of purported work records, section 327$28,230None

For sections 293(1), 297(2), 325(1) and 327, the schedule lists different transitioned amounts for accreditations approved before 1 August 2026: $8,480, $8,480, $14,120 and $14,120. Demerit points attach to severe (3) and critical (4) work and rest hours breaches and to the fatigue offence (3), under Schedule 4 of the Motor Vehicles Regulations 2025 (SA).


How do courts sentence fatigue offences?

The courts treat fatigue breaches as safety offences. In NHVR v Mounce the Supreme Court said the primary purpose of sentencing for that driver’s offending was to protect the safety of the community, and treated as a useful guide the single judge decisions that start at 20 to 25 per cent of the maximum ([20]). The magistrate’s single fine of $1,050 for ten offences, six of them critical breaches of the former BFM hours, was manifestly inadequate ([3], [26]), but the Court declined to resentence because of the driver’s means under section 120 of the Sentencing Act 2017 (SA) ([29] to [33]).

Belief and ignorance are weighed differently. In NHVR v Obst (No 2) the drivers’ belief that they were complying with the 12 in 24 hour rule was a mitigating factor, but ignorance of the law is no excuse for a regulatory offence with important safety implications ([16]). The Court found no good reason not to record convictions ([18]) and, from a starting point that was common ground, fined each driver $1,200 after a 40 per cent discount for early pleas ([19], [20]).

A trifling argument faces a high bar. In the first Obst decision the Court said that the primary consideration is the conduct comprising the offence, and only limited weight can be given to the explanation ([39]). It set aside a magistrate’s finding that driving for 15 and 14.5 hours in 24-hour periods was trifling ([2], [3], [41], [42]).


Can a fatigue offence cost a licence?

Yes. A severe work and rest hours breach carries 3 demerit points, a critical breach 4, and the fatigue offence 3. South Australia counts those points with every other demerit point: 12 or more within 3 years makes a driver liable to disqualification for 3 months (12 to 15 points), 4 months (16 to 19) or 5 months (20 or more) (section 98BC of the Motor Vehicles Act 1959 (SA)).

A licence holder given a demerit point disqualification notice can elect, within 21 days (or 28 days with the Registrar’s permission), to accept a 12 month good behaviour condition instead (section 98BE). Incurring 2 or more demerit points while the condition applies brings a disqualification for twice the original period. In Mounce, six critical breaches brought 24 points and five months off the road ([3]). Our truck driver licence appeals guide sets out the options for a professional driver.


How similar matters tend to play out

Three illustrations of how the Law and the cases combine on ordinary facts. They are not predictions. Outcome depends on the facts, the record, the plea and the court.

Lower range. A solo driver records 12 hours 40 minutes of work in a 24-hour period, a minor breach under Table 1. The notice is a $423 infringement with no demerit points. Before paying, the driver checks the counting: if the period should start from a different major rest break under section 247, the breach may disappear or shrink, and work recorded in an electronic work diary that runs 8 minutes or less over the limit is not a minor breach at all (regulation 5(5)).

Middle range. A driver is charged with a critical breach for working more than 13.5 hours in a 24-hour period, together with a section 297 charge for a late start entry. The critical breach is court only, with a maximum of $21,170 and 4 demerit points. A trifling argument is unlikely after Obst ([39], [41]), so the case turns on whether the diary, telematics and run sheets support the hours alleged, and then on the sentencing material and the driver’s points position under section 98BC.

Upper range. Diary entries for several weeks do not match fuel and toll records, and the Regulator alleges false or misleading entries under section 325, plus critical breaches. Each false entry charge carries $28,230 and is court only. The investigation is likely to reach the operator under sections 26C and 26E, and the driver’s answers to information requirements are protected only in the limited way section 588 provides.


How do we defend a fatigue or work diary charge?

Fatigue cases and work diary offences are won and lost on the record. We rebuild the hours from the diary, the electronic work diary data, telematics and the run sheets, and test each period against section 247 and the right table before anything is conceded.

