Look to buy a used car and you'll run into a few snags. Registration is one of them. You might be a pensioner after free rego through your concession card, or you might have found a car that was registered by a pensioner and want to take it over. This covers both, including how the concession works around the country and how to move rego across when you buy.
Taking over a pensioner's rego
Almost every used car you buy comes with some registration already on it. What it costs varies by state, and each one works it out differently, Western Australia goes off gross vehicle mass, Queensland off the number of cylinders. Not everyone pays the same, either. Some drivers get a concession, and pensioners are one group that does.
So what happens when the car you want was registered by a pensioner?
Whatever car you buy, you have to transfer registration and ownership into your name. Skip it and any automatic renewal lands on the previous owner, and you're not properly insured if you crash it. Moving rego from a pensioner to someone without a concession card is where it gets a bit more involved.
Transferring rego, like registering a car for the first time, differs from state to state, but you'll generally be filling out transfer forms. Expect to need the VIN and the basics about the car (gross vehicle mass for both heavy and light vehicles, make and model). Because you're taking over from an existing owner, you'll also need the vehicle purchase date, stamp duty, evidence of payment, and the pensioner's details to confirm their status. Some states also want the market value of the car.
Here's the catch: you pay the pro-rata shortfall. The car's current rego was worked out at the concession rate, so before the transfer goes through you have to top it up to what a non-concession holder would have paid. That can push the cost of transferring well above a normal used-car purchase. Usually the buyer wears that balance, though it's sometimes a lever to knock a bit off the price. To find out whether a car's under concession before you commit, check the renewal notice or run a car history check.
A pensioner concession isn't the only reduced rate going. You can hold a concession card for other reasons, including disability, an EDA (Extreme Disablement Adjustment), or being otherwise permanently incapacitated. Veterans are often eligible too, contact the Department of Veterans' Affairs to apply. Applying is fairly straightforward but varies by state, so check your state government site for the detail.
Do pensioners get concessional rego?
Yes, every state offers a pensioner concession. In a lot of cases pensioners skip stamp duty and motor vehicle tax, and often get a cut on the registration fee itself. That matters to used-car buyers too, since you're the one paying off the balance when you take the car on. The process differs everywhere, so here's how it looks across the country.
ACT
Seniors in the ACT get a concession on their rego if they contact the state government with a valid Seniors Card and proof of identity. Holders of an ACT Seniors Card get a 10% discount on the registration component. You still pay the full amount for Motor Accident Injuries insurance, the road rescue fee, the road safety contribution, and the short-term registration surcharge if it applies. Seniors with a gas or electric powered vehicle get a bigger cut, 28% off registration.
New South Wales
A NSW resident with a Pensioner Concession Card gets free registration on one vehicle, with automatic renewal thrown in. To qualify you need to have paid your compulsory third party (CTP) insurance for 6 to 12 months beforehand and have no restrictions on your licence.
Western Australia
WA is fiddly. For light vehicles like cars not over 3000kg, seniors can get a 100% concession on registration fees, but you need a letter from Centrelink confirming you're on the maximum pension, and it only covers one vehicle. The car can't be licensed to a business or subject to a Fines Enforcement Sanction. Heavy vehicles come with similar strings but only a 50% concession. Your renewal notice shows the concession, and you can move it to another vehicle whenever you like, as long as you've paid off the rego on the old one.
South Australia
Hold a pension card from the Australian government and you get a concession in SA: a 50% cut on the registration fee, exemption from stamp duty on CTP green slip insurance, and 50% off the driver's licence fee.
Queensland
Pension card holders can claim a concession on any light vehicle, caravan, or recreational boat, one vehicle and one boat at a time. For cards issued after 1994, the rego fee depends on how many cylinders the car has. The figures below include CTP green slip insurance and a traffic improvement fee:
- 1-3 cylinders or steam: $561.95
- 4 cylinders: $599.20
- 5-6 cylinders: $700.90
- 7-8 cylinders: $811.45
- 9-12 cylinders: $878.25
Northern Territory
Members of the NT Concession Scheme get free driver's licence renewal and up to $154 a year towards registration on eligible vehicles. Business vehicles, caravans, and trailers miss out. Anyone over 60 can stack a further discount through the Senior's Discount card from the Council on the Ageing NT (COTA NT). Heads up, renewing may need a state-mandated inspection, and your renewal notice will tell you if it does.
Tasmania
Tasmanian pensioners can get a concession on a light vehicle, but working out the rate is genuinely complicated. There's a full breakdown on the local government website.
Victoria
Through VicRoads, a valid concession card gets you a discount on rego, and it extends to a spouse or domestic partner of a card holder. It only covers one vehicle. Valid concessions include a Centrelink concession or one from the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Pensioners get a 50% discount on the registration fee and 50% off the TAC fee.
What it means when you buy
Most of the country lets pensioners take a concession on their rego, usually a stamp-duty and CTP exemption, sometimes a cut on the fee itself. But if you're selling a car that's on a concession, or buying one from someone who is, the existing balance has to be cleared before rego can transfer, and the new owner still pays stamp duty and a transfer fee to take ownership.
That transfer fee applies to pensioners too, by the way, and it varies between states. So does the rule that you clear the previous vehicle's rego at the non-concession rate before you can move a concession to a new car. Buyer or pensioner selling, budget for it either way. When it comes time to apply for a concession yourself, you can usually do it online, a few states want a phone call, by logging into your account and uploading documents that prove your pensioner status; once it's approved the discount lands on your rego.
To make sure you're across every fee before you hand over money, read our full guide on car rego here.
