Border Force joins the fight against French nationals defrauding demerit points

Border Force has been called in to stop foreign drivers from cheating NSW’s demerit point system, after authorities uncovered a network of French drivers using fake documents and nominating other drivers for offences.

Border Force has been drafted in to crack down on self-confessed French “wankers” trying to cheat NSW’s demerit point system to avoid paying fines and stay on the road after racking up hundreds of points.

Anyone applying for a NSW licence with French documents will also have their paperwork checked by Transport officials, after the French consulate agreed to help stop its countrymen and women using fake papers to get a local licence.

International licence holders have also been defrauding the demerit point system by nominating other drivers as responsible for offences.

The ABF will now be checking its records when an international licence holder is nominated as being responsible for an offence, after it discovered that tens of thousands of people nominated to cop a penalty over the past two years had never been to Australia.

If a nominated driver is found to have not been in Australia at the time of the offence, Transport for NSW will be able to more quickly put the penalty back on the person who tried to offload the fine and points.

A house in Sydney was the home address of 30 licence holders, who between them had accrued thousands of demerit points. Picture: Richard Dobson

Between May 2022 and January 2024, 125,000 penalties carrying 256,000 demerit points were issued to drivers identified by Revenue NSW as ‘international drivers’. Of those, 40,000 had never set foot in the country.

It comes after The Daily Telegraph revealed that a staggering 2,102 demerit points had been accumulated by 30 licence holders who all listed a single property as their home address.

The Demerit Point Integrity Taskforce has discovered evidence that some drivers nominated to take demerit points have never even set foot in the country.

The crackdown comes after authorities uncovered anecdotal evidence of French nationals using social media to share tips on how to get away with breaking road rules and avoid punishment.

In one private Facebook group in March, one user boasted in French about how he was able to dodge Australia’s legal system.

“I’ve already been to court in Queensland, I got busted again in NSW but I’m already on my way to South Australia,” the post, when translated, said.

Scooters parked outside a house where 30 licence holders racked up thousands of points. Picture: Rohan Kelly

“I’m not going to court this time anyway and I won’t be giving (them) one (single) dollar!!! Like a good wanker.”

The post was made in a Facebook group entitled “Les branleurs en Australie”, which translates as “Wankers in Australia”.

Roads Minister John Graham thanked ABF and the French consulate for agreeing to help root out the “tiny minority” breaking the rules.

“It is a threat to road safety to allow people to remain on the road who are notching up demerit points like confetti, avoiding paying fines and in many cases leaving the country just as the system begins to catch up with them,” he said.

“This is the first step in a wider crackdown by the Demerit Point Integrity Taskforce and we will have more changes to announce ahead.

The content summaries were created with the assistance of AI technology, then edited and approved for publication by an editor.