NSW ditches rego stickers for tech

The New South Wales Government will become the latest state in Australia to abolish the need for registration stickers on light vehicles in favour of technology-based enforcement methods.

(Australia, New South Wales 1999 windshield registration label image by Jerry "Woody", CC BY-SA 2.0)

From 1 January 2013, NSW motorists will no longer have to display registration stickers on their vehicles.

State Roads Minister Duncan Gay and Premier Barry O'Farrell announced the move today, saying in a statement that registration compliance will be enforced by NSW Police and the Roads and Maritime Services agency.

Police will use methods such as vehicle-based automated number-plate recognition technology to determine whether a light vehicle is registered.

NSW Business Chamber chief Stephen Cartwright said that the move away from old stickers to the new enforcement technology is a sound decision.

"When regulations are no longer fulfilling their intended purpose, or are superseded by new technology, they should be abolished, and that's what the NSW Government is doing with rego stickers," Cartwright said in a statement.

Registration stickers on cars were first introduced in 1932. The NSW Government's abolishment of the stickers follows the same decision made by the South Australia and Western Australia governments.