Red Plates Victoria: Club Permit Plates Explained
Red plates are club permit plates. VicRoads describes them as having “white characters on a maroon background, and the words ‘club permit’ along the top, which makes them easy to identify while on the roads”. This page covers what the plates mean, which vehicle types get which plates, standard versus slimline, what they cost, how to replace lost or stolen plates, and what happens to them when you sell the car or end the permit.
What does a red number plate mean in Victoria?
A red plate in Victoria means a club permit. VicRoads puts it this way: “A club permit offers an alternative to regular vehicle registration for eligible historic vehicles. Club permit plates have white characters on a maroon background, and the words ‘club permit’ along the top, which makes them easy to identify while on the roads.”
So the plate is a status marker, not a colour choice. It tells anyone looking that the vehicle is more than 25 years old, that its owner is a financial member of a VicRoads-approved club, and that it can only be driven on days written into a logbook. The colour is maroon rather than red in the official wording, which is why the phrases “red plates”, “club plates” and “club permit plates” all point at the same thing.
There is no separate red plate scheme and no red plate club that issues them. VicRoads issues every set. Clubs, including Club Plate Co, only confirm membership and sign the forms that get you to the counter. The Club Permit Scheme guide explains the scheme those plates belong to.
The vehicle types VicRoads issues club permit plates for
VicRoads lists the club permit vehicle types separately, because the number of plates and the plate size differ between them. These are the categories on the official club permit plates page.
| Vehicle type | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Classic and historic vehicle | Made after 31 December 1930 but more than 25 years old, including replicas. Commonly called an H plate vehicle. |
| Modified (M plate) club permit vehicle | A club permit vehicle modified beyond standard, typically holding a VASS approval certificate. |
| Vintage vehicle | Made after 31 December 1918 and before 1 January 1931. |
| Veteran vehicle | Made before 1 January 1919. |
| Street rod | Endorsed by an authorised representative of the Australian Street Rod Federation if you want SR plates. |
| Motorcycle | Bikes on a club permit; see the motorcycle guide. |
| Trailer | Trailers and caravans permitted in their own right. |
How many plates you receive, and which sizes you may have, is set by that category. This is the table VicRoads publishes on its club permit plates page, read 5 September 2026.
| Club permit vehicle type | Number of plates | Plate sizes |
|---|---|---|
| Classic and historic vehicle | 2 | Standard and slimline |
| Modified (M plate) club permit vehicle | 2 | Standard only |
| Vintage vehicle | 1 | Standard only |
| Veteran vehicle | 1 | Standard only |
| Street rod | 2 | Standard only |
| Motorcycle | 1 | Standard only |
| Trailer | 1 | Standard only |
The single-plate cases line up with regulation 194(1) of the Road Safety (Vehicles) Regulations 2021, which issues one standard plate to “a motor cycle, a trailer, or a motor vehicle manufactured before 1 January 1931” and two in every other case. Vehicles built before 1931 are exactly the veteran and vintage classes.
The letter codes people use in forums, H for historic, M for modified, SR for street rod, are shorthand for those categories rather than a separate system. If you are chasing the meaning of a specific code, the glossary collects them.
How to get club plates in Victoria
- Join a VicRoads-approved club. VicRoads requires membership before the application starts. Club Plate Co membership is $99 a year and bought online.
- Get the safety paperwork. A roadworthy certificate from a licensed vehicle tester if the vehicle was made on or after 1 January 1949; a club official can inspect and declare an earlier vehicle safe instead.
- Have the club sign your forms. The Vehicle eligibility and standards declaration and the Club permit application form.
- Lodge and pay at a VicRoads Customer Service Centre. You then receive the plates, a logbook, the club permit certificate and the windscreen labels.
On timing, VicRoads is direct: you get your plates “on the spot if we have them in stock. If not, we’ll post them to your address.” Once issued, put the certificate inside the logbook cover, attach the windscreen label so the permit is clearly current, and fit the plates. How it works covers the full application, and Get a club permit starts it.
What club permit plates cost
Plates are a one-off charge on top of the permit fee. Replacement plates carry their own fee, paid through myVicRoads, and a slimline replacement costs well over twice a standard one.
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Club permit plates, standard pair (one-off, with a new permit) | $44.20 |
| Replacement plates, standard (lost, damaged or destroyed) | $40.90 single, $81.80 pair |
| Replacement plates, slimline | $105.90 single, $211.80 pair |
| Paid to VicRoads, 45 days (car, incl. TAC, logbook and plates) | $135.70 |
| Paid to VicRoads, 90 days (car, incl. TAC, logbook and plates) | $220.60 |
| Club Plate Co membership (per year) | $99 |
Fees checked 5 September 2026 against the VicRoads permit fees page. VicRoads sets and revises these figures, normally each July — confirm the current amount before you pay.
Our pricing page sets the plate fee against the permit fee, the roadworthy and the membership, so you can see the real first-year total.
Slimline plates and what counts as custom
VicRoads offers a choice: “You can choose between standard and slimline plates, depending on what vehicle you have.” Slimline plates suit European and British cars whose plate recesses were never cut for the Australian standard size, and they are the closest the scheme comes to a custom plate.
