Calls for car registration refund in Victoria grow stronger

An online petition calling for financial relief from car registration costs in Victoria has recorded more than 65,000 signatures.

With the majority of Victorian residents living in lockdown conditions for more than 240 days this year – and their vehicles sitting mostly unused – many are demanding a reprieve from registration fees which can cost as much as $845.90 annually for passenger vehicles.

“We are simply asking VicRoads and the State Government of Victoria to give Victorians a Fair Go, by providing some sort of just and equitable financial relief or assistance when it comes to their mandatory Registration Renewal(s),” the petition states.

Those in metropolitan Melbourne have been restricted to moving within a five kilometre radius of their residence during the most recent lockdown.

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In April 2020, Victoria’s Game Management Authority extended game licences by 12 months “in recognition of the unprecedented impact the Chief Health Officer’s ‘Stay at Home’ Directions are having on game hunting,” a statement from the government authority read at the time.

One month later, the state government announced it would freeze car registration fees for 12 months – putting a temporary stop on an annual price increase.

In August, independent state government advisory body Infrastructure Victoria presented the Victorian Parliament with a report which recommended scrapping the current car registration system and replacing it with a pay-as-you-go system.

In the report, Infrastructure Victoria said current car registration costs "do not reflect the relative costs of providing road infrastructure, the costs of congestion, air and noise pollution, carbon emissions, and road trauma".