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Vehicle registration plates of Australia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Australian vehicle registration plates, number plates and license plates are issued by state, territory, and Commonwealth governments, and the armed forces of Australia. The plates are associated with a vehicle and are generally intended to last during the time that the vehicle remains registered in the state, though as they become unreadable (or for other reasons) they may be remade with a like for like replacement. Motor vehicle registration in Australia can be renewed monthly, quarterly, half yearly or annually depending on the state or territory where the vehicle is registered.

Current standard issue plates

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Standard issue

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State or territory Text/background colour Serial format Slogan Current series Notes
Australian Capital Territory Blue/white Yaa·nna CANBERRA – THE NATION'S CAPITAL, CANBERRA – THE BUSH CAPITAL
 YRR·00A Slogan embossed at bottom. Slogans alternate by series. First letter always Y. Thus Y can be in serial format. Otherwise only 'a' and 'n'
Jervis Bay Territory Blue/white YJJ·nna JERVIS BAY TERRITORY YJJ·00B Slogan screened at bottom.
New South Wales Black/yellow Da·nn·aa NEW SOUTH WALES DM·00·GG Slogan embossed at bottom. Suffix letters IA-IZ and OA-OZ not used. 'a', not D, must be in serial format.
Northern Territory Ochre/white Ca·nn·aa N.T OUTBACK AUSTRALIA CF·85·AA Slogan embossed at bottom. Series began with letter "C". Last two letters move first.
Queensland Maroon/white nnn·Lan QUEENSLAND – SUNSHINE STATE 000·LT2 Slogan embossed at bottom. New series commenced in September 2020, starting at 000·AA2, 0 or 1 not used in suffix position. Only 'a' and 'n' in serial format
South Australia Black/white Snnn·Daa SOUTH AUSTRALIA S000·DDI Slogan embossed at bottom, First letter is S throughout series. Letter Q not used and reserved for government vehicles; all 25 other letters used. No T used as 2nd letter (reserved for trailers). 'a', not D, must be in serial format
Tasmania Blue/white M nn aa Tasmania – Explore the possibilities. M 00 BM State logo (a thylacine in reeds) screened at left. Slogan screened at bottom. Suffix letters IA-IZ and OA-OZ not used. 'a', not L, must be in serial format
Victoria Blue/white 2Ba·naa VICTORIA – THE EDUCATION STATE 2BM·1AA Slogan screened at bottom, No 0 used in 1st or 4th position. All 26 letters used in all letter positions.
Western Australia Blue/white 1Iaa·nnn WESTERN AUSTRALIA 1ILK·000 Motif screened at top featuring a white background, blue skyline, desert sun and legend. No 0 used in 1st position, No F used as 1st letter (reserved for platinum slimline), No Q used as 1st letter (reserved for government), and No T, U and W used as 1st letter (reserved for trailers).

