Australian Capital Territory
Determination of Design of Number Plates
Notifiable Instrument NI 2001— 59
made under the
Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulations 2000, regulations 47 (Determination of non-standard regisrataion numbers) and 51 (Dimensions, layout etc of numberplates).  

Pursuant to subsection 17(1) of the Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (the Act), Alan Geoffrey Thompson, the person for the time being performing the duties of the Government Office which includes the position of Chief Executive of the Road Transport Authority, on 27 October 2001 delegated his powers under subregulations 47(1) and 51(1) of the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulations 2000 to the person occupying position number:
46114		General Manager, Road Transport

I, Brian MacDonald, General Manager, Road Transport, hereby determine that the numbers, including non-standard numbers, which may be the distinguishing numbers for vehicles, and the dimensions, layout and material of numberplates, shall be as set out in the attached Schedule.  

Brian MacDonald
Delegate of the Road Transport Authority 

23 November 2001

1.  Dimensions

(A)	A numberplate for a motor vehicle shall be approximately 190 to 372 millimetres wide and approximately 100 to 135 millimetres high;
(B)	a numberplate for a motor bike shall be approximately 185 to 255  millimetres wide and approximately 100 millimetres high; 
(C)	a numberplate for a trailer shall be approximately 190 to 372 millimetres wide and approximately 135 millimetres high; and
(D)	a numberplate for use on a bike rack shall be approximately 255 wide and approximately 100mm high.
2.  Materials and Colours

(A)	A numberplate for a public motor vehicle, restricted taxi or private hire car shall be formed of a metal plate bearing a black legend on a pale yellow reflective background;
(B)	a numberplate for a motor vehicle which is registered in the name:
(i)	of the Government of an overseas country, or of an international organisation, being a vehicle used for the purpose of a diplomatic mission;
(ii)	of a diplomatic agent or a person (not being a person who is an Australian citizen or who is a permanent resident of Australia) who is a member of the family of a diplomatic agent forming part of his or her household; or
(iii)	of a member of the administrative and technical staff of a diplomatic mission or a person (not being a person who is an Australian citizen or who is a permanent resident of Australia) who is a member of the family of such a person forming part of his or her household;
shall be formed of metal plate bearing a black legend on a blue reflective background;

(C)	a numberplate for a motor vehicle or trailer which is registered in the name of the Australian Capital Territory Government (the ACT Government) other than a motor vehicle used by a Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory or by a person performing the duties of an Executive office in the Australian Capital Territory Public Service, shall be formed of a metal plate bearing a red legend on a white reflective background; and

(D)	a numberplate for any other motor vehicle or trailer may be formed of either metal plate, plastic, or plastic and aluminium composite bearing either a blue legend on a white reflective background or a legend and background in colours of a combination approved by the Road Transport Authority.
3.  Registration Numbers, Layout of Numberplates

