Club permit glossary: Victorian CPS terms explained
The Victorian Club Permit Scheme runs on about forty words that nobody uses anywhere else. Some are VicRoads terms with a precise legal meaning, some are enthusiast shorthand that VicRoads never uses at all, and the two get mixed together constantly. Here is what each one means, and which page on this site covers it properly.
A to C
45-day permit
The shorter of the two club permit periods. You may drive the vehicle on 45 calendar days in the permit year, each logged before you set off. For a car VicRoads charges $135.70 on first application, including plates and logbook. Rules and the 45/90 day choice.
90-day permit
The longer club permit period: 90 calendar days of use a year. For a car VicRoads charges $220.60 on first application, including plates and logbook. You choose 45 or 90 when the permit is issued, and the choice is fixed for that period. Choosing 45 or 90 days.
AOMC
The Association of Motoring Clubs, the peak body that represents several hundred Victorian vehicle clubs and lobbies on club permit policy. Clubs join the AOMC; individual permit holders do not need to. It is not a regulator and it does not issue permits. Comparing clubs.
Approved club
A car club or association VicRoads has added to its register of approved clubs and associations. Only an approved club can endorse a club permit application or renewal. If a club is not on that register it cannot help you, whatever its website claims. How to check a club.
ASRF
The Australian Street Rod Federation. VicRoads requires an ASRF vehicle inspection report for some street rods, and an ASRF-authorised representative must endorse the application if you want SR plates. It has no role in veteran, vintage or classic and historic applications. Street rods and modified vehicles.
Build date
The date of manufacture that decides eligibility, not the date the vehicle was first registered. VicRoads accepts the build date listed on the Register of Approved Vehicles, the date on the Australian compliance plate, or failing both, the vehicle’s own build plate. Eligibility rules.
Club permit
The official VicRoads term for the whole thing: an alternative to full registration for eligible historic vehicles, giving 45 or 90 days of road use a year instead of unlimited use. Every other name on this page is a nickname for it. The Club Permit Scheme.
Club permit certificate
The document VicRoads issues with the permit, showing the vehicle, the permit number and the expiry date. VicRoads requires you to keep it inside the cover of the logbook, so the certificate and the logbook travel together in the car. Logbook rules.
Club plates
Vernacular for club permit number plates. VicRoads describes them as white characters on a maroon background with the words “club permit” along the top. Standard and slimline sizes exist, and how many plates you get depends on the vehicle type. Red plates explained.
Club rego
The most common vernacular name for a club permit, and a slightly misleading one: a permit is not registration, and the community is quick to correct anyone who confuses them. Useful for searching, wrong for paperwork. VicRoads never uses the phrase. What a club permit actually is.
Compliance plate
The Australian-market identification plate fixed to the vehicle at import or manufacture. Its date is accepted by VicRoads as the date of manufacture, and a photograph of it is one of the standard proofs that the vehicle was built for the Australian market. Proving your vehicle’s age.
Conditions of use
The rules attached to every club permit: log each day before driving, keep the certificate in the logbook and the label on the windscreen, stay a financial member of an approved club, and no use for hire or reward. The full rule set.
CPS
Club Permit Scheme, the umbrella name for the whole arrangement between VicRoads, approved clubs and permit holders. You will see it constantly in club paperwork and forum posts, and almost never on the VicRoads website itself. Scheme overview.
Customer Service Centre
A VicRoads branch counter. New club permit applications, club transfers and changes to a vehicle description must be lodged in person at one, because VicRoads requires original signed forms. Renewals are the exception and can be done online. Where to lodge.
D to L
Endorsement
A club official’s signature confirming you are a current financial member and, on a new application, that the vehicle meets the standards for its year. Without it VicRoads will not issue or renew a permit. It is the one thing only a club can do. How endorsement works.
Club permit endorsement form
A VicRoads PDF used when a club official cannot sign your renewal notice in person. The official signs the form instead, and VicRoads accepts a scanned signature pasted into it. You upload both documents with an online renewal. Renewal forms.
Financial member
A member whose subscription is paid and current. Club permits depend on it: if your membership lapses, the club cannot endorse anything and the permit condition requiring club membership is no longer met, even though the permit itself has not expired. Membership and renewals.
H plate
Enthusiast shorthand for a historic club permit plate, used across Victorian forums and club newsletters. VicRoads does not use it. Treat it as a synonym for club permit plates rather than as a distinct category of permit. Red plates explained.
Heritage plates
Another vernacular name for club permit plates, more common in advertising than in conversation. It has no official standing in Victoria and no separate application process. If a club advertises heritage plates it means the ordinary club permit. Plate names decoded.
Historic rego
Vernacular for a club permit on an older vehicle, borrowed from schemes in other places. In Victoria there is no separate historic registration: there is full registration, and there is a club permit. Classic and historic is a VicRoads vehicle category, not a permit type. Club permit versus full registration.
ICV
Individually Constructed Vehicle. VicRoads requires a VASS approval certificate for an ICV that replicates a club-eligible vehicle and has never previously been registered or issued a club permit. Kit cars and scratch-built replicas usually fall into this category. Replicas and modified vehicles.
