Selling a car in the ACT: rego, plates and the 6-year inspection
Key takeaways
- You and the buyer complete and sign the transfer and notice of disposal sections on the back of your rego certificate. The buyer keeps the transfer section.
- Notify Access Canberra as soon as you sell. The online form only works when you and the buyer both hold ACT licences.
- Leave the plates on if the car has current ACT rego. To sell it unregistered, cancel the rego and surrender the plates first.
- A buyer transferring the ACT rego needs a roadworthy inspection first if the car weighs up to 4.5 tonnes and is more than 6 years old, or is imported. Most 2021 or newer cars are under that age.
To sell an ACT-registered car, you and the buyer complete and sign the transfer and notice of disposal sections on the back of your rego certificate, then you notify Access Canberra of the sale. If you both hold ACT driver licences you can notify online. Otherwise, for example when the buyer is from interstate, you use your ACT Digital Account, the post or a service centre.
Two ACT rules are worth knowing before you list. The plates stay on a car sold with current ACT rego, and a buyer transferring the ACT rego on a car more than 6 years old needs a roadworthy inspection first. Selling somewhere else? Our guide to selling a car in Australia covers every state and territory.
What does an ACT seller have to do?
Whoever buys, most of the job is the same. What changes is how you tell Access Canberra and what the buyer does next.
| Task | Buyer with an ACT licence | Interstate buyer |
|---|---|---|
| Back of the rego certificate | You both sign the transfer and disposal sections | The same |
| Notify Access Canberra | Online, or any other way | ACT Digital Account, post or in person |
| Number plates | Stay on with current ACT rego | Stay on with current ACT rego |
| Buyer’s next step | Transfers at a service centre within 14 days | Registers it at home and can surrender the ACT plates there |
In order, the jobs are:
- Before you list: find the rego certificate, logbook and spare keys. If there’s finance owing, ask your lender for a payout figure. If you want to keep personalised plates, sort that out now. Our checklist of documents you need to sell a car has the full list.
- On the day: check the money has actually landed in your account. An email saying a payment is on its way isn’t the same thing.
- At handover: fill in and sign both sections on the back of the certificate with the buyer. Give them the transfer section.
- As soon as you sell: notify Access Canberra and keep a copy of your notice.
- Within 14 days: an ACT buyer transfers the rego and pays duty, or a late fee applies. An interstate buyer registers the car in their own state or territory instead.
What do you fill in on the back of the rego certificate?
The back of an ACT rego certificate has two parts: the application to transfer vehicle registration, and the notice of disposal. Access Canberra says both must be fully completed, signed and dated by you, any joint operator, and the buyer. The transfer section goes to the buyer, who needs it to put the car in their name.
Access Canberra’s own notice of disposal form shows what the notice asks for. Have these ready before the buyer arrives:
- the buyer’s full name, address, licence number and date of birth, and the same for a joint buyer
- the disposal date and the sale price
- the registration number, make and model
- your email address and phone number
- a signature from every registered operator
If the car is registered to a company, the person signing has to be able to show they’re authorised to sell it on the company’s behalf.
Sign once the money is in your account, not before. If a payment falls through before then, you haven’t handed over papers that let someone put the car in their name.
Lost the rego papers?
You can still sell. Use Access Canberra’s separate notice of disposal form, and give the buyer a receipt or invoice. A copy of the notice can double as the receipt, and a handwritten receipt is fine if it shows the plate number or VIN, the sale date, your details and signature, the buyer’s details and the price.
How do you notify Access Canberra, and by when?
The buyer’s licence decides which route you can use. Access Canberra’s page on selling an ACT-registered vehicle links to each one.
Online. If you and the buyer both hold ACT driver licences, use the online notice of disposal. You need your ACT licence details, the buyer’s name and ACT licence number, the disposal date and the sale price. If the car is jointly registered, both operators’ ACT licence details go into the one submission.
Every other sale. Submit the notice through your ACT Digital Account, post it to PO Box 582, Dickson ACT 2602, or take it to an Access Canberra Service Centre.
Access Canberra’s selling page doesn’t give sellers a set number of days. Don’t read that as permission to wait. Notify Access Canberra as soon as you sell, ideally the same day.
The notice of disposal form is blunt about why: “Do not rely on the Acquirer to transfer the registration into their name.” You remain the registered operator until Access Canberra records the buyer’s details. If you don’t lodge a notice that clearly identifies the buyer, you may be held liable for traffic infringements or offences they commit. Keep a copy of the completed notice, because it’s your record of when you sold and to whom.
Why do the plates have to stay on?
Access Canberra says number plates must be left on the vehicle when you sell it with current ACT registration. That holds whether the buyer lives in Belconnen or Brisbane.
The advice differs elsewhere. VicRoads, for example, recommends cancelling the rego and removing the plates when a Victorian car is sold interstate. Don’t apply that to an ACT car with current rego.
Apart from a personalised plate swap, the plates come off only when you sell the car without rego. Then you cancel the registration and surrender the plates before the sale. You can do both at an Access Canberra Service Centre, or surrender the plates to an interstate transport authority and use its surrender receipt to cancel the ACT rego.
