Can I drive with the Australian driving license in USA-Hawaii?

While renting a car in USA-Hawaii it is uncertain whether our Australian license will be accepted. We will clear the uncertainty in this article.

Suppliers

Please select your rental company branch

Differnet rental branches may ask you to show an IDP.
Please select your upcoming trip rental branch for the most accurate guidelines.

At this point in time, we have not yet collected the rental terms of rental companies in USA-Hawaii. Please visit us again in a later time to get more specific details.

Do I need an IDP?

Full laws breakdown for driving with the Australian license in USA-Hawaii

To determine with confidence whether you need an IDP or not, we check multiple data sources. Please review the following legal terms of: the Australian laws, the local laws in USA-Hawaii, the rental company requirements and real life reports we collected from other Australian travelers in USA-Hawaii.

What do the Australian laws say about driving in USA-Hawaii with the Australian driving license?

We have not yet collected the Australian laws. Please visit us again in a later time.

What do the laws in USA-Hawaii say about driving with a foreign driving license?

The laws in USA-Hawaii say the following:
Countries that ratified the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (1949), may use their foreign national driver's license along with their valid passport to legally drive in Hawaii. The driver must be at least 18 years old and may use the foreign driver's license no longer than one year after the date of entry in the United States. The foreign passport would indicate the date of entry in the U.S. It is strongly recommended that the foreign licensed driver possess an International Driving Permit (IDP) to avoid language barriers between the foreign driver and Hawaii's law enforcement officials.
Source: City and County of Honolulu - Department of Customer Services

It means that:
1. Based on the information provided, holders of a valid Australian driving license can drive in the state of Georgia, USA, for tourism or business purposes. Since the Australian license is in English and includes all necessary details such as the driver's photo, name, birth date, address, expiry date, and classes of allowed vehicles to drive, it meets the requirements set by the Georgia Department of Driver Services for a foreign driver's license. Additionally, the fact that the Australian license complies with annex 6 of the International Road Traffic Convention of 1968 and annex 9 of the Geneva Road Traffic Convention of 1949 indicates that it is recognized for international use in countries that are parties to these conventions.
2. An International Driving Permit (IDP) is not strictly required for Australian license holders to drive in Georgia, USA, as long as the Australian license is valid, written in English, and the driver has their passport or visa to verify the validity of the license if asked by a law officer. The purpose of an IDP is to provide a translation of the driver's license information into several languages and to certify that the holder has a valid driver's license in their home country. Since the Australian license is already in English and Georgia's law enforcement can verify its validity, the IDP would be redundant in this case. However, it is important to note that while not required, some individuals may still choose to obtain an IDP for additional convenience or as a precautionary measure when driving abroad.

What are the rental agency terms for driving with a foreign license?

Different rental agencies might still require an IDP even while the local laws do not require it. Please find your appropriate local supplier in the list above to verify.

What do Australian travelers report after being pulled over by the local police in USA-Hawaii?

We don't have any real life reports by Australian travelers in USA-Hawaii.
If you've been there and was pulled over by the local officials, please share your experience with us and we will publish it to help others.

Where can I get an IDP?

Facts check reviewed on 6 March 2024 at 10:51 pm by PaapmPaapm editorial team.

Help us get it right!

Have you found a mistake or rented a car and can report with an up-to-date status?

Please help us helping other travelers with recent actual requirements of your rental agency or after being pulled over by the local police.

Why we created this website?

For years there's uncertainty of whether the driving license can be used abroad as is. We see travelers taking the effort of driving to the offices to purchase it, which is sometimes a non trivial effort, and at the end - nobody asks them to show the IDP.
This is frustrating as the IDP wasn't cheap or easy to get.

Some travelers say that they didn't need it while others say their trip was ruined due to the fact that they didn't hold an IDP in hand and the rental company refused to rent them the car. Some have reported that they've also lost their rental car pre-payment completely due to not holding an IDP.

The truth about the IDP is that there are multiple legal factors by the destination country laws, the rental agency rental terms and what happens in real life, when you meet with the local police or rental company agent. Sometimes real life is different from what the laws or terms state.

We hope that if an agent of the law or the rental company asks you for an IDP which you don't hold, you may refer them to the laws and rental terms we have collected here. Our experience shows that most of the time, the agents get confused and don't know the requirements, so showing them the proper snippet might help you out.

Please help us and report back whether our information is correct or not, so we can keep it up to date for other travelers like you!

Hold an IDP to be on the safe side

If you have the time, we always recommend to purchase an IDP, even if the information on our website says with confidence that you won't need one.

You better hold an IDP during 2024
Cover image by Dino Reichmuth published on Unsplash taken at Arches National Park Entrance Station, Moab, United States