Other issue

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State or territory Text/background colour Serial format Legend Current series Notes
Australian Capital Territory Blue/white Yaa·nna ACT
YSA·00A ACT "Premium" slimline; no slogan
New South Wales Black/white Faa·nna NSW Serial format should consist of only 'a' and 'n', since first letter varies FMG·00A NSW "Premium" slimline; no slogan
White/black CAa·nna NSW CAO·00A NSW "Premium" slimline; no slogan. Always starts with CA (For foreseeable future)
Silver/black DGa·nna NSW DGI·00A NSW "Premium" slimline; no slogan. Always starts with DG (For foreseeable future)
Black/white Yaa·nna NSW YPK·00A Slimline; dealer or fleet manager logo printed at bottom. Dealer/fleet branded plate is either sold or leased together with vehicle. Read more
Indigo/white nnnnn·J NSW – HISTORIC VEHICLE 75000·J Slogan screen printed on plate, plate is smaller than slimline, vehicles must be at least 30 years old to apply
Green/white nnnnn·E NSW – CONDITIONAL 75000·E Slogan screen printed on plate
Maroon/white nnnnn·R NSW – RALLY PERMIT 13000·R Slogan screen printed on plate, vehicles must be on a rally track
Maroon/white nnnnn·F NSW – Classic Vehicle 03000·F NSW Embossed, Slogan screen printed on plate, vehicles must be on CVS scheme starting on 1 July 2024. Confirmed sighted as F suffix series.[1]
Maroon/white nnnn·D NSW – Classic Cycle 1000·D NSW Embossed, Slogan screen printed on plate, vehicles must be on CVS scheme starting on 1 July 2024. Combination as example at this stage until actual issue.[1]
South Australia Black/white SB·nn·aa SA HEAVY VEHICLE SB·00·SZ Slogan screen printed black/white
Fa·nnna SA FF·000F "Premium" slimline; no slogan
Blue/white Snnn·BQa SA Government S000·BQK For SA Government Vehicles only, Q Represents "Queen"
Victoria White/black Daa·nnn VIC (vertically on left) DGD·000 "Premium" slimline, No Slogan
Red/white Maa·nnn VICTORIA – THE EDUCATION STATE MDQ·000 Slogan screen printed on plate, for VIC government owned/leased vehicles only
Blue/white nnnnn·P PRIMARY PRODUCER VICTORIA – THE EDUCATION STATE 11000·P Slogan screen printed on plate, for vehicles engaged solely or substantially in agricultural, horticultural, viticultural, dairying, pastoral or other like pursuits[2]
White/green BSnn·aa VIC – ACCREDITED BUS SERVICE BS13·AA Slogan screen printed on bus plate
White/burgundy nnnn·Hn CLUB PERMIT VICTORIA 0000·H0 Slogan screen printed at top "Club Permit", Victoria at bottom, vehicles must be at least 25 years old to apply
White/burgundy nnnnn·M CLUB PERMIT VICTORIA 07000·M Slogan screen printed at top "Club Permit", Victoria at bottom, for highly modified vehicles, vehicles must be at least 25 years old
White/navy blue nnnn·RP RALLY PERMIT VICTORIA 7000·RP Slogan screen printed at top "Rally Permit", Victoria at bottom, for vehicles used in rallies organised by a national motorsport organisation recognised by VicRoads
Queensland White/black nnn·anA QLD 000·A2A QLD Sequential Series; no slogan. Commenced on 6 September 2024
Maroon/white T·nnnnn Taxis T·60000 Standard Slogan "Queensland – Sunshine State"
Maroon/white L·nnnnn Limousines L·15000 Limousine Slogan "Queensland Limousine"
Maroon/white SL·nn·aa Special purpose limousines SL·00·DC Limousine Slogan "Queensland Limousine"
Maroon/white 1a·nnn QLD Farm plates 1C·000 QLD Farm plates
Maroon/white F·nnnnn QLD Farm plates F·99000 QLD Farm plates
Maroon/white QG·aann QLD Government used vehicles QG·UU00 Standard Slogan "Queensland – Sunshine State"
Western Australia Silver/black 1FCa·nnn WA (vertically on left) 1FCM·000 "Platinum" slimline, No Slogan, No 0 used in 1st position.
Western Australia White/blue 1QCa·nnn WESTERN AUSTRALIA 1QCL·000 For WA Government Vehicles only, Motif screened at top featuring a blue background, white skyline, desert sun and legend, No 0 used in 1st position.

Trailers

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State or territory Text/background colour Serial format Legend Current series Notes
Australian Capital Territory Blue/white T nnnn a ACT T 0000 N Legend embossed at top.
New South Wales Black/yellow Ta·nn·aa NSW – TRAILER TN·00·DA Legend embossed at bottom. Serials began at TA·00·AA, the whole TI·00·AA to TI·99·ZZ series was skipped. Suffix letters IA-IZ and OA-OZ not used.
Black/white TT·nn·aa NSW TT·00·WR Serials began at TR·00·AA. Suffix letters IA-IZ and OA-OZ not used.
Northern Territory Ochre/white Ta·nnnn N.T. – OUTBACK AUSTRALIA – TR·7000 Legend embossed at bottom.
Queensland Maroon/white nnn·Uaa QUEENSLAND – SUNSHINE STATE 000·UTT Issued to large trailers (over 1.02t ATM). Legend embossed at bottom.
Ga·nnnn QLD GK•0000 Issued to small trailers (up to 1.02t ATM).
South Australia Black/white Snnn·Taa SOUTH AUSTRALIA S000·TLT Legend embossed at bottom. Letter Q not used and reserved for government vehicles; all 25 other letters used.
Tasmania Blue/white X nn aa Tasmania – Explore the possibilities X 00 AX State logo (a thylacine in reeds) screened at left. Legend screened at bottom. Serials Z 00 AA through Z 99 ZZ issued first, followed by Y 00 AA onwards, continuing to the next available prefix letter. Suffix letters IA-IZ and OA-OZ not used.
Victoria Blue/white nnn·nnC VICTORIA – THE EDUCATION STATE 100·00C Standard trailer plate. Series switched to suffix since September 2022 due to too many active old registrations in old series.
nnnn·Sn 3000·S3 Issued to truck semi-trailers.
nnnnn·A 27000·A Primary Producer plate, issued to articulated trailers. Additional "PRIMARY PRODUCER" legend screened at top.
Western Australia Blue/white 1Uaa·nnn WESTERN AUSTRALIA 1UAP·000 Motif screened at top featuring a white background, blue skyline, desert sun and legend. No 0 used in 1st position.

