Window Tint Laws in Australia by State (2026)

Australia doesn’t have a single tint law. Each state and territory sets its own rules, mostly copied from one national model, so the percentages line up while the conditions around them don’t. We read the regulation for all eight jurisdictions, plus the regulator’s page or bulletin wherever one exists, and put the limits in one place below.

The three numbers: 35, 20 and 10

Every legal window tint percentage here is a share of light. The NSW, Victorian and WA guidance calls it visible light transmittance (VLT). The legislation and the other regulators’ pages call it luminous or light transmittance (LT). The lower the number, the darker the window.

• 35%: the minimum for the driver’s and front passenger’s windows, everywhere in Australia.
• 20%: the usual minimum for every window behind the driver, back window included, if the car has a rear-vision mirror on each side.
• 10%: the most light tinted glass may reflect. It also sizes the windscreen band: the top 10%, or the area above the wiper sweep if that’s bigger.

For an ordinary passenger car, the darkest film you can fit without applying for an exemption is 15%, behind the driver in the NT, where a territory-wide exemption has allowed it since 2009. In the six states it’s 20% behind the driver, with mirrors.

The limit applies to the finished window, not the film. The regulations let glazing be “coated to achieve” a set transmittance, and Victoria’s guideline says the “resulting VLT” must meet it, so the factory glass is part of the sum. South Australia’s page says the driver and front passenger windows “must have a luminous transmittance of at least 70% and may be coated” down to 35%.

Window tint laws by state and territory

On a phone, swipe the table sideways to see every column.

“Behind the driver” includes the back window, and the windscreen band is whichever of the two areas is greater. Each state has its own page with the detail.

Northern Territory

The NT is the most permissive jurisdiction for rear glass. Since 2009, an NT exemption has allowed tint rearward of the driver’s seating position down to 15%. The NT’s 35% front limit comes from its government page; the Schedule 6 rule itself says 70% unless another territory law allows less. Any vehicle with tint below 70% “must have external rear vision mirrors fitted to both sides”, and the windscreen strip can be any shade.

Australian Capital Territory

Access Canberra’s page says the rear passenger side windows and rear window “must have a LT at least 20%”, and lists no limit behind the driver for goods vehicles, buses, stretch limousines, ambulances and hearses. The regulation itself, Schedule 1 section 1.47 of the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2000, allows coating only to “not less than 35%”, with no 20% rule and none of those carve-outs. We looked for an exemption instrument that explains the gap and found none. Before going below 35% on an ACT car, ask Access Canberra to confirm it in writing.

Windscreens and the visor band

Every jurisdiction’s regulation uses the same band test: you can tint the greater of the area above the highest point the wipers sweep, or the upper 10% of the windscreen. Queensland’s inspection manual instead says the strip must extend “no lower than the lesser of” the two, so in Queensland keep it above the wiper sweep and within the top 10%. The rest of the windscreen can’t be tinted. Under current legislation in every state and the ACT, the glass itself must let through at least 70% of light; the NT’s rules and South Australia’s web page still say 75% for vehicles built after 1971. Nationally, ADR 8/01 requires at least 70% in the primary vision area for passenger cars built from 1 January 1994.

• WA: the transport department’s bulletin says the band must stay out of the primary vision area and can’t cover more than 10% of the windscreen area without written permission from Vehicle Safety and Standards. The regulation itself uses the usual “greater of” test.
• South Australia: the sa.gov.au page says the band can follow the area the manufacturer originally masked instead of the upper 10%; the Rules mention only the upper 10% and the area above the wiper sweep.
• The NT and the ACT: the strip has no minimum light transmittance.

Victoria’s page adds that the band “must not cover any sensors or cameras mounted inside”, and South Australia’s page makes the same point.

Reflective and mirror film

No jurisdiction allows tinted glass to reflect more than 10% of light, which Victoria calls “the equivalent reflectance of untreated glass”. WA, South Australia and the NSW fact sheet rule out mirror-like film by name, and WA says it “can dazzle other drivers by reflecting sunlight or headlight beams”. The NT adds that tint must be uniform, with no distortion or bubbling.

The NSW fact sheet also rules out spray-on tinting. South Australia says no tint, even clear tint, should go between the high-mounted brake light and the rear glass. Victoria treats perforated signs and vehicle wraps on windows the same as tinted film.

Mirrors are the condition for 20%

The 20% rear limit isn’t automatic. NSW, Victoria, Queensland, WA, Tasmania and South Australia’s Rules all require at least one rear-vision mirror on each side.

• NSW: a passenger car with only a driver’s-side mirror is held to 35% on the rear windows.
• WA: the mirrors must be external and “complying with ADR14”.
• Tasmania: “Both mirrors must be operational.”
• The NT: mirrors on both sides for any tint below 70%.
• South Australia and the ACT: the SA page leaves the mirror condition out, though its Rules include it. The ACT page doesn’t mention mirrors.

