Aussie woman vents about surprisingly common driver's licence issue: 'I've had enough'
A young woman has shared her frustration over having to make a key change to her driver's licence, claiming the dated photo means "no venue in Melbourne" accepts her ID, prompting a surprising number of Aussies to share their own, similar travails.
"They think my ID is fake, which I've actually had enough of," she said in a video shared to social media.
Sitting in her car, in the carpark at a VicRoads building, she explained she was seeking to update her driver's licence photo due to the ongoing issue.
"Every time I go out and need ID, every single venue thinks it's fake ... they always ask me for another form of photo ID... and like what other form of photo ID do you carry around? Like nothing.
"It's so frustrating. I'm not like a fresh 18-year-old, why would I be carrying a fake ID?" she complained.
Sharing an image of the licence photo on TikTok, it appears to reveal it was taken in 2003, making it more than a decade old, however the woman said the photo was taken more recently than that.
Related: Major road rule changes coming into effect in 2025 across Australia
Online, many shared similar stories. While most Australians over the age of 25 won't be overly inconvenienced by an outdated licence photo, many are surprised at the lax protocols surrounding the ID renewal process.
"I feel like vic roads needs to make it mandatory to update license photos 🤣 my partner is 25 and he’s still got the same pic from when he was 16 and he looks NOTHING like it," one Victorian woman commented.
"My photo on my License is 20 years old. And my signature looks nothing like how it is now. It blew my mind when VicRoads said I didn’t need a new photo when I got it renewed recently. This is the most accepted form of photo ID yet looks nothing like me," another driver said.
In a separate thread recently, other drivers in the state shared their surprise when they didn't need to supply a new photo when renewing their licence for another 10 years, while some said they renewed their licence during Covid but were unable to get a new photo in store, leaving them with a particularly ancient image.
According to VicRoads, drivers can renew their licence for up to 10 years if the department holds a "current" photo of the driver on file. However the website does not state what the definition of current is. In NSW, for instance, authorities say the driver's licence photo "must not have been taken more than 10 years and 6 months before the expiry date of the newly renewed licence or photo card".
NRMA calls out 'artificially inflated' petrol prices in Aussie cities
Longer cycles for petrol prices are adding to the increased cost of living for Australian motorists, with calls for an investigation to examine competition and protect consumers as they feel the sting at the pump this holiday break.
The three most populous cities were among the most expensive, with Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney trailing only the nation's capital in analysis from motoring association NRMA.
It has prompted a call for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to add petrol price cycles to its list of recent cost-of-living-related inquiries into supermarket pricing and aviation fares.
Part of the reason was longer price cycles, with prices steadily decreasing for a period before sharply rising.
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said prices staying higher for longer does not pass the pub test.
"There is no justifiable reason for our biggest cities to be among the most expensive," he said.
The NRMA has called for an immediate investigation of the impact price cycles have in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, which have some of the highest prices, despite theoretically having the most competition.
"Artificially inflated prices don't just hurt families, they also have a negative impact on the Australian economy at a time when cost-of-living pressures and inflation sit at the top of concerns for Australia's policymakers and families alike," Mr Khoury said.
The ACCC monitors fuel prices, which are largely influenced by global factors including the international price of crude oil, and the exchange rate compared to the US dollar. But price cycles are a result of retailers' pricing policies.
with AAP
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