Motorcycles

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State or territory Text/background colour Serial format Legend Current series Notes
Australian Capital Territory Blue/white C·nnnn ACT C·0000
New South Wales Black/yellow Iaa·nn NSW IRA·00 Serials progress backwards from ZZZ·99.
Black/white Haa·nn NSW HRA·00 Serials progress forwards from AAA·00.
Northern Territory Ochre/white C·nnnn NT C·9000
Queensland Maroon/white nBa·nn QLD 3BM·00 Amended info as become available as of week beginning from 21 August 2023.
South Australia Black/white Snn·Caa SA S00·CBI Letter Q not used and reserved for government vehicles; all 25 other letters used.
Tasmania Blue/white Bnnna TAS B000Z
Victoria Blue/white 3C·naa VIC 3C·1AA No 0 used in 1st or 3rd position. All 26 letters used in all letter positions.
White/black 5D·naa VIC 5D·1AA New release. No 0 used in 3rd position. All 26 letters used in all letter positions.
Western Australia Blue/white 1La·nnn WA 1LG·000 No 0 used in 1st position.

On all other motorcycle plates, the legend is embossed on top of the state or territory.

History and Federal numbering scheme

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Standards and federal allocations for all vehicles

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Australian Capital Territory
New South Wales
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
Victoria
Western Australia
Northern Territory

From 1910 onwards, vehicle registration plates for each state started at number 1 and were manufactured in enamel.

Starting in 1936, it was decided that Australian plates were to be uniform in size and embossed using standard Australian dies, beginning with New South Wales, the Federal Capital Territory (now ACT) and Victoria. By 1956, the other states and territories had moved to standard Australian embossing using painted or enamelled metal, with dimensions of 372 mm (14.6 in) × 134 mm (5.3 in).

In the early 1950s, a uniform scheme for vehicle registration plates was developed, which was to apply across all states and territories. Previously, both New South Wales and Victoria had issued plates with two letters and three digits, in white on a black background. However, that was not entirely popular, and some states and territories preferred to have their own identity reflected on their registration plates.

The following scheme was meant to be implemented Australia-wide after 1952:

State or territory Allocated blocks Original format colours Years Actual issues Notes
Australian Capital Territory & Jervis Bay Territory YAA-000 to YZZ-999 YAA•000 1968–1998 YAA-000 to YZZ-999 Jervis Bay Territory original allocation YZO-000 – YZO-999, exhausted in 2013.
New South Wales AAA-000 to FZZ-999 AAA·000 1951–2004 AAA-000 to ZLF-999 ISA-000 to ISZ-999 reserved for interstate vehicles
Northern Territory XAA-000 to XZZ-999 100·000 1953–2011 1 to 999–999 Xaa-nnn series never taken up. The NT kept six-digit plates until 2011. 800–000 to 899–999 were reserved for government.
Queensland NAA-000 to QZZ-999 NAA·999 1955–1977 NAA-000 to QZZ-999 Started from N then P and issued O last. Q series reserved for trailers and QGx for the state government. Qld changed to 000-NAA from July 1977.
South Australia RAA-000 to TZZ-999 RAA•000 1967–2008 RAA-000 to XUN-299 T-Series reserved for trailers.
Tasmania WAA-000 to WZZ-999 WAA•000 1954–1970 WAA-000 to WZZ-999 From 1970 AA•0000 replaced the previous series.
Victoria GAA-000 to MZZ-999 GAA·000 1953–2013 AAA-000 to ZZZ-999 IAA-000 to IZZ-999 was issued last before 1977 changeover to AAA-000. Skipped over to NAA-000 when FZZ-999 reached. M series reserved for government.
Western Australia UAA-000 to VZZ-999 UAA·000 1956–1978 UAA-000 to UZZ-999 then XAA-000 to XZZ-999 Did not take up V series. 6AA-000 replaced from 1978 onwards until 9MZ-999 in 1997.