Under its “Custom club permit plates” heading VicRoads is explicit about the limit: “Only slimline plates are available for classic and historic permit vehicles.” There is no personalised or bespoke-content club permit plate in the way there is for ordinary registration.
- For existing club permits: “You can order slimline plates for your current plates through the permit holder’s myVicRoads account.”
- For new club permits: “Purchase slimline plates from any VicRoads Customer Service Centre” when you apply for the permit.
VicRoads does not publish what a slimline set costs at issue, and it is not the standard plate fee. Regulation 175(2)(c)(iv) of the Road Safety (Vehicles) Regulations 2021 makes it a fee fixed by the Secretary rather than a Schedule 4 amount, and that figure is not on the permit fees page. Ask at the Customer Service Centre before you commit to slimline. The published slimline figures are for replacements only, and they are in the table above.
Lost, damaged, destroyed or stolen plates
Lost, damaged or destroyed
VicRoads keeps this one simple: “Simply log in to your myVicRoads account, pay the replacement fee and order your plates. We’ll then send them to the postal address we have on file.” If you change your mind, there is a refund window: you must cancel “before 4pm on the next business day after your order”.
Stolen
Report the theft to Victoria Police first. Then visit a VicRoads Customer Service Centre with evidence of the theft, “either a Victoria Police report or Statutory Declaration”. Note the consequence: “You’ll receive replacement plates with the next available number sequence”, so a stolen set means a new permit number, not a reissue of the old one.
Ending the permit
“If you’ve cancelled your club permit, you can return your club permit plate(s) to any VicRoads Customer Service Centre.” Renewal fees are not refunded once the period of use has started.
What happens to the plates when you sell
The permit does not transfer with the car, but the plates sometimes can. VicRoads allows the new owner to request to keep the club permit plates if all three of these are true:
- “the club permit is current, or it expired no more than three months ago”;
- “the applicant is a member of the same approved vehicle club as the previous owner”;
- “the club permit number plate is for the same vehicle.”
Otherwise: “you will need to cancel your club permit, and the new owner will then need to submit a new club permit application.” In practice the buyer joining the same club is the condition that decides it, which is worth raising before you agree on a price. The buying and selling guide works through both sides of the sale.
Red plates FAQ
What does a red number plate mean in Victoria?
It means the vehicle is on a club permit, not on full registration. VicRoads issues club permit plates with “white characters on a maroon background, and the words ‘club permit’ along the top”. The owner belongs to an approved car club and can drive the vehicle 45 or 90 days a year, logging each day.
What are Red Plates in Victoria?
Red plates are the everyday name for club permit plates. There is no separate red plate scheme: one Club Permit Scheme, run by VicRoads, issues them to vehicles more than 25 years old whose owners belong to an approved club. People also call them club plates, historic plates or H plates.
What does a red plate mean on a car?
On a Victorian car it means limited-use permit rather than registration. The car is more than 25 years old, the owner is a financial member of a VicRoads-approved club, and the car can only be driven on days written into a logbook. It is not a sign of a defect or a trade plate.
What is the purpose of a red colour number plate?
Identification. VicRoads says the maroon background and the ‘club permit’ wording “makes them easy to identify while on the roads”. Police and VicRoads can tell at a glance that the vehicle is on a day-limited permit and that a logbook should be in it.
How do club plates work in Victoria?
The plates are issued with the permit and belong to it, not to you and not to the car. You get them when the application is lodged at a VicRoads Customer Service Centre, you fit them with the windscreen label, and if the permit is cancelled you return them to any Customer Service Centre.
How do club permit licence plates work?
They carry a club permit number rather than an ordinary registration number, and they are only valid while the permit is current. Renewing the permit keeps the same plates. Letting it expire does not remove them from the car, but it does make the vehicle undriveable until you have the renewal receipt.
How often can you drive a car on club plates?
Forty-five or ninety days a year, depending on which permit period you hold, and each day has to be written in the logbook before you drive more than 100 metres from the garage address. There is no kilometre limit on a logged day. The rules and logbook guide has the detail.
How do you get club plates in Victoria?
Join a VicRoads-approved club, get a roadworthy certificate if the vehicle was made on or after 1 January 1949, have the club sign your forms, then lodge them at a VicRoads Customer Service Centre and pay. You receive the plates “on the spot if we have them in stock. If not, we’ll post them to your address.”
Who owns 1 number plate Victoria?
Heritage single-digit plates are privately held and change hands at auction; VicRoads does not publish who holds them. They are ordinary Victorian number plates, not club permit plates, so they have nothing to do with the Club Permit Scheme. Club permit numbers are issued by VicRoads in sequence and cannot be bought.
Can you get personalised or custom club permit plates?
Not in the way you can with ordinary registration. Under the heading “Custom club permit plates”, VicRoads says: “Only slimline plates are available for classic and historic permit vehicles.” Existing permit holders order slimline plates through myVicRoads; new applicants buy them at a Customer Service Centre with the application.
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.