StageWhat happensWhat we do
Roadside inspectionAn officer inspects the diary and may require it to be produced (section 568).Find out what was inspected, copied or taken, and what was said at the roadside.
Notice or chargeAn infringement notice issues for lower categories, or a charge for critical breaches and diary integrity offences.Advise before the due date whether to pay the notice or elect to be prosecuted, with the demerit point effect in view.
Rebuilding the hoursThe prosecution relies on its own count of work and rest periods.Recount every period under section 247 and the correct table, and check the category alleged.
DefencesShort rest break and diary defences are available on proof (sections 252, 293(3) and 297(3)).Gather the evidence of rest places, lost or malfunctioning diaries and the day's plans.
Plea or trialThe charge is contested, or a plea goes ahead on the right category.Put the driver's record, the circumstances and the licence consequences before the court.

We cannot promise an outcome, and no lawyer can. We can make sure the count is right before anyone pleads to it.

Every hour matters. Book a same-day free 30-minute consultation, or call (08) 7094 2021 now.


Fatigue case law in South Australia

The decisions below decide the points this page relies on. Each is cited to AustLII with the paragraphs where the point is made. The counting cases were decided under the former section 247, and each note says so.

CaseCourtPrinciplePinpoint
Police v Barnes [2017] SASC 196Supreme CourtMaximum work time is a total; periods can overlap under the former section 247[32], [34] to [38]
Ballantyne v National Heavy Vehicle Regulator [2019] SASC 135Supreme CourtStarting point at the end of a major rest break; mistake about the law no defence[2], [5], [6], [8], [9]
National Heavy Vehicle Regulator v Obst; National Heavy Vehicle Regulator v Turnbull [2021] SASC 37Supreme Court24-hour breach levels; trifling turns on the conduct[1] to [4], [20], [22], [39], [41], [42]
National Heavy Vehicle Regulator v Obst; National Heavy Vehicle Regulator v Turnbull (No 2) [2021] SASC 50Supreme CourtBelief of compliance mitigates; conviction recorded[16], [18] to [20]
National Heavy Vehicle Regulator v Mounce [2020] SASC 91Supreme CourtCommunity safety the primary purpose; starting point decisions a useful guide[3], [20], [26], [29] to [33]

Case notes

Police v Barnes [2017] SASC 196

Doyle J held that section 250(1)(a) prohibits driving for a total number of hours, not a continuous number ([32]). Work and rest cover all of a driver’s time, so personal time of more than five hours was a major rest break ([34] to [36]). Counting did not stop when the driver later took another major rest break, and two 24-hour periods could run at once ([37], [38]). His Honour concluded that the appeal should be allowed and the matter remitted to the magistrate to deal with a remaining defence. The counting reasoning construed section 247 before 1 August 2026; the definition of maximum work time is unchanged.

Ballantyne v National Heavy Vehicle Regulator [2019] SASC 135

Under the regulation then in force, more than 13.5 hours of work in a 24-hour period was a critical risk breach ([2]). Peek J found the prosecution was justified in starting the period at the end of a particular major rest break, during which the driver recorded 13.75 hours ([5]). The driver believed he had not exceeded 12 hours, but on the approach in Barnes he was mistaken about the law, and that was no defence ([6]). His Honour described how two overlapping periods can run after a major rest break ([8]) and dismissed the appeal ([9]). Decided under the former section 247.

National Heavy Vehicle Regulator v Obst; National Heavy Vehicle Regulator v Turnbull [2021] SASC 37

The magistrate dismissed standard hours charges against two drivers, for 15 and 14.5 hours in 24-hour periods, without conviction or penalty under section 23(1)(a) of the Sentencing Act 2017 ([1] to [3]). The magistrate had treated the work diary instructions as misleading about when the count restarts ([4]). Blue J set out the breach levels for a 24-hour period ([20]) and said that counting from the end of a major rest break does not stop because the driver takes another major rest break within the period ([22]). On a trifling argument the primary consideration is the conduct, with limited weight to the explanation ([39]). The offences were not trifling, and the appeals were allowed ([41], [42]). Decided under the former section 247.