Western Australia deemed itself too large to fit into the proposed scheme and devised its own. Plates in the Iaa-nnn series were to be skipped, because as a capital I was believed to be easily mistaken for the number 1. That allowed the two populous states, with a greater number of registered vehicles, to be allocated a series of six letters series: New South Wales had A to F, Victoria had G to H, and J to M. Three other states had a series of three letters: Queensland N, P and Q, South Australia R to T, Western Australia U to V. Due to its small size, Tasmania was only given one letter, W, the Australian Capital Territory was given Y and the Northern Territory was given the letter X. The letter Z was for Commonwealth government departmental use Australia-wide, the second letter reflecting the department. The letters I and O were deemed to be too similar to 1 and 0 and weren't part of the original scheme.

The system, introduced in 1951–52, was not as popular as expected. The Northern Territory declined to participate and continued its previous all-number system. Western Australia did adopt the scheme, taking XAA-000 to XZZ-999, previously allocated to the NT. WAG-000 to WAG-999 was reserved for WA Government vehicles, later extended to XZZ-999. However, many WA rural shires chose to issue their own plates, in the WA colour scheme, with the initial letters being the shire abbreviations, followed by digits.

All the other states and territories stuck to their initial allocations, until the number of registrations became too large for each state's allocation, so state authorities allowed their registration numbers to "overflow" into series allocated to another state. In 1972, NSW extended its numbering from FZZ-999 to GAA-000, which had been originally issued to Victoria. In 1974, Victoria, having reserved the Maa-nnn series for state government vehicle registrations, extended its numbering from LZZ-999 to IAA-000, with the letter I no longer being avoided. In 1977, it began using IZZ-999 to AAA-000, the latter originally allocated to NSW. South Australia did similar, extending from SZZ-999 to UAA-000, having reserved the Taa-nnn series for trailer registrations.

All states and territories have now adopted their own series, given that the grouped allocations from the 1950s have long since run out. Various combinations of letters and numbers are now used in each state.

Federal Interstate Registration Scheme

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Federal Interstate

Run years: 1 January 1987 to 1 July 2018.

Heavy vehicles (over 4.5 tonnes GVM) can choose to participate in FIRS scheme.

FIRS plates are WX·00AA, and are green on a reflective yellow background.

FIRS plates are issued by state authorities on behalf of the Commonwealth, and carry the format as specified by the Interstate Road Transport Regulations 1986 – Reg 21.[3] Federal Interstate-registered vehicles are prohibited from undertaking intrastate journeys and can only be used for cross-border work.

The first character represents the state of issue:

  • A for Australian Capital Territory
  • J for Jervis Bay Territory
  • N for New South Wales
  • C for Northern Territory
  • Q for Queensland
  • S for South Australia
  • T for Tasmania
  • V for Victoria
  • W for Western Australia

The second character represents the type of vehicle being registered:

  • V for vehicle (typically issued to prime-movers, but are also attached to rigid vehicles such as coaches and moving trucks).
  • T for trailer.
  • X for extra weight, for vehicles with particular high gross vehicle or aggregate trailer masses.

The remaining characters are allocated by the issuing authorities. As most interstate transport companies are based on the East Coast, the majority of FIRS plates are registered in NSW and VIC. Some issues originate in QLD or SA, with the remaining states appearing relatively rarely.

A typical plate which might be found on a semi-trailer, registered to a company in QLD would be QT·88MW.

[4] ALL FIRS scheme plates ceased accepting renewals on 1 July 2018 and FIRS closed on 1 July 2019, after all FIRS registration expired and plates exchanged to the new National Heavy Vehicle scheme/state based registration plates.

