Tough new rules for Victoria's club permit scheme

Victoria’s Club Permit Scheme, which allows up to 90 days of driving older cars and motorcycles at considerably discounted registration fees, is set to increase vehicle age eligibility from 25 to 30 years.

This will align Victoria with other states and territories offering a similar scheme for older vehicles used infrequently.

The proposed changes are still going through a consultation process but, if implemented, will take effect from October 3, 2021, according to Victoria’s Department of Transport Road Safety (Vehicles) Regulations 2021 summary paper.

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Vehicles, including those between 25 and 30 years of age, already registered under the Club Permit Scheme will not be affected by the proposed changes.

So why are these changes being recommended? “There’s a small portion of club permit holders who are using their vintage, veteran, historic, and classic vehicles, according to VicRoads, for commercial purposes (eg: carrying tools as part of a landscaping or gardening business or as wedding cars for hire or for tours),” the summary paper states.

“Some club permit holders drive their vehicles a greater number of days than permitted by their permit (eg: more than 45 or 90 days). The extent of this non-compliance is unknown. The current regulations require a driver of a vehicle on the Club Permit Scheme to complete a logbook entry for each day the vehicle is used. However, there is some non-compliance with logbook obligations.”

The summary also proposes introducing new penalties “for offences of general conditions and operating conditions of club book permit” and “new penalties for specific offences for log-book obligations for club permits.” No further details, including penalty fees, were forthcoming at the time of writing.

VicRoads fees will increase by around $14 for a 45-day club permit and by $28 for a 90-day permit. No mention is made of TAC.

Club permit fees currently cost $117.60 and $191.90 for 45 and 90 days respectively. When compared to registering a 500cc-plus motorcycle in a metropolitan area ($696.30), that’s up to $578.70 more affordable.

As of January 2021, there are 95,053 vehicles on the Club Permit Scheme.

• Eligibility will shift from 25 to 30 years. Vehicles already club-registered will not be affected
• Fees to increase by around $14 for a 45-day permit and by up to $28 for a 90-day permit.
• VicRoads to have broader powers for a “please explain” for clubs and permit-holders that attract attention. eg. trade vehicles being used as such, or clubs where there seems to be only one person involved. Any club with fewer than 10 registrations will be on the radar.
• Proposed new penalties for failure to comply with Club Permit rules, such as failure to fill out a logbook. These are not yet specified.
• VicRoads will push to introduce electronic logbooks, such as via an app, instead of paper for convenience. The implication of this, however, is it will make it easier for law enforcement to check if you’ve ‘signed’ your logbook for the day without actually pulling you up. The downside for many will be the lack of a physical reminder to sign off for the day. VicRoads acknowledges that clubs much prefer the existing paper system.

The proposed changes can be viewed on the Engage Victoria website, with community submissions closing on July 8, 2021.