Vehicle registration plates of Victoria
Like other Australian plates, these are usually particular to a vehicle, changing hands with it, and are generally permanent (yearly registration is required, however).
However, having reached the end of their Federal allotment of letters, Victoria in 1974 commenced from LZZ-999 to IAA-000 (in some later plate sequences, the capital I had noticeable staves to tell them apart from the number 1.
[6][7] In the early 1990s, it was discovered that the reflective properties of many registration plates in the range from AAA-000 to EZZ-999, and principally the C-series, were defective and this had coincided with the rapid introduction of traffic enforcement cameras in Victoria.
In 1985, some of the CGI-000 to CGQ-999 or CGZ-999 series plates bore the slogan Vic – Nuclear Free State across the bottom, also in green initiated by John Cain the premier at the time.
For the Australian Bicentenary in 1988, plates in the DJE-000 to DRZ-999 range bore the "Vic" insert vertically down the left-hand side and the slogan Australia 1788 – 1988 in green across the bottom.
In September 1994, in an initiative by Liberal Premier, Jeff Kennett, reflective blue-on-white plates were introduced, beginning at NAA-000 and ending at QDQ-999.
In 1996, shorter slimline plates which bear the "Vic" insert vertically down the left-hand-side, and use a different font were issued.
[12] This was controversial as it was later learned that the government had paid an advertising firm associated with the Labor Party A$87,000 to assist with the slogan and updated plate design despite it being presented as a public competition.
In December 2010 the new Ted Baillieu Liberal government announced its intent to drop the slogan The Place to Be from the regular sized plates.
[15] On 10 June 2013 the Victorian government announced that the current series was exhausted with the final plate ZZZ-999 already purchased.
[3] During the transitional period, Z-series stocks will still be available for motorists who lose or damage their plates, while the new series will be for general everyday issue.
Another issue with the new series is that the letter "O" and the number "0" are the same shape in the font used on Victorian plates, so the combination ending in "4OW" for example, is more likely to be read as "40W".
[20] After winning this election, the Andrews government honoured this pledge, with the new plates released on 16 October 2015,[21] starting at 1GA-1AA.
2020-current - General series ahead are now allowed outside current series allocations for light vehicles up to 9ZZ-9ZZ and motorbikes 9Z-9ZZ[27] Format options (in any colour): a, aa, aaa, aaaa, aaaaa, aaaaaa, a-n,a-nn, aa-n, aa-nn, aa-nnn, aa-nnnn, aaa-n, aaa-nn, aaaa-n, aaaa-nn, aaaaa-n, nnn-nnn, ccc–ccc, n-aaaaa, nn-aaaa, n-aaaa, nn-aaa, nnn-aaa, n-aaa, nnn-aa, nnnn-aa, nn-aa, n-aa, n-a, and the number series 300-000 to 999-999 (285-001 to 299-999 was never issued).
The change was due to the Victorian government not allowing the states coat of arms to be used on commercial products.
In 2006, to commemorate the 2006 Commonwealth Games being held in Melbourne, VicRoads offered a limited edition of 1,000 series of plates in the format M06-nnn.
These had the slogan Melbourne 2006 and featured a red-tailed black cockatoo (the official mascot of the 2006 Commonwealth Games).
All official vehicles actually used in the Commonwealth Games were supplied by Toyota Australia and used general issue XAA-nnn plates.
The following year, VicRoads issued a similar limited edition Penny the Penguin series in the format M07-nnn, to commemorate the 2007 FINA Swimming World Cup.
These have a customised insert of their town, and are usually blue lettering on a reflective yellow background; slogans vary.
Since 1993, those also registered to horse studs across Victoria can reserve a V-nnnn series, usually brown lettering on a yellow background and stating Victorian Thoroughbred as a slogan.
In July 2014, the old general issue Garden State and On the Move slogans have been reintroduced as a "Retro" option.