More details are found under the Infrastructure[5] website of the Federal Government's

National Heavy Vehicle Registration Scheme

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National Heavy Vehicle

Starting on 1 July 2018, a new system was implemented in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania. Victoria joined the scheme on 1 October 2018.

Northern Territory started using National Heavy Vehicle Plates and abolished the rego stickers effective on 1 August 2019.[6]

Western Australia is not participating, hence WA Heavy Vehicles are on state based plates.

The format now in use are:

FB-12AA in Black on white reflection base, and blue band legend with the words NATIONAL HEAVY VEHICLE imprinted on it.

XQ-12AA is for Trucks while YQ-12AA is for Trailers. In this example the prefix denotes X for Trucks and Y for Trailers and the last prefix letter is for home states/territory:

  • A for Australian Capital Territory
  • J for Jervis Bay Territory
  • N, O and P for New South Wales
  • R for Northern Territory
  • Q and B for Queensland
  • S for South Australia
  • T for Tasmania
  • V, W and X for Victoria

It replaced the state based general series, however not mandatory and owners can request state based personalised plates if they wish to have them. It applies to new heavy vehicles or heavy vehicle requiring replacement of state based general series plates. 4.5 GVM minimum must qualify for the new plates.

Debate about registration on bicycle riders

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For many years in Australia they have had a debate about should registration be also on bicycle riders.[7][8][9][10][11][12]

In 2014, Randwick councillor Charles Matthews proposed to impose a $50 registration fee on bicycle riders, which would be used to help fund cycleways being built by the council.[13] This proposal was rejected by other councillors.[14] In 2014, the Victorian council of City of Bayside tried a same proposal.[9][15]

Common features

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LPG
CNG
Metal diamond with a white lettering on a retro-reflective red background or metal disc
Green hybrid diamond sticker on a Victorian registered car

Plates tend to bear the State or Territory name and perhaps a state motto or slogan at the top and/or bottom of the plate. Recent issues of plates (since the 1980s) also often use the state's colours and may include some imagery related to the state (such as the state's logo as the sequence separator).

Alternative fuel vehicle identification

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Under Part 10 of the Australian Light Vehicle Standards Rules 2015,[16] vehicles powered by fuels other than petrol or diesel (collectively alternative fuel systems) must always display a specific plate that is affixed to both the front and rear number plates.[17] These labels exist to assist emergency services personnel in responding to potential hazards involving such vehicles. Generally, such labels are applied permanently to the registration plate by way of pop rivets or other mechanical fixtures.

The standards were updated in March 2019, to add standards for hydrogen and electric powered vehicles.[18]

Alternative fuel system Defining standard Required number plate label
Liquid petroleum gas (built or converted pre AS 1425) Australian Light Vehicle Standards Rules 2015 The letters "LPGAS" or "LPG" atop a red background, on a plate no smaller than 25mm high and 25mm wide
Liquid petroleum gas (built or converted post AS 1425) AS 1425 Four pointed red diamond, with the letters "LPG"
Natural gas (CNG, LNG) AS 2739 Red circle, with the letters "CNG" or"LNG"
Hydrogen-powered vehicles (post 1 January 2019) Australian Light Vehicle Standards Rules 2015 Yellow pentagon, with the letter "H" in the middle.
Electric-powered vehicles (post 1 January 2019) Australian Light Vehicle Standards Rules 2015 Blue triangle with a silver border, with the letters "EV" in the middle.

LPG, LNG or CNG vehicles with more than one tank of that type are required to have one additional diamond attached to the front and back number plates.[17]

Labelling for pre 1 January 2019 hydrogen or electric vehicles

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Hydrogen or electric powered vehicles built or converted before 1 January 2019 are still subject to relevant state-based standards for their labelling. For example in Victoria, all electric-powered vehicles (including hybrid vehicles) need to display "EV" number plate labels on both number plates. Electric-powered passenger cars and hybrid vehicles registered before 4 October 2020 were required to display a different style of label.[19]

Commonwealth and military

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Australian Military Forces number plate. Issued to Australian Army vehicles until 1972
Latter style number plate used on Army vehicles from 1972.
From 1989 to 2002, Army plates included a "Date of Purchase" prefix. In this example, 1992.
From 1989 to 2002, Army plates included a "Date of Purchase" prefix. Starting in 1993, a slogan was added.
Australian Defence Organisation registration plate.The F prefix denotes Forklift
Defence Force
This style of number plate was used by Royal Australian Air Force vehicles from about 1971 to 2000
RAAF number plate. this style was introduced in about 2000.

