The strange divergence between the costs of registering caravans in the various states has been brought into the spotlight in recent days.
The Border Mail newspaper reports that people wanting to register caravans in NSW have to pay about eight times more than Victorians, even those living on the border of the two states.
The paper quotes the example of East Albury resident Breck Scott-Young who was shocked when he registered his caravan at a cost of $451. After researching other states, he discovered registration only cost $54 in Victoria.
Living literally a stone’s throw away from the Murray River, Mr Scott-Young said he felt people were being penalised for living in NSW.
“A large proportion of people who own caravans are grey nomads and pensioners,” he said. “But they are probably the ones who can least afford the charge and are getting slugged by the government … it’s just totally wrong.”
Mr Scott-Young said the cost of registration increased if the caravan weighed more than 2.5 tonnes, but Victoria’s cost remained at $54 unless it weighed more than 4.5 tonnes.
The cost of caravan registration is $90 in South Australia, $102 in Western Australia and $182 in Queensland.
A Roads and Maritime Services spokeswoman said to help customers manage costs, they had three and six-month registrations available.
Apparently, the huge variation in registration costs is under review after it was noticed people living in NSW were looking for opportunities to register across the border.
Member for Albury Greg Aplin told the Border Mail that the reason for the higher cost in NSW was because there was more wear and tear on roads in that state.
“There is far more maintenance and cost on the roads in NSW than those in smaller states,” he said. “The network of roads is much larger than it is in Victoria.”
Fuel tax is supposed to go to roads. Thus more roads equal more km’s driven, more km’s driven equals more fuel, thus more tax payed in NSW.. So who is kidding who?
Well I live in Albury, 5 kms from the Vic border. For 20 years all my vans were registered in NSW. However my latest van is now registered in Victoria, at a friends place, just 6 kms away. A lot of ppl do the same thing. My van is only 15″. The whole system really needs to be changed. Maybe to reflect the weight of the van, and same across all
states
Do we live in Australia? rego should be the same all over
Well you think that bad in Qld our Motorhome is $860 this compared to our car which is $560 why the different you ask, simply ones a 4 cly the other a 5cly. Plus here we pay $95.80 for a standard trailer, it was about $50 in NSW. So there many different in Rego just depends where you live.
Ray we had a 4 cylinder toyota coaster registered as a motor home and we paid $860 as well. Because it was registered as a motor home.
In NSW pensioner discount is free on registration not so in Queensland only 1 vehicle per person or couple not 1 each and it’s only discounted so not sure why this affects grey nomads in NSW
Hi Carol
Registration is free for one vehicle each in NSW. you are correct.
However, if a coupe has a small runabout vehicle and another “tow’ vehicle for the caravan, that leaves the third vehicle, in this case the cravan with an exceptionally high registration cost.
Far and above the $64 annual registration you save on the car.
Caravan rego in NSW is a total rip off however you look at it, despite the untruths that our “honourable” members bang on with.
Sorry, Graham… Does a caravan cost more to register than a car in NSW? Because I’m in NSW and the RTA told me you can choose which vehicle your free rego applies to. So if the car is only $64, but a caravan is much more than that, you just go in and change which one your free rego applies to. It was a few years ago, but I can’t imagine they’ve changed it.
If NSW think they can charge more because their road system is bigger than Vic then what is their excuse when they look at the size of WA? Why don’t they just admit that they are greedy.
It’s indeed a crock. Population (and therefore driver) density determines driver/road km maintenance. Theoretically WA should be the worst and I don’t think it is. As you say, they are just profiteering.
Is it legal to live in NSW and register van in Vic. If so are there any problems ( insurance etc. )
legal to register vehicle to where it is NORMALLY garaged. If you have a location where it can be garaged over the border then ok.
In regards to registering in one state, when you live in a different one… What if you freecamp? (Live full-time in a motorhome with no home base, and avoid staying in caravan parks?)
1. How do you register a car/caravan with no address?
2. How does either state know where you spend most of your time?
If I register my motor home as leisure vehicle in Victoria how much would it be? Could we do that? And what is normal coaster rego in Victoria
As a NSW grumpy old grey nomad I have been writing letters & making phone calls about the inconsistencies in caravan registrations costs & rules on rego checks at heavy vehicle inspection stations, since 2013. Today, 19th July 2016 I phoned through to relevant government office to see what had happened. The answer was the same this year as it has been in 2014 & 2015. ” It is being looked at, but it is a difficult situation”!
To renew the rego on our caravan I need to drive 69 kilometres to the nearest heavy vehicle inspection officer. The test could easily be done by a light vehicle inspector. Then the cost of registration is almost nine times that for the same caravan in Victoria.
To add insult to this, our NSW country roads are possibly the worst in Australia.
I have driven in South Africa, Botswana, all over Europe and the UK
NSW roads are worst of all by a Country mile
Is it possible to obtain a comparison of all up registration costs for each state in Australia for RV’s over 4.5 tonnes. I’m finding it nearly impossible to find out this information via the individual states web sites. It would be interesting to learn the differences?
I would like to know why all the States have different registration fees they range from $58 dollars in Victoria to $ 500.00 in N.S.W
Can anyone tell me if I have a motor home weighing over 4.5 tonne rego in Queensland do I have to come home every 12 month for rego or are there any states that will let you get a RWC in any state . Also is there a cheaper price for motor home rego than Qld
Cheers Stumpy
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