Motor Vehicle Census

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

OVERVIEW
The Motor Vehicle Census (MVC) collects information on the number and characteristics of vehicles registered on a certain date. These characteristics include the vehicle type, year of manufacture, fuel used, make, model (for the major makes of passenger vehicles manufactured since 1980), weight, State of registration and postcode of the registered owner.

PURPOSE
The MVC is primarily used as a frame for the Survey of Motor Vehicle Use. In addition there is a strong demand for motor vehicle data from all sectors of the economy, including the transport industry, vehicle and parts manufacturers and distributors, insurance companies and governments.

SCOPE
Scope

The statistics include:

• all vehicles registered for unrestricted use on public roads;
• vehicles with diplomatic or consular plates; and
• State and Commonwealth owned vehicles.

• vehicles belonging to the defence forces;
• recreation vehicles (such as trail bikes or dune buggies) intended for off-road use in those States where registration is required;
• certain vehicles which use public roads but are exempt from normal registration requirements, eg fire engines and/or ambulances in certain States and Territories (the extent to which these vehicles are excluded varies between the States and Territories);
• Commonwealth Government vehicles prior to 1985;
• vehicles used solely on farms, in mines, etc and not used on public roads; and
• from 1993, some agricultural tractors, which were previously classified with plant and equipment.

Conceptual framework
N/A

Main outputs
Vehicle type by make and model by fuel used by year of manufacture by weight by state of registration and postcode of the registered owner.

Classifications
State = 9 categories including Other Territories
Make = 420
Model = 5310
Body type = 31 categories
Seating capacity = 106 categories
Postcode = 3700 categories
Area of registration = 5 categories
Year of Manufacture = 133 categories
Fuel type = 9 categories
Number of cylinders = 9 categories
Engine capacity = 29 categories
Tare = 20 categories
Gross vehicle mass (GVM) = 50 categories
Gross combination mass (GCM) = 53 categories
Heavy vehicle code = 106 categories
No of axles = 17 categories

Other concepts (summary)
N/A

GEOGRAPHIC DETAIL
Australia
New South Wales
Victoria
Queensland
South Australia
Western Australia
Tasmania
Northern Territory
ACT
Statistical Division
Australia Post Postcode

Comments and/or Other Regions
The smallest area available is postcode of registered owner. Theoretically this can be aggregated to approximate any geographic area.

COLLECTION FREQUENCY
Annually

Frequency comments
The MVC was conducted every three years until 1991 and then in 1993, 1995. With the exception of 2000, a MVC has been conducted annually from 1996.

COLLECTION HISTORY
The first MVC was conducted as at 30 September 1971 with subsequent censuses occurring in 1976, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1991, at 30 June 1993, at 31 May 1995, at 31 October 1996, at 31 October 1997, 31 October 1998, 31 October 1999, 31 March 2001 and each year after.

Changes to the classification of vehicle type have occurred several times:

• in 1983 small bus type vehicles changed from panel vans to buses in NSW;
• in 1991 tractors were included with plant and equipment;
• in 1991 the Third Australian Design Rules (3ADRs) defining vehicle types was implemented; a new processing system (TUSS) was introduced; and decoding of the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) was introduced. As a result there were classification changes affecting passenger vehicles, light and heavy commercial vehicles and buses; data accuracy and quality was improved; and a more accurate model description was available for passenger vehicles manufactured from 1989;
• in 1996, the National Heavy Vehicle Registration Scheme was introduced across all states resulting in a new national registration fee for all heavy vehicles after June 1996. Heavy Vehicles are defined as vehicles with a Mass General Rating over 4.5 tonnes. The advantage to the ABS is that Rigid and Articulated trucks are more easily defined with the consequent improvement in data quality.