Goods vehicles, special vehicles and privacy glass

Vans, utes and trucks

Vehicles designed mainly to carry goods get more room behind the driver. With a mirror on each side, NSW, Queensland, WA, South Australia and Tasmania allow 0% there, and Victoria sets no minimum. Access Canberra’s page also lists no minimum, but the ACT regulation has no goods-vehicle rule. WA’s bulletin also allows 0% on vans the manufacturer offers with metal panels behind the B-pillar, and the NT lets buses, and goods vehicles with glass fitted in place of solid panels, tint that glass to any level. South Australia limits a goods van with seats added to 20%, unless more than 60% of the original load-carrying space is still available.

Hearses, ambulances and limousines

A Queensland guideline lets hearses and ambulances go to 0% behind the front seats, with mirrors on both sides. WA allows ambulances, hearses and coroners’ vehicles below 20% behind the B-pillar, but stretched limousines stay at 20% or lighter. The ACT page lists no limit behind the driver for buses, stretch limousines, ambulances and hearses.

Factory privacy glass

Dark glass fitted by the manufacturer is treated differently from film. NSW and South Australia allow factory privacy glass to be darker than the film limits. NSW says no film can go on privacy glass that’s already darker than the film limit, and South Australia says such glass must not be coated in a way that reduces its light transmittance. Victoria is blunter: no film on factory-tinted glass below the limit, and “This prohibition includes ‘clear’ films.”

WA is the exception. Where existing privacy glass is below 20%, Vehicle Safety and Standards may allow film below 20% behind the B-pillar, case by case, but not on glass ahead of it.

Older tint

In NSW, on a car first registered before 1 August 1994, the rear and driver’s windows may have a lower VLT than otherwise allowed, as long as the tint was fitted before that date. The ACT page lists no limit for glazing or coating behind the driver’s seat fitted before 1 October 1996.

Medical exemptions

WA is the only jurisdiction whose regulator documents a medical exemption. Its bulletin says exemptions “may also be granted on medical grounds subject to documentary evidence being provided from a medical specialist”. Applications go to Vehicle Safety and Standards, Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure, 34 Gillam Drive, Kelmscott WA 6111 (enquiries 13 11 56). It doesn’t say which windows an exemption can cover.

For every other jurisdiction, none of the regulator pages, bulletins or guidelines we read describes a medical exemption process. That doesn’t prove none exists, so if a customer has a medical reason for darker film, ask the regulator in writing before you fit it.

Penalties and enforcement

None of the regulator pages we read gives a dollar fine or demerit points for illegal tint. The legislation sets maximum penalties, in penalty units, for driving or using a vehicle that doesn’t meet the vehicle standards: 20 in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania, and 16 in WA, with a modified penalty of 2.

The regulators themselves talk about notices and inspections. Queensland’s regulation lets an authorised officer issue a defect notice saying how the vehicle is defective, what must be done and by when. WA’s bulletin warns of “a compliance notice or an immediate fine”. In NSW, tint “will be checked at your yearly pink slip inspection”.

How VLT is measured

The legal figure is a reading of the finished window: the light that passes through the glazing as a percentage of the light that would pass “if the glazing or coating were absent”. Tasmania’s bulletin and Queensland’s inspection manual both publish a tolerance. Tasmania: “A measuring adjustment of 5% is applied to cater for any inaccuracy in the measuring device or technique.” Queensland: a 5% allowance “may be acceptable”. Tasmania’s is bulletin policy; Queensland’s regulation treats its manual as a vehicle standard. Don’t plan around either.

What this means if you tint cars for a living

Before you quote 20% for the rear, check for a working mirror on each side. Look for factory privacy glass, and remember the front side windows must finish at 35% or more, glass and film together. Keep the windscreen strip inside the band and clear of cameras and sensors.

Our guide to window tint film types compares dyed, carbon and ceramic film, and our guide on how to tint car windows covers the install step by step. Our online course, taught by our instructor Alex, works through every window of a car.

Sources

• NSW: Transport for NSW, How do I know my windows and window tint are legal in NSW? (May 2025)
• NSW: Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2017, clause 60 and Schedule 2
• VIC: Transport Victoria, Window tinting
• VIC: Vehicle Standards Information 2, Window tinting and films (October 2021)
• VIC: Road Safety (Vehicles) Regulations 2021, regulation 294 and Schedule 1
• QLD: Transport Operations (Road Use Management–Vehicle Standards and Safety) Regulation 2021
• QLD: Department of Transport and Main Roads, Non-standard tinting materials for light motor vehicles in Queensland (Word document)
• WA: Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure, Information Bulletin IB-119D (window tinting)
• WA: Road Traffic (Vehicles) Regulations 2014
• SA: sa.gov.au, Window tinting
• SA: Road Traffic (Light Vehicle Standards) Rules 2018
• TAS: Department of State Growth, Applied Film / Window Tint Information Bulletin (December 2018)
• TAS: Vehicle and Traffic (Vehicle Standards) Regulations 2024
• NT: Information Bulletin V51, Vehicle window tinting (October 2021)
• NT: NT Government, Vehicle accessories
• NT: Motor Vehicles (Standards) Regulations 2003
• ACT: Access Canberra, Vehicle windscreen and window tinting
• ACT: Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2000
• National: Australian Design Rule 8/01, Safety Glazing Material