TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT
Registered motor vehicles
There were 14.4 mill. motor vehicles (excluding tractors, plant and equipment, caravans and trailers) registered in Australia at 31 March 2006 (table 24.24). Almost eight out of every ten vehicles are passenger vehicles. New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland are the states with the largest number of vehicles with 30%, 26% and 20% of the total vehicle fleet respectively.
24.24 REGISTERED MOTOR VEHICLES - 31 March 2006 |
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![](/icons/ecblank.gif) | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) | Trucks | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
![](/icons/ecblank.gif) | Passenger vehicles(a) | Light commercial vehicles | Rigid | Articulated | Non-freight carrying | Buses | Motor cycles | Total(b) | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
![](/icons/ecblank.gif) | ’000 | ’000 | ’000 | ’000 | ’000 | ’000 | ’000 | ’000 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
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New South Wales | 3 404 | 588 | 114 | 16 | 3 | 21 | 122 | 4 269 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Victoria | 3 007 | 483 | 92 | 22 | 6 | 17 | 114 | 3 741 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Queensland | 2 147 | 520 | 84 | 16 | 4 | 17 | 111 | 2 898 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
South Australia | 919 | 146 | 27 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 34 | 1 138 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Western Australia | 1 212 | 254 | 50 | 9 | 4 | 11 | 60 | 1 601 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Tasmania | 275 | 75 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 375 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Northern Territory | 73 | 29 | 4 | 1 | - | 3 | 4 | 114 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Australian Capital Territory | 192 | 20 | 2 | - | - | 1 | 8 | 224 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Australia | 11 230 | 2 114 | 384 | 72 | 20 | 75 | 463 | 14 359 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
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- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells) |
(a) Includes campervans. |
(b) Excludes tractors, plant and equipment, caravans and trailers. |
Source: Motor Vehicle Census, Australia (9309.0). |
The average age of the Australian motor vehicle fleet at 31 March 2006 was 10 years (table 24.25). Tasmania recorded the highest average age (12 years) while New South Wales and the Northern Territory recorded the lowest average age (9 years). Of the different vehicle types, campervans had the oldest average age (19 years), while motorcycles recorded the lowest (9 years).
24.25 ESTIMATED AVERAGE AGE OF THE VEHICLE FLEET(a) - 31 March 2006 |
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![](/icons/ecblank.gif) | State/territory of registration | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Type of vehicle | NSW | Vic. | Qld | SA | WA | Tas. | NT | ACT | Aust. | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
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Passenger vehicles | 9.0 | 10.1 | 9.6 | 11.0 | 10.2 | 11.5 | 8.8 | 9.5 | 9.8 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Campervans | 17.1 | 19.4 | 16.1 | 21.1 | 21.6 | 20.4 | 19.1 | 19.7 | 18.9 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Light commercial vehicles | 10.0 | 11.5 | 10.4 | 11.6 | 11.4 | 12.8 | 9.5 | 9.8 | 10.8 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Light rigid trucks | 10.7 | 11.7 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 12.3 | 15.2 | 9.4 | 11.0 | 11.2 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Heavy rigid trucks | 14.0 | 17.4 | 14.6 | 17.5 | 18.1 | 17.1 | 13.4 | 11.3 | 15.9 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Articulated trucks | 10.3 | 11.5 | 10.8 | 11.2 | 12.7 | 10.1 | 13.3 | 7.9 | 11.2 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Non-freight carrying trucks | 13.4 | 15.4 | 11.2 | 14.8 | 16.6 | 16.2 | 13.9 | 13.3 | 14.4 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Buses | 11.1 | 11.0 | 10.6 | 12.0 | 10.8 | 15.1 | 8.8 | 10.7 | 11.0 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Motor cycles | 8.8 | 9.5 | 9.1 | (b)8.8 | 11.1 | 10.7 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 9.4 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Total | 9.3 | 10.5 | 9.8 | 11.2 | 10.7 | 12.0 | 9.1 | 9.5 | 10.1 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
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(a) Excludes plant and equipment, caravans and trailers. |
(b) Year of manufacture is not well reported for South Australian motor cycles. |
Source: Motor Vehicle Census (9309.0). |
The number of motor vehicles registered in 2006 represents 699 registrations per 1,000 people. In 2006, the rate was highest for Western Australia - 784 registrations per 1,000 people (graph 24.26).
24.26 Motor vehicles on register(a)(b) - 31 March 2006
![Graph: 24.26 Motor vehicles on register(a)(b)—31 March 2006](/AUSSTATS/ABS@.NSF/7d12b0f6763c78caca257061001cc588/e3b6de4cba5e989fca2573d20010bfa8/Body/0.558C!OpenElement&FieldElemFormat=gif)
Shipping fleet
The Australian merchant trading fleet increased from 74 ships in 2003 to 82 ships in 2004 (table 24.27). Deadweight tonnes has fallen from 2.14 mill. tonnes in 2003 to 2.05 mill. tonnes in 2004, while gross tonnage remained at 1.6 mill. tonnes.
24.27 AUSTRALIAN TRADING FLEET - 30 June |
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![](/icons/ecblank.gif) | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) | 2003 | 2004 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
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Ships | no. | 74 | 82 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Deadweight(a) | '000 tonnes | 2 136 | 2 053 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
Gross tonnage(b) | '000 tonnes | 1 628 | 1 644 | ![](/icons/ecblank.gif) |
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(a) Weight that a vessel can carry, including cargo, bunkers, water and stores. |
(b) Measure of the internal capacity of a ship (in tonnes) that is available within the hull and enclosed spaces for cargo, stores, passenger and crew. |
Source: Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics. |
Aircraft fleet
There were 12,473 aircraft in the Australian Civil Aircraft Register at 31 December 2006, including 9,772 aeroplanes and 1,322 helicopters (graph 24.28).
24.28 Registered aircraft(a) - 31 December 2006