Logbook
The booklet VicRoads issues with the permit, in which you record every day the vehicle is driven, before you drive it. It costs $3.40 and it is the single most important document in the scheme: no entry means the vehicle is being used unpermitted. How the logbook works.
M to R
M plate
VicRoads’ own term for the plates issued to a modified club permit vehicle. Modified vehicles receive two plates and, unlike classic and historic vehicles, cannot have slimline plates. The M category is what a substantially modified car ends up on. Modified vehicles.
myVicRoads
The VicRoads online account. Club permit holders use it to renew a permit, order slimline or replacement plates and update an address. An online renewal takes about three to five business days and emails you a receipt as proof of payment. Renewing online.
Permit holder
The person or organisation the club permit is issued to. Permits cannot be transferred between people: if the vehicle is sold or given away the permit is cancelled and the new owner applies for their own. A permit held by a company must be renewed in person. Buying and selling.
RAV
The Register of Approved Vehicles, the federal database of vehicles approved for the Australian market. VicRoads accepts a RAV build date as proof of a vehicle’s age, and a VIN entered on the RAV is one way to satisfy the Australian-market requirement for an import. Proving age and origin.
Red plates
The most-used nickname for club permit plates, from their maroon background. There is no VicRoads product called a red plate, and no separate red plate scheme. If someone says their car is on red plates, they mean a club permit. Red plates explained.
Renewal notice
The notice VicRoads posts about six weeks before your permit expires. You sign it, a club official endorses it, then you pay online or at a counter. Once the permit has expired you cannot drive until the renewal receipt is in hand. Renewing a club permit.
RWC
Roadworthy certificate, issued by a licensed vehicle tester. Required for club permit vehicles made on or after 1 January 1949, and valid for only 30 days. A club official may only sign your standards declaration while the certificate is current. Roadworthy and inspection.
S to Z
Scrutineer
The club officer who inspects a vehicle and signs the eligibility and standards declaration. VicRoads names the Club Safety Officer and Scrutineer as the roles that can sign a change of vehicle description, and a safety officer cannot endorse a renewal notice. Who signs what.
Slimline plate
A narrower plate format. VicRoads offers slimline plates only for classic and historic club permit vehicles; every other category takes standard plates. Slimline replacements are dearer, at $105.90 for one and $211.80 for a pair. Plate sizes and prices.
SR plate
The street rod plate. VicRoads issues two standard plates to a street rod and requires an authorised Australian Street Rod Federation representative to endorse the application before SR plates are granted. The endorsement covers street rods only. Street rods.
Statutory write-off
A vehicle recorded on the Victorian or an interstate written-off vehicles register as beyond repair. VicRoads will not issue a club permit for one, and there is no exception process. It is one of only two absolute exclusions in the scheme. Eligibility exclusions.
Street rod
A pre-1949 style vehicle rebuilt with later mechanical components. VicRoads treats street rods as a distinct club permit category with its own plate type, its own federation endorsement, and a VASS requirement if the rod has never been registered in Australia. Street rods and modifications.
TAC charge
The Transport Accident Commission component inside the VicRoads permit fee, covering injury to people. It is $60.50 on a 45-day permit and $117.70 on a 90-day permit, the largest single line in the bill. Trailers pay no TAC charge. Where each dollar goes.
VASS
Vehicle Assessment Signatory Scheme. A VASS approval certificate is a signatory’s certification that a modified or individually constructed vehicle meets the standards. VicRoads requires one for modifications outside the guidelines, replicas, unregistered street rods, and certain 1969 to 1988 imports. When you need VASS.
VESD
The vehicle eligibility and standards declaration for club permit vehicles, the form your club signs to confirm the vehicle is eligible and safe. You have 30 days from the date on it to lodge your application, or you start again. Application forms explained.
Veteran vehicle
A VicRoads club permit category for vehicles made before 1 January 1919. Veteran vehicles take a single standard plate, and being built before 1949 they need no roadworthy certificate: a club official can inspect and declare them safe instead. Vehicle categories.
Vintage vehicle
A VicRoads club permit category for vehicles made after 31 December 1918 and before 1 January 1931. Like veteran vehicles they take a single standard plate and need no roadworthy certificate, because they predate the 1949 cut-off. Vehicle categories.
VIN
Vehicle Identification Number. VicRoads requires a club permit vehicle to carry a VIN or a chassis number clearly stamped on it. An unstamped or unreadable number stops an application, and it is the check that most often catches out a restoration. Eligibility rules.
VSI
Vehicle Standards Information, the numbered bulletins the Victorian transport department publishes to explain what modifications and construction methods are acceptable. Club paperwork often cites them by number, and a scrutineer will check your vehicle against the relevant one. Standards for modified vehicles.
Windscreen label
The label VicRoads issues with the permit, which you attach to the vehicle so it is clear the permit is current. It is one of four things VicRoads requires you to do once a permit is issued, alongside the certificate, plates and conditions of use. After the permit is issued.
Start whenever it suits. Pay only when everything’s in.
Your classic deserves to be driven. Begin your application now and it waits for your roadworthy — we don’t charge you until it’s all in hand. Not sure you’re eligible? It’s just the build date: 25 years or older and you’re in.