Subject to clause 4 -

(A)	a numberplate for a taxi shall carry the letters “TX” followed by one to three numerals;
(B)	a numberplate for a restricted taxi shall carry the letters “TX” followed by one to three numerals and shall bear the words “Restricted Taxi” along the bottom of the plate;
(C)	a numberplate for a motor omnibus shall carry the letters “MO” followed by one to three numerals;
(D)	a numberplate for a private hire car shall carry the letter “H” followed by one to three numerals;
(E)	a standard numberplate for a trailer shall carry the letter “T” followed by one to five numerals;
(F)	a standard numberplate for a motor bike shall carry one to five numerals;
(G)	a numberplate for a veteran, vintage or historic vehicle shall carry the words “Veteran Vehicle - ACT”, “Vintage Vehicle - ACT” or “Historic Vehicle - ACT” (as the case may be) and three numerals;
(H)	a numberplate for a veteran, vintage or historic motor cycle shall carry the letter “V” followed by three or four numerals;
(I)	a numberplate for a vehicle which is registered in the name of a government, organisation or person specified in sub-clauses 2(B)(i) and 2(B)(ii) shall carry the letters “DC” followed by four numerals;
(J)	a numberplate for a vehicle which is registered in the name of a person of a kind specified in clause 2(B)(iii) shall carry the letters “DX” followed by four numerals;
(K)	a numberplate for a motor vehicle or trailer which is registered in the name of the ACT Government, other than a bus or a motor vehicle used by a Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory or a person performing the duties of an Executive office in the Australian Capital Territory Public Service may carry the number “2” followed by five additional numerals;
(L)	a numberplate for a bus registered in the name of the ACT Government shall carry the letters “BUS” followed by three numerals;
(M)	a standard numberplate for motor vehicles (except motorbikes) and trailers operated by or on behalf of a Commonwealth Government agency or authority may display a red letter ‘Z’ followed by, in black:
(i)	the letter ‘Y’ and one letter; and 
(ii)	three numerals;
(N)	a Centenary of Federation ‘standard’ numberplate is to display the letters “YCA” or “YCB”, followed by two numerals and a further letter;
(O)	a standard numberplate for any other vehicle is to carry the letter “Y” followed by:
(i)	two additional letters, other than the letters “OH”, and three numerals; or
(ii)	two additional letters, other than “CA”, two numerals and a further letter; 
(P)	a standard numberplate for any other vehicle registered in the name of a Jervis Bay resident is to carry the letter “Y” followed by:
(i)	two additional letters and three numerals; or
(ii)	two additional letters, two numerals and a further letter;
(Q)	a ‘non-standard’ numberplate may display, either with or without a logo and/or slogan approved by the Road Transport Authority:
(i)	the letter “A” followed by one to four numerals (‘Bicentennial’);
(ii)	the letter “R” followed by one to three numerals (Raiders ‘R’);
(iii)	the letters “YOH” followed by three numerals (Raiders ‘Y’);
(iv)	Olympic registration numbers shall display:
(a)	the letter “B” followed by one to two numerals; and
(b)	the letters “ATL” followed by one to two numerals;
(v)	Centenary of Federation numberplates shall display the letters “CF”, in black, followed by one of the numbers in the range 1901 to 2001, inclusive;
(vi)	customised registration numbers of no more than seven characters, including:
(a)	for a motor vehicle excluding motorbikes and trailers, a ‘vehicle make’ registration number in the form of a series of letters or a combination of letters and numerals that accurately describe the name of a vehicle manufacturer, excluding the singular and plural forms of existing vehicle make number plates, and may include the model name of a vehicle produced by the manufacturer, or the year of manufacture of a vehicle produced by the manufacturer;
(b)	for a motor vehicle or motor bike, a surname or a personal name in the form of a series of at least two letters describing the name of a person in full, as initials, or as a commonly known abbreviation;
(c)	for a motor vehicle or a motor bike, a company name in the form of a series of at least two letters describing the name of a company or business, in full, in part, or as initials, and excluding the singular and plural forms of existing company name number plates, and which may be followed by numerals when multiple plates with the same combination are issued at one time;
(d)	for a motor vehicle, excluding motorbikes and trailers, a unique registration number in the form of a series of letters or a combination of letters and numerals, excluding the names of vehicle manufacturers, surnames, personal names, company names and the singular and plural forms of existing unique numbers, and in which the letter “O” must not be immediately preceded by a numeral and the number “0” (zero) must be immediately preceded by a numeral;
(e)	for a motor bike, a unique registration number in the form of a series of letters or a combination of letters and numerals, excluding the names of surnames, personal names, company names and the singular and plural forms of existing unique numbers, and in which the letter “O” must not be immediately preceded by a numeral and the number “0” (zero) must be immediately preceded by a numeral; 
(vii)	a personalised number for 
(a)	a motor bike, being two letters followed by three numerals,
(b)	a motor vehicle, being two letters followed by three numerals;
(viii)	numeric series including:
(a)	for a motor vehicle excluding motorbikes, three to five numerals;
(b)	for a motorbike, where a standard numberplate is issued out of sequence, one to five numerals;
(ix)	an approved number, being
(a)	for a motor vehicle, a number described in 3(M) issued out of sequence;
(b)	for a trailer, where a standard numberplate is issued out of sequence, the letter “T” followed by one to five numerals; or
(c)	for a veteran, vintage or historic vehicle, a number plate described in 3(g) and 3(h), issued out of sequence;
(R)	A traders numberplate, being a plate issued under Part 5.2 of the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulations 2001:
(i)	for a motorbike, shall carry the letter “C” followed by three numerals;
(ii)	for a trailer, shall carry the letter “E” followed by three numerals; and
(iii)	for any other vehicle shall carry the letter “D” followed by three numerals.
(S)	a bike rack plate shall carry the same registration number as displayed on the plates issued to the vehicle on which the bike rack is to be attached.  
4.  Slogans, logos and ACT identification