Military plates were nnn-nnn with the first digit corresponding to the military district number:

  • 1 – Australian Capital Territory
  • 2 – New South Wales
  • 3 – Victoria
  • 4 – Queensland
  • 5 – South Australia
  • 6 – Western Australia
  • 7 – Tasmania
  • 8 – Northern Territory

However, new plates issued to the Army are now in this format: nn-nnnn, where the first two digits represent the year the vehicle was registered, e.g. 05-1832.

Current Australian Army registration plate format is Annnnn with this newer format beginning in 2003. The A represents "Army" with the next two digits representing the year the vehicle was first registered. For instance, a 2008 model Toyota Coaster used to transport army cadets might have the plate A08227. This format has also been adopted by the Defence Force, Navy, and Air Force with combinations Dnnnnn, Nnnnnn and Rnnnnn respectively.

The official car of Chief of the Defence Force carries plates ADF1 and official cars for the three service chiefs carry plates ARMY1, NAVY1 or RAAF1.

Chief of Army plate
Commonwealth of Australia

The Commonwealth Government of Australia used the Z prefix for its government owned vehicles up until 2000 when the Commonwealth Vehicle Registry was closed.

These plates were on a black on white background, usually marked with "C of A" at the top of the plate – an abbreviation of Commonwealth of Australia and the leading Z being red to further distinguish it from other state plates.

Issuance of Z prefixed plates used for same purposes was passed onto the states after 2000. Australian Capital Territory plates started at ZYA-000, Victoria plates started at ZED-000, Queensland plates started at ZQ-0000, New South Wales plates started at ZZZ-000, South Australia plates started at ZSA-000, Western Australia plates started at ZAA-00F and Tasmania plates started at ZTA-000. Only New South Wales and Victoria chose to use their state base colours rather than the standard black on reflective white, with the use of red embossed Z prefix.

St Edward's Crown plate (Governor General)
Prime Ministerial C*1 plate

Each of the states display their state initials as seen above the numbers instead of the old "C of A" legend.

The Northern Territory still uses the older format and same "C of A" legend at top of the plate.

The registration plate of the Prime Ministerial Limousine was C*1 (i.e. Commonwealth No. 1) with a seven-pointed Commonwealth Star. This was updated on 11 November 2015, showing C (Australian Government crest image) 1.[20] Other Commonwealth fleet cars for official transport carry "C of A" plates in the form C-nnn.

The Governor-General's official cars do not carry registration plates, but simply depict a representation of the St Edward's Crown. They tend to also have a flag mounted on the official car. Similar plates were used for vehicles carrying Queen Elizabeth II when visiting Australia.

A motorcade transporting senior members of the official party to an event in Canberra on 21 November 2009. The black car, at left, with the number plate ADF1, carried the Chief of the Defence Force; the white car behind it, with the number plate C1, carried the Prime Minister; and the black car, second from the right, carried the Governor-General.

Cars owned by the government have special number plates, some also have a crown and symbols.

For official visits to Australia, special plates are often put over the top of normal "Z" plates, depicting the Australian Coat of Arms and, in red "Visit to Australia" with a numeral. These are not strictly registration plates, but are useful for police and other officials to identify cars in official motorcades.

Diplomatic

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Diplomatic Corps number plate from the Ambassador of Greece in the current colour scheme.

Diplomatic plates are issued to foreign diplomats by the Government of the Australian Capital Territory. They would formerly grant diplomatic immunity to the vehicle and driver from all traffic laws, speed limits, parking infringements and tolls in all reasonable course of duty by a diplomatic officer, in compliance with international treaty, but this is no longer the case.[21] They follow the format of "DC nnnn", "DCnnnnn", "DX nnnn" or "DXnnnnn", where the first two or three numbers are the code for the home country of the diplomat, and have black text on a powder blue background. DC plates are issued to members of the diplomatic corps, whereas DX plates are issued to persons who are attached to diplomatic missions but are not themselves diplomats, e.g. household staff.

