6   Driver must be licensed

(1)  Any person who, unless exempted by the regulations:

(a)  drives a motor vehicle upon any road or road related area without being licensed for that purpose, or

(b)  employs or permits any person not so licensed to drive a motor vehicle upon any road or road related area, or

(c)  (Repealed)

      shall be guilty of an offence under this Act.

(1A)  (Repealed)

(1B)  A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is, except as provided in subsection (1C), liable to a penalty not exceeding 20 penalty units.

(1C)  A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) (a) is, if the person has never been licensed, guilty of an offence under this subsection and is liable:

(a)  in the case of a first offence—to a penalty not exceeding 20 penalty units, or

(b)  in the case of a second or subsequent offence—to a penalty not exceeding 30 penalty units or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 18 months or to both such penalty and imprisonment.

(1D)  If a person is convicted of an offence under subsection (1C) (being a second or subsequent offence), the person is disqualified by the conviction (and without any specific order) for a period of 3 years from holding a driver licence. The disqualification is in addition to any penalty imposed for the offence.

(1E)  For the purposes of subsection (1C), a person has not been licensed in connection with an offence if the person has not held a driver licence (or equivalent) of any kind in Australia for the period of at least 5 years immediately before being convicted of the offence.

(1F)  For the purposes of subsections (1C) and (1D), an offence under subsection (1C) is a second or subsequent offence if:

(a)  it is the second or subsequent occasion on which the person is convicted of the offence within the period of 5 years immediately before being convicted of the offence, or

(b)  it is the first occasion on which the person is convicted of the offence, but within the period of 5 years immediately before being convicted of the offence, the person was convicted of an offence under section 7A.

(1G)  A person who has never been licensed cannot be convicted under both this section and section 7A in respect of driving on the same occasion, but nothing in this section prevents such a person from being convicted of an offence under section 7A in respect of driving that constitutes an offence under this section.

(1H)  A person cannot be convicted under both subsection (1) (a) and subsection (1C) in respect of driving on the same occasion. A person charged with an offence under subsection (1C) can be convicted instead of an offence under subsection (1) (a), but a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) (a) cannot be convicted instead of an offence under subsection (1C).

(2)  Subsection (1) does not apply to or in respect of a light rail vehicle.