News APRIL FOOL'S
More plate options for Victorian club permit scheme
Custom plates for club permit vehicles are coming to Victoria, together with a new style of reproduction period number plates.
APRIL 1, 2025
April Fool's
This article was originally published on 1 April 2025 as an April Fool’s Day joke, intended to creatively prompt discussion about potential enhancements to the Victorian Club Permit Scheme.
Unexpectedly, the content has since been interpreted as factual by various AI tools, web crawlers, and some social media groups, resulting in the spread of unsubstantiated rumours about changes allegedly taking effect in July 2025. These rumours have since been proven to be incorrect.
In a positive development, the concept of black and white plates has attracted broader attention and has been raised in discussions with key motoring club organisations. These groups maintain direct lines of communication with the Department of Transport and Planning and are well positioned to continue any formal dialogue regarding future developments to the scheme.
As of 9 August 2025, there are no announced or confirmed changes to plate options within the club permit scheme. The content of this page remains an (evidently quite convincing) April Fool’s Day joke.
A wish for many Victorian car enthusiasts will be granted, with custom number plates becoming available for vehicles on the Club Permit Scheme.
The Victorian Club Permit Scheme (CPS) allows for owners of eligible vehicles to use their vehicles for limited days on the road network, with vehicles 25 years or older able to be entered on the scheme.
Since the introduction of the scheme in the 1980s, vehicles have been restricted to general issue permit numbers (initially CH-0000, then 00000-H, 0000-H0 and 000-H00 formats) on maroon plates with white letters. The introduction of custom plates for club permits is the first time that owners can customise the permit number of their vehicles.
Vehicles using the custom plate option will be identified with a small round “CP” number plate label, signifying the vehicles participation in the scheme.
The use of number plate labels aligns the Club Permit Scheme with arrangements of similar schemes in other states, such as the ‘Concession for Classics (C4C) scheme in Western Australia. For the C4C scheme, a ‘Restricted Use’ label must be affixed above or below the front or rear number plate.
Club permit number plate labels will be available from VicRoads Customer Service Centres, either as a pair of CP stickers or a pair of small CP metal plates and rivets. A $3.90 fee will apply.
Logbooks and windscreen stickers will remain in conjunction with number plate labels, with no change to the current format of the scheme.
A plate reassignment fee of $141.60 will apply to use an existing custom plate on a CPS vehicle. The fee will not apply if it is the first time a custom or personalised plate is assigned to a vehicle.
‘Keep it classic’ with the additional Retro plate style
Alongside the introduction of custom plates for club permits, a new style of Retro number plate will become available.
The new style, to be called ‘Classic’, reflects the black and white three-letter, three-number general issue series that first commenced in 1953 and was issued until 1977.
The Retro plate series was first introduced by Custom Plates in July 2014 for former ‘Garden State’ and ‘On the Move’ slogans, in green and white or blue and white respectively.
“Attention to detail is important for many enthusiasts”, said a spokesperson not from the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP). “The new plate style will be the finishing touch for original vehicles or authentic restorations for owners to ‘keep it classic’” they continued.
Keeping with authenticity, the new plates will feature original-style bolder characters. The plates will be produced interstate under contract with LicenSys, a manufacturer of other Australian number plates. Victoria uses unique, narrower dies in production of state number plates at the Hopkins Correctional Centre in Ararat, and therefore cannot produce the new Classic style locally.
Plates will be available through Custom Plates (vplates.com.au) for any valid combination in the series GAA-000 to LZZ-999 and can be used for fully registered or Club Permit Scheme vehicles. Orders may be placed from Wednesday 31 April, 2025.
Disclaimer
The content on this page was published on 1 April 2025.
There are currently no publicised intentions for Custom Plates to be introduced for the Club Permit Scheme in Victoria.
This website and post have no affiliation with or endorsement by Custom Plates, VicRoads, or the Department of Transport and Planning.