Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Highways/Freeways in Australia

If one wanted to drive from Sydney to Brisbane and onwards to Cairns/Port Douglas, would one use 2 lane highways, 4 lane highways, or freeways?

What about Sydney to Canberra?

What about Sydney to Melbourne?

How strictly are speed limits enforced - by marked police cars, unmarked police cars, radar, cameras etc? What are the speed limits?

Are there many trucks on these routes?

Are there rest stops along these routes?

Sydney to Canberra is good-quality freeway all the way.

Sydney to Melbourne is mostly dual carriageway, freeway or near-freeway standard, although there are a few short single-carriageway, one-lane-each-way sections between Goulburn or Yass and Albury in New South Wales (at least there were a few years ago). Even these sections are generally adequate.

Sydney to Brisbane is more mixed. It is a good road (freeway or good-quality dual carriageway) to somewhere north of Taree and then again four-lane or dual-carriageway in southern Queensland. There are some substandard sections on the north coast of New South Wales (substandard for the amount of traffic that is carried). That is the coastal route. In fact, I prefer to drive from Sydney to Brisbane via the New England Highway through Tamworth and Armidale: more single-carriageway sections but the road is much more equal to the (lower) volumes of traffic.

Speed limits are fairly rigorously enforced, mainly I think by marked police cars, radar and cameras. In particular the police are very strong on people who do not obey the posted speed limits on the outskirts of built-up areas, even though the reduced limit sometimes comes in ridiculously early. (No towns on the road between Sydney and Canberra or Melbourne, some between Sydney and Brisbane.)

Speed limits on freeways are generally 110km/hr; on non-freeway country road they are variable and in some cases they vary frequently. In towns the normal limit is 50km/hr, although on main roads it is usually 60km/hr. (If not signposted as 60km/hr it is 50km/hr, though.) If you drive through a town be wary of the 40km/hr limit when passing schools at school-in and school-out times; these zones are signposted with the limit and the times.

There are lots of lorries on Australian roads. In general these are not likely to be troublesome on the routes you mention except in some parts of the Sydney–Brisbane drive. In the single-carriageway sections there are sections with overtaking lanes every few kilometres, but you can get stuck behind a slow vehicle in between these overtaking sections.

Rest stops and service areas are plentiful enough and usually reasonably pleasant.

There is speed cameras everywhere that they can place them

Great desciption from christopher

The one thing we'll emphasise is that speed limits are enforced more strictly in aus than any other country in the world and also if you are unfortunate enough to drive in Victoria show extra care as the speed cameras are set with only the most minimal tolerence (about 3kmh) and they use average speed cameras on the main freeways. If you are planning some long distance driving in aus I'd strongly recommend hiring a car with cruise control

Aren't your drunk driving laws more stringent than the U.S., too? Here in CA the threshold is .08 percent.

Aren't your drunk driving laws more stringent than the U.S., too? Here in CA the threshold is .08 percent.

Yes .05 and you can be randomly breath tested. On main roads etc (and sometimes back streets if they think people will drive home that way to avoid RBTs) late at night you will see mobile testing stations set up. Not like in the US where you have to be doing something wrong before they can pull you over.

In NSW all speed cameras have advisory signs so if you get stung then you deserve it because you weren't concentrating. In Victoria though there is no signage requirement.

Yep, after years of driving in aus I got quite a shock driving on friday/saturday nights when living in chicago, it was really quite obvious that there were a lot more drunk drivers on the roads. To be honest it's a lot less socially acceptable to drive under the influence in australia than it seemed to be in the US

To be honest it's a lot less socially acceptable to drive under the influence in australia than it seemed to be in the US
Yes, good point. In fact, it's completely socially unacceptable in Australia in many circles to drive under the influence. That can only be a good thing, I think. I guess, though, that the lack of social acceptability would hardly affect a visitor, but it's a point well made: don't even think of driving while drunk (and 0.05 is a low limit, too).