Older issues have no territory identifier, however newer plates have "ACT" embossed at the top centre of the plate. Newer plates are also written as "DC" and "DX", rather than "D.C." and "D.X." to allow for the inclusion of a greater number of characters in the sequence. A substantial number of older-style plates are still in use, however.

The first two or three numbers appearing in the plate correspond to a specific country, for example 69 is issued to the United Kingdom. The following two digits are typically issued with lower numbers to higher-ranking officials, usually 01 being issued to the ambassador from that country. So DC 6901 would be found on the vehicle of the British High Commissioner to Australia.

The number issued to each country has no particular relevance, and was allocated by ballot. Countries with many vehicles (such as the USA) are allocated two numbers. Before the blue D.C. plates were introduced, diplomatic cars in Canberra carried plates which had white letters on red.

The numbers then correlated to the length of time the particular diplomatic mission had been in Canberra and the British High Commissioner's car carried the plate D.C.1 The replacement arrangement is more egalitarian.

State registration authorities issue CC plates to consular representatives in their relevant state capital.

The ACT Government issues similar plates to representatives of international organisations in the Territory. These plates are also coloured black on powder blue, and follow a format of IO nnnn.

Registration labels abolition

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All other states have abolished registration labels for light and heavy vehicles:

  • Western Australia – 1 January 2010, beginning with light vehicles and Northern Territory is the last to be abolished from 1 August 2019 for Heavy Vehicles.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b "Classic Registration Number Plate" (PDF). www.nsw.gov.au.
  2. ^ "Primary producer vehicles". VicRoads. 5 August 2014.
  3. ^ "INTERSTATE ROAD TRANSPORT REGULATIONS 1986 – REG 21 Registration plate". Austlii.edu.au. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  4. ^ Roads and Maritime Services, N. S. W. "Federal Interstate Registration Scheme (FIRS)". Roads and Maritime Services.
  5. ^ Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities. "Federal Interstate Registration Scheme (FIRS) Closure". Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities.
  6. ^ "NT adopts rego changes for heavy vehicles | Big Rigs". www.bigrigs.com.au. Archived from the original on 2 August 2019.
  7. ^ "Drivers say it's time cyclists paid a rego fee". 11 April 2009.
  8. ^ "18 reasons why registering bicycles is a bad idea". 18 March 2015.
  9. ^ a b "Does Australia need to register bikes?". 7 May 2014.
  10. ^ "OPINION: Bicycle registration is not the answer for bad behaviour".
  11. ^ "Readers debate pros and cons of licensing cyclists". Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  12. ^ "Shocking footage of cyclist abusing driver renews calls for bike registrations". 18 July 2022.
  13. ^ "Randwick Council to charge $50 to register your bicycle". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2011. StreetCorner, 8 June 2010
  14. ^ "No Parking Meters Party Bike Rego Plan Goes Down in Flames at Randwick City Council". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2011. Murray Matson, StreetCorner, 23 June 2010
  15. ^ "Council's call to register bicycles shot down by transport groups". 6 May 2014.
  16. ^ "Australian Light Vehicle Standards Rules".
  17. ^ a b Australian Light Vehicle Standards Rules 2015 as at 22 March 2019 (PDF). Parliamentary Counsel’s Committee. 22 March 2019. p. 106. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  18. ^ Campbell, Ian (30 September 2019). "New rego plate labels for 'green' cars to keep first responders safer". The RiotACT. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  19. ^ "Electric and hydrogen number plate labels". VicRoads. 27 June 2021.
  20. ^ Peatling, Stephanie (11 November 2015). "Politics Live: November 11, 2015". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  21. ^ "8.2 Traffic and parking infringements | DFAT". www.dfat.gov.au. Retrieved 29 April 2020.

References

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  • Blue Mountains Family History Society (2007) Australian number plates Springwood, NSW: Blue Mountains Family History Society. ISBN 978-0-9756788-4-8
  • Nance, Tony (1980) Australian number plates Beaumaris, Vic. ISBN 0-9594474-0-7
  • Wright, D.C. (1983) Australasian (motor vehicle) registration plates, 1901–1982 Montmorency, Vic. ISBN 0-9594980-0-1
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Custom plates issuing authorities:

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