National Heavy Vehicle Regulator v Obst; National Heavy Vehicle Regulator v Turnbull (No 2) [2021] SASC 50

On resentencing, the drivers’ belief that they were complying with the 12 in 24 hour rule was mitigating, but ignorance of the law is no excuse for a regulatory offence with important safety implications ([16]). General deterrence played an important role, and there was no good reason not to record convictions ([18]). The maximum for a critical breach was then $17,100, and from a starting point of 20 to 25 per cent, which was common ground, each driver was fined $1,200 after a 40 per cent discount ([19], [20]).

National Heavy Vehicle Regulator v Mounce [2020] SASC 91

The magistrate imposed a single fine of $1,050 for ten offences, including six critical breaches of the former BFM hours carrying 4 demerit points each, 24 in all, which meant five months’ loss of licence ([3]). Bampton J treated the starting point decisions as a useful guide and said the primary purpose of sentencing for the offending was to protect the safety of the community ([20]). The penalty was manifestly inadequate ([26]), but because of the driver’s means the Court declined to resentence under section 120 of the Sentencing Act 2017, and the appeal was dismissed ([29] to [33]).


Frequently asked questions

What are logbook offences in South Australia?

Logbook offences are work diary offences under Chapter 6 of the Heavy Vehicle National Law. They include not keeping or carrying a work diary (section 293), not recording information as required (sections 296 and 297), false or misleading entries (section 325) and keeping more than one diary (section 326). Maximums run from $2,120 to $28,230.

Do I need a work diary if I drive within 100 km of my base?

Not under standard hours, unless the driver did 100+km work or worked under alternative compliance or exemption hours in the last 28 days (section 291). A driver doing 100+km work must record the whole journey, including any part within 100 km of base (section 289). The work and rest limits apply either way.

How many hours can a truck driver work in 24 hours in SA?

Under standard hours a solo driver of a fatigue-regulated heavy vehicle may work no more than 12 hours in any 24-hour period, and must have at least 7 continuous hours of stationary rest (Table 1 of Schedule 1 to the fatigue regulation). Shorter limits apply within 5.5, 8 and 11 hour periods, and 72 hours applies over 7 days.

What is a critical risk fatigue breach?

It is the highest category of work and rest hours breach. For a solo driver it is more than 13.5 hours of work, or less than 5.5 continuous hours of stationary rest, in a 24-hour period. A critical breach is court only, carries a maximum of $21,170 and attracts 4 demerit points.

Is driving while tired an offence even in a smaller truck?

From 1 August 2026, yes, if the vehicle is a heavy vehicle over 4.5 tonnes. Section 228(1) applies to any heavy vehicle and covers driving while impaired by fatigue or unfit to drive, with a maximum of $28,230 and 3 demerit points. Before that date it applied only to fatigue-regulated heavy vehicles.

What happens if a work diary entry is false?

A false or misleading entry in a work record is an offence if the person knew, or ought reasonably to have known, it was false or misleading (section 325(1)). The maximum is $28,230 and the offence is court only. The charge need not specify whether the entry was false or misleading (section 325(2)).

What if my work diary was lost or stolen?

The driver must make supplementary records (section 305). It is a defence to a section 293 charge that the missing information was recorded in a diary that was destroyed (other than by the driver), lost or stolen, or lost through an electronic diary malfunction before it reached the record keeper (section 293(3)).

Can I get demerit points for a fatigue offence?

Yes. A severe work and rest hours breach carries 3 demerit points, a critical breach 4, and the fatigue offence in section 228(1) carries 3. They count toward the same 12 point threshold as every other demerit point, and 12 or more within 3 years brings a disqualification of 3 to 5 months.

Does BFM still exist after 1 August 2026?

Only for accreditations in force before that date. Section 761 keeps the former Law, including BFM and AFM hours, for an existing accreditation until it expires or is cancelled. New accreditations use alternative compliance hours under sections 253 and 254.

Do I need a lawyer for a work diary offence?

Not always, but where demerit points, a critical breach or a false entry allegation is involved, the count and the category are worth testing before anyone pays or pleads. A free 30-minute consultation will tell you whether the case against you holds up.


South Australian courts we attend for fatigue matters

We appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court and in the regional courts on the freight routes, and in the higher courts for matters that go there.

Book a same-day free 30-minute consultation or call (08) 7094 2021.


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