Yes .05 and you can be randomly breath tested. On main roads etc (and sometimes back streets if they think people will drive home that way to avoid RBTs) late at night you will see mobile testing stations set up. Not like in the US where you have to be doing something wrong before they can pull you over.

In NSW all speed cameras have advisory signs so if you get stung then you deserve it because you weren't concentrating. In Victoria though there is no signage requirement.

Are there such signs along the roads in other states?

Keep in mind these signs are only for permanent speed cameras, not for highway patrol hiding on a side road at the bottom of the hill.

Queensland only has a few permanent speed cameras and they do have signs, albeit less obvious ones than NSW. Victoria is the king of speed cameras (they earn $100 pa from every man, women and child in the state from speeding fines) and they are not signposted. Some are obvious, others not as easy to spot

Sydney to Brisbane is more mixed. It is a good road (freeway or good-quality dual carriageway) to somewhere north of Taree and then again four-lane or dual-carriageway in southern Queensland. There are some substandard sections on the north coast of New South Wales (substandard for the amount of traffic that is carried). That is the coastal route. In fact, I prefer to drive from Sydney to Brisbane via the New England Highway through Tamworth and Armidale: more single-carriageway sections but the road is much more equal to the (lower) volumes of traffic.

There is a lot of road construction currently on the Pacific Highway from South of Buladelah almost to Kempsey, and then more further North around Ballina and Bangalow. Can result in lengthy delays. So the New England Highway/Cunningham Highway route is definitely preferable, as well as being far more scenic.

There is a lot of road construction currently on the Pacific Highway from South of Buladelah almost to Kempsey, and then more further North around Ballina and Bangalow. Can result in lengthy delays. So the New England Highway/Cunningham Highway route is definitely preferable, as well as being far more scenic.
Actually, I agree that the New England and Cunningham Hwy route is far more scenic. People tend to think that the coastal route will be, but the amount of coast that you see is tiny. The New England Highway goes up through the Hunter Valley, which is lovely, and then across the New England Tableland, which is worth seeing too. Definitely the preferred route for Sydney to Brisbane, imho.

Mrs FR and myself have rented cars on our last three trips to AUS.

Each time we have come home with additional debts to the Australian government (plus two times when they have sent us photo-souvenirs afterwards from fixed radars). Twice we have been pulled over by Police cars flashing like a christmas tree with Starsky and Hutch style U-turns, for only being 5-10 km/h over the limit.

They are very strict and speed imits are often ridiculously unadapted to the circumstances, sometimes much too slow for no reason and then a few kilometres later you find yourself in a 110 km/h zone where the road conditions mean you would be suicidal to go anywhere near that speed.

HOWEVER, and I'm sure this will shock many contributors here and may not be condoned, as Europeans we have never, ever paid any of these fines and never had any problems as a result nor had our latest ETA's refused...

Just be reasonable and enjoy.

What probably saves you is that the debts are to the state government, not the australian government, and they haven't got things linked up. What may be important though is that if you've got unpaid fines they will "cancel" your licence for that state. I'm not sure how well set up the databases are but at some point you might end up with a fairly firm conversation on the side of the road which ends with you doing a lot of walking. Worst result would be if you have an accident and find that any insurance you think you have is void.

Not trying to do a lecture (if you saw the state of my driving record in aus you'd understand why I'm not) but just a reminder that visas are issued by the federal government and speeding fines are issued by state governments so not paying speeding fines is highly unlikely to cause an issue getting into the country but could cause some huge ones once you're here.

What probably saves you is that the debts are to the state government, not the australian government, and they haven't got things linked up. What may be important though is that if you've got unpaid fines they will "cancel" your licence for that state. I'm not sure how well set up the databases are but at some point you might end up with a fairly firm conversation on the side of the road which ends with you doing a lot of walking. Worst result would be if you have an accident and find that any insurance you think you have is void.

Not trying to do a lecture (if you saw the state of my driving record in aus you'd understand why I'm not) but just a reminder that visas are issued by the federal government and speeding fines are issued by state governments so not paying speeding fines is highly unlikely to cause an issue getting into the country but could cause some huge ones once you're here.

