Changes

In practice, Australian police are fairly relaxed about hitchhikers. Zenit has hitchhiked some 13000km in all states except WA and Tasmania and has never been bothered; he has heard stories about police in WA being more touchy, however. Keep in mind that it is also illegal to incite a vehicle to stop in a non stopping zone. Such zones include bridges and 30 odd meters either side, road edges with an unbroken white or yellow line, spots within 30 meters of an intersection, etc. In any event choose your hitching site carefully so not to place yourself or others in danger; as always look for somewhere well lit, with plenty of room for approaching vehicles to see you well in advance and room for them to pull on to the shoulder without blocking traffic. It should be noted that most freeways and motorways (as opposed to highways) have limited-access rules barring pedestrians or bicycles from entering them.

''It is illegal but I've had police stop twice, once to tell me go back to town and catch a bus (but left me alone besides telling to do that) and the second time the cop gave me a lift about 40 or 50km to the border of Victoria/South Australia.''

''[[User:Bernhard|Bernhard]] had a chat with a crime prevention officer from the Queensland police and the officer said the following: "The hitch hiking legislation in Queensland says that a person can not stand on the roadway to solicit a ride. Meaning that if they stand on the footpath or away from the roadway they are not comitting an offence. One of the main reasons we do stop people standing on the road hitching a ride is for their own safety and the safety of the motorists driving. So some roads are very busy and its an offence to stand on the roadway and solicit a ride and it is a 40 dollar fine if the policeman chooses to give you a infringement notice for that offence." He also said that it is possible to stand on the footpath and hitch a ride, when there is enough space for a car to pull over. Police may stop a hitchhiker and ask for an ID, mostly to check on his records and WHY he is hitching a ride (is he running away from a crime? Is he in trouble? Does he need help?). Police officers want to know who is going through their area, so if a hitchhiker is on the footpath and not soliciting a ride at a dangerous spot, they will question him about his story but then let him go.''

==When you are really stuck...==