Rent a car in Australia during holidays

[zervino]

Hi,
I'm going to Australia for holidays and I'm planning to rent a car.
Currently I have a German driving licence, but I don't have the international driving licence. Since I'm living in Singapore, it is not feasible for me to go to Germany just to get that paper.

Do you know if rental companies in Australia accept a German licence as it is? (In German). Do you have any experience traveling to Australia with a driving licence written in a language other than English?

Thanks

[Strong Eagle]

You won't have any problem with the German driving license. An international driving license is basically useless, as it is nothing more than a private agency translation.

Do yourself a favor and make sure each item on the drivers license is translated so they can readily understand restrictions and endorsements.

Most Australian rental companies are much more worried that you don't know how to drive on the "wrong" side of the rode, and since you live in Singapore, they will be much relieved to know that you already do so.

PS: If you are living in Singapore, why don't you have your Singapore license? It's in English. No problemo.

[zervino]

Thanks for the answer.

I live in Singapore but I don't have a car here, so I didn't get the local licence.

So the German licence with a translation would work in Australia? I know the international licence is just a paper that accompanies the real licence, but not sure how picky they are in Australia about it.

[Strong Eagle]

Call a car rental company. I used Avis in both Oz and the land of the Kiwis. No issues.

[PNGMK]

You won't have an issue

[GSM8]

I know Japan requires the so called official "international DL" to accompany your local DL, and car rental companies there explicitly remind you of it while booking. But as SE said most other countries don't need it. I also rented in Aus and NZ from local (non-intl) rental companies and they didn't need it either with a Singapore license