How could a state government cancel a license it didn't issue?

How could a state government cancel a license it didn't issue?
It could, in theory, declare it void for that state (i.e., in other words, prohibit the holder from driving in that state). What practical steps it would have to take to do that, I don't know. For all I'm aware, the licence could become invalid by simple operation of law in some states.

However, in any case, I imagine that the holder of the licence would be notified if the licence was no longer valid for driving in a state.

Yep, that's exactly correct. While they cannot cancel the licence as they're not the issuer they can "cancel" it to the extent that it is no longer valid for use in their jurisdiction. This has become more common as people have used out of state (particularly NT when they had no points) or international licences as a method to get around the side effects of the rather draconian levels of speed enforcement these days.

What is the thinking behind setting the 100 limit cameras at 103 when police are unlikely to pull drivers over exceeding 110? Do they realy think foreign drivers will pay their fines?

Every time I visit Oz I can see the country, Victoria in particular, increasing its lead as the ultimate nanny state. I realize its the result of ridiculous overgovernment & bureaucracy but it really does surprise me that the locals put up with it. Of course Aussies are only allowed to whinge abroad not back home - that would be unaustralian! ;)

What crazy talk boar. Don't you know that Speed Kills and every k over is a killer. You must be a hoon, only hoons drift 5km over the limit rolling down a long hill!

Bluntly the point is revenue raising, speed cameras pay for themselves very quickly and policing things like sitting in the overtaking lane, tailgating, unsafe lane changes etc take way too much effort to police. $100 for every man woman and child in the state per annum, thats around $300 per active driver. They'll lose a bit on the foreign tickets but they make a small fortune from the locals.

There is an enormous sentiment amongst Victorian politicians and senior police that this obsessive attention to speed cameras is essential in pulling down an already low road toll. This is despite the fact that the majority of speed cameras are around Melbourne, and catch a broad range of drivers, whereas the road toll issues are very much young drivers in the country.
Thus they term the cameras as "Road Safety Cameras", whereas we all call them Speed Cameras.

I think the general public are thoroughly fed up by this obsession with capturing motorists for doing as little as 3kmph over the limit.
You can identify this by the number of motorists that flash their headlights to warn you of a speed camera.

But nothing will wean our politicians off an ever increasing stream of camera revenue. In their own minds it is done for reasons of road safety, not revenue, but we all know otherwise.

Motorists from overseas are just incidental. If the government gets revenue for them well and good, if not after time they will probably let the fine lapse, though it could be on your record for a return visit.

They do fine you on an alleged speed, rather than the recorded speed. This is typically 3 Kph less than the reading.

I must say the advent of speed cameras did drastically alter common perceptions of speeding, at least in Vic. Before their introduction, one could typically do up to 20 Kph over the limit before being a chance of getting pulled over and fined.

Every time I go to OZ and drive I am frustrated by the very low speed limit on
the freeways - very strictly enforced - 110 km on an empty 3 lane carriage way
in perfect driving conditions. I suspect one of the unintended results is that some drivers then coast along in their own little world and pay less attention than they should.
And a word about random breath tests (which I DO think are a good idea) -
every car driving on a particular street or road might be pulled over for the driver to be tested - any time of day or night. I was once tested 3 times in one evening. You don't need to be driving at all erratically - you just need to be driving.
But the results have been worth it as the percentage of drivers found to be over the limit has fallen dramatically since the scheme began, and the driving public
is much more aware of the no-tolerance (which another poster mentioned)
of drink driving but also its potentially lethal consequences.

They do fine you on an alleged speed, rather than the recorded speed. This is typically 3 Kph less than the reading.

I must say the advent of speed cameras did drastically alter common perceptions of speeding, at least in Vic. Before their introduction, one could typically do up to 20 Kph over the limit before being a chance of getting pulled over and fined.

I was just thinking back today when I was about 5 or 6 I asked my mum what the speed limit signs were for. I remember her clear as day saying "That's the speed limit, if it says 60 then you can do 80." :D

Mum was never big into road safety.