Demerit points stay active on your licence for a 3-year period, starting from the date of the offence. After 3 years, demerit points will not be counted as active on your licence, and will not accumulate with any new demerit points you earn.
However, all demerit points you receive stay on your driving record, even after the 3-year period. If you continue to break the law, old demerit points may be taken into consideration by a court when deciding the severity of your penalty.
The 40-month rule
Most offences and their demerit points are recorded within 4 months of the date of an offence. Occasionally, an offence and its demerit points may not be recorded within that period. This might be due to appeal proceedings or other delays.
So that you are not unfairly impacted by an old offence, Transport will not count demerit points that are more than 40 months old (3 years and 4 months) towards a suspension.
Use the demerit point check to see if you have any active demerit points on your licence.