(A)	A numberplate for a vehicle of a kind specified in any of the following paragraphs shall carry the letters “ACT” positioned at the top centre of the numberplate:
(i)	3(A) to 3(D) inclusive (public vehicle);
(ii)	3(E) trailer
(iii)	3(F) (motorbike);
(iv)	3(H) (vintage, veteran, or historic motorbike);
(v)	3(N) (Centenary of Federation standard)
(vi)	3(Q) (non-standard);
(vii)	3(S) (bike rack)
(B)	a numberplate for a vehicle of a kind specified in paragraph 3(E) (trailer) shall carry the letters “ACT” positioned at the top centre of the numberplate and may carry one of the following slogans: 
(i)	“Canberra - The Nation’s Capital”;
(ii)	“Canberra - Heart of the Nation”, or 
(iii)	“Feel the Power of Canberra” 
or no slogan, at the bottom edge of the numberplate;
(C)	a numberplate for a vehicle of a kind specified in paragraphs 3(O) (standard motor vehicle) and 3(P) (Jervis Bay) shall carry the letters “ACT” positioned either at the top centre of the numberplate or vertically at the left hand side edge of the numberplate;
(D)	a numberplate of a kind specified in clause 3(O) (standard motor vehicle), 3(Q)(vii)(b) (personalised motor vehicle) and 3(Q)(ix)(a) (standard motor vehicle issued out of sequence) may carry one of the following slogans:
(i)	 “Canberra - The Nation’s Capital”, 
(ii)	“Canberra - Heart of the Nation”, or
(iii)	“Feel the Power of Canberra” 
or no slogan, at the bottom edge of the number plate;
(E)	a numberplate for a vehicle of a kind specified in paragraphs 3(K) (ACT Government) and 3(L) (Government bus) shall carry the slogan “ACT GOVERNMENT” which shall appear at the bottom edge of the numberplate; 
(F)	a Centenary of Federation numberplate of the kind described in
(i)	3(N) (Centenary of Federation ‘standard’ plate) shall display the slogan ‘Canberra – Symbol of Federation’, except in the slimline format;
(ii)	3(Q)(v) (Centenary of Federation plate) shall display the slogan 
’Australia – It’s What We Make It’, except in the slimline format;
(G)	a numberplate for a vehicle of the kind specified in 3(P) (Jervis Bay) shall carry the slogan “Jervis Bay Territory” at the bottom edge of the number plate;
(H)	a numberplate for a vehicle specified in 3(R) (Traders Plates) shall carry the slogan ‘Trader ACT’ along the bottom edge of the plate and ‘Limited Use’ along the left hand side edge of the plate;
(I)	a numberplate for a vehicle of a kind specified in paragraphs 3(S) (bike rack) shall carry the slogan ‘Bike Rack – ACT’ at the bottom edge of the number plate;
(J)	where a numberplate is formed of plastic, or plastic and aluminium composite, and a slogan is to be included, the slogan must be positioned at the bottom edge of the numberplate.  Where a logo is to be included at the request of the plate purchaser, the logo must be positioned at the left hand side edge of the numberplate; and
(K)	where a numberplate is formed of plastic, or plastic and aluminium composite, it shall carry the letters “ACT” positioned in the top centre of the numberplate.
5.  Meaning of diplomatic terms
In paragraph 2(b), “diplomatic agent” and “member of the administrative and technical staff of a diplomatic mission” have the meanings assigned to them in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations