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NSW abolishes rego stickers from 2013

The New South Wales Government has abolished registration stickers for cars and light vehicles, reversing a law that dates back more than 80 years.


From January 1, 2013, the owners of approximately 5.5 million vehicles in NSW will no longer be required to display a rego sticker on their windscreen, with the government deciding to adopt a sticker-less identification system similar to that already used in South Australia and Western Australia.

NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell said the decision would benefit most of the state’s residents and businesses, and would save the government $575,000 in printing costs every year.

“The chore of getting off the old label and sticking on the new one will be no longer,” Mr O’Farrell said.

“This move is a simple yet practical one that will make life that little bit easier for car owners.

“The cut to red tape will also be of particular benefit to companies with large vehicle fleets, like car rental companies and delivery firms.”

The decision to abolish rego stickers came after a review that found labels were not required to support compliance and enforcement of vehicle registration, and that the presence of a label was not a reliable indicator that a vehicle is registered.

From January 1, it will no longer be an offence for light vehicles (those with a total weight up to 4.5 tonnes) to not display a registration label or to display an expired or damaged label in NSW.

NSW Minister for Roads Duncan Gay warned motorists that the policy change did not mean police would overlook people driving unregistered or uninsured cars.

“Despite the abolition of registration labels, current developments in NSW Police and Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) technology will still ensure the present levels of compliance and enforcement are maintained through, for example, automatic number plate recognition technology,” Mr Gay said.

“There is no excuse for driving a car unregistered and uninsured – you will be caught."

Gay confirmed vehicle owners would continue to receive notifications from the RMS and from compulsory third-party insurers reminding them to renew their registration and insurance.

Motorists can also check the status of their vehicle registration by using a service on the RMS website.

Windscreen registration labels were introduced in 1932. Western Australia was the first state to abolish rego stickers in January 2010, followed by South Australia in July 2011.

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