Standard issue

Other issue

Trailers

Motorcycles

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

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.

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:

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

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.^[2] 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
• N 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.

^[3] 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^[4] website of the Federal Government's

National Heavy Vehicle Registration Scheme

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.^[5]

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 and O for New South Wales
• N and R for Northern Territory
• Q and B for Queensland
• S for South Australia
• T for Tasmania
• V and W 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

For many years in Australia they have had a debate about should registration be also on bicycle riders.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11]}

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.^[12] This proposal was rejected by other councillors.^[13] In 2014, the Victorian council of City of Bayside tried a same proposal.^[14][15]

Alternative fuel vehicle identification

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]

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]