9309.0 - Motor Vehicle Census, Australia, Mar 2002  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 18/11/2002   
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MOTOR VEHICLE CENSUS

1 This publication presents statistics relating to vehicles which were registered with a motor vehicle registration authority at 31 March 2002.

2 Motor Vehicle Censuses have been conducted periodically from 1971 on each of the following dates:


2002, 31 March1991, 30 September
2001, 31 March1988, 30 September
1999, 31 October1985, 30 September
1998, 31 October1982, 30 September
1997, 31 October1979, 30 September
1996, 31 October1976, 30 September
1995, 31 May1971, 30 September
1993, 30 June
3 Vehicles on register are defined as those vehicles registered at the date of the census, or had registration expire less than one month before that date.

4 Motor vehicle registration statistics are derived from data made available by various state and territory motor vehicle registration authorities and reflect the information as recorded in registration documents.

5 Considerable effort has been made in recent years, both by motor vehicle registration authorities and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), to improve data quality through the introduction of improved processing and classification systems, and the incorporation of additional internal checking based on make and model. While these have improved data accuracy, there remains some variation in the reporting from different state and territory registries and hence care should still be taken when comparing data across jurisdictions.

6 For vehicles manufactured during or after 1990, the statistics in this publication are based on procedures using the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), adopted by state and territory motor vehicle registration authorities. The VIN system allows accurate identification of the make and model of a vehicle, which can then be used to better identify the vehicle type. Vehicles manufactured earlier than 1990 generally do not have a VIN.

7 The estimated proportion of motor vehicles, excluding motor cycles taken off the register since the previous MVC is referred to as the attrition rate. The attrition rates in the following table have been calculated on a different basis from that used for previous issues. New motor vehicle sales data have been used instead of new motor vehicle registration data (now not available). This change in the calculation has not resulted in any significant change to the attrition rates previously published.

ESTIMATED ATTRITION BY STATE (a), State/territory, Census years
            1997
            2001
            2002
no.
%
no.
%
no.
%
NSW
123,596
3.3
268,490
7.0
318,006
5.7
Vic.
140,564
4.3
120,926
3.7
250,975
5.2
Qld
57,168
2.6
52,386
2.3
166,052
4.8
SA
12,929
1.3
45,093
4.3
51,743
3.4
WA
26,731
2.0
58,653
4.3
77,330
3.9
Tas.
18,789
5.6
8,258
2.5
19,860
4.1
NT
5,553
5.0
7,127
6.7
10,721
7.0
ACT
19,100
9.2
11,597
5.7
13,412
4.5
Aust.
404,430
3.3
572,530
4.6
908,106
5.0

(a) For more details on calculation of attrition rate refer to Glossary.


8 The Motor Vehicle Census includes all vehicles registered with a state, territory or other government motor vehicle registry for unrestricted use on
public roads with the following exceptions:
  • recreational vehicles such as trail bikes and sand dune buggies intended for off-road use in most states and territories (in Victoria and Queensland these vehicles must be registered and are thus included in the statistics);
  • consular vehicles; and
  • vehicles registered by the defence forces.

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9 Data on new motor vehicle sales are available in the monthly publication Sales of New Motor Vehicles, Australia (Electronic Publication) (cat. no. 9314.0).

10 Data on distance and area travelled, freight carried and other uses of motor vehicles are included in Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, Australia (cat. no. 9208.0) which has been published annually since 1998. Freight Movements, Australia, Summary (cat. no. 9220.0) provides data on tonnes and tonne-kilometres of freight moved in Australia by origin and destination and by mode (rail, sea, air and road).