Vehicle registration plates of Australia-Cedar Herald Index

Australian vehicle registration plates or number 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 for the time the vehicle remains registered in the state, though as they become unreadable (or for other reasons) they may be remade with like for like replacement. Motor vehicle registration in Australia, but can be renewed monthly, quarterly, half yearly or annually depending on the state or territory where the vehicle is registered.

Current standard issue plates

Standard issue

Other issue

Trailers

Motorcycles

On all motorcycle plates, the legend is embossed at the top and state/territory.

Vehicle registration plates of Australia

History and Federal numbering scheme

Standards and federal allocations for all vehicles

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

Vehicle registration plates of Australia

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 × .

Vehicle registration plates of Australia

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:

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.