Personalised plates are a separate question, and Access Canberra’s selling page doesn’t cover them. Our guide to keeping personalised number plates sets out the ACT’s options alongside other states’. Whichever you choose, sort it out with Access Canberra before you agree a sale.
When does the buyer need a roadworthy inspection?
In the ACT the inspection is the buyer’s step, and the car’s age decides it. Access Canberra says a buyer needs a roadworthy inspection before transferring the rego if the vehicle weighs up to 4.5 tonnes and is more than 6 years old, or is imported. Other inspection requirements may apply depending on the vehicle’s age, type and use.
| Your car | Inspection before the buyer transfers? |
|---|---|
| Up to 4.5 tonnes, 6 years old or less | Not under the age rule (other requirements may apply) |
| Up to 4.5 tonnes, more than 6 years old | Yes |
| Imported | Yes |
| Rego cancelled before the sale | Yes: re-establishing cancelled ACT rego needs an inspection |
This is where the ACT differs from NSW. Across the border, a pink slip isn’t needed to transfer a current NSW registration, and for most light vehicles the safety check comes up at renewal once they’re more than 5 years old. In the ACT, the sale itself triggers the check for an older car.
Access Canberra’s roadworthy inspections page lists what’s checked: wheels and tyres, steering, suspension, brakes, seats and seatbelts, lights and reflectors, the windscreen and windows, front wipers and washers, the structure and identifying numbers. It doesn’t check mechanical reliability or general condition. A certificate of inspection is valid for one month from the first inspection date. Most private cars can go to Access Canberra’s inspection station in Hume or an authorised inspection station. Some vehicles, including modified cars and many imports, can only be inspected at Hume.
Access Canberra doesn’t say who pays for the inspection, so agree it, and who fixes any fault it finds, before you shake hands.
Most cars built in 2021 or later are still under 6 years old in 2026. If yours is getting close, check the build date and confirm with Access Canberra before you advertise.
When you sell to us, usually no roadworthy or safety certificate is needed. Rules differ by state, and we confirm what applies to your car on the call. Our guide on whether you need a roadworthy to sell to a dealer compares every state.
What changes if the buyer is from interstate or Queanbeyan?
Very little on your side. Access Canberra says your obligations are the same as for a sale in the ACT, so the steps above still apply. You sign both sections on the back of the certificate, leave the plates on with current rego and lodge a notice of disposal. The buyer then registers the car with their own state or territory authority and can surrender the ACT plates there.
The difference is the notice. The online form needs an ACT licence from both of you, so a buyer with any other licence means using your ACT Digital Account, the post or a service centre. Keep that in mind for buyers from Queanbeyan or Jerrabomberra: they live just over the border, so they usually hold a NSW licence.
Selling to us follows the same path on your side. We’re a NSW-licensed motor dealer (MD 077404), and the online form asks for the buyer’s ACT driver licence number, so we confirm on the call which route to use. We prepare the sale paperwork, help with the transfer of ownership and make sure your notice of disposal is done correctly. Our guide to selling your car to an interstate buyer explains what changes from state to state.
Can you get back unused rego and MAI insurance?
Yes, if you cancel the rego before you sell: Access Canberra processes a refund of unused registration and Motor Accident Injuries (MAI) insurance when you cancel. If you sell with rego, it says a refund may be available but doesn’t spell out when. It also notes that sellers typically include the value of the remaining rego in the selling price, so if the refund matters to your price, ask Access Canberra before you sell.
A refund on cancellation is worked out on the days left: the days remaining, divided by the days you paid for, times the fee, less an administration fee. It’s only paid if what’s left is more than the cancellation fee. You can take it by cheque, into your bank account or as a credit towards future rego.
A hypothetical example. You paid for 12 months of rego and MAI cover, and you sell with 4 months left. Cancel first, and you’d get back roughly a third of the rego and MAI fees you paid, less the administration fee. Sell with rego, and those 4 months usually go to the buyer with the car, so factor them into your asking price.
Cancelling has its own costs: the plates come off, and an ACT buyer has to re-establish the rego, which needs an inspection. For a late-model car, selling with rego is usually simpler.
What does the buyer pay, and when?
The buyer has 14 days from the sale to transfer the rego at an Access Canberra Service Centre and pay motor vehicle duty. After 14 days, a late fee applies.
Duty is the buyer’s cost, not yours. The ACT Revenue Office bases it on the higher of the purchase price or the market value, including GST and luxury car tax. The car’s tailpipe CO2 emissions also count, and zero-emission vehicles have their own, lower rates. Rates change, with new ones due on 1 February 2027, so point your buyer to the calculator on the ACT Revenue Office motor vehicle duty page rather than relying on a figure here.
One thing follows for you: writing a lower price on the paperwork doesn’t cut the duty, because it’s charged on the market value when that’s higher. Write the real price on your notice of disposal.
Private buyer or selling to us: which suits your Canberra sale?
A private sale to an ACT buyer lets you use the online notice if you both hold ACT licences. But you handle the ads, test drives and payment checks yourself, and a buyer of an older car has to get it inspected. Sell to us and we prepare the sale paperwork and make sure your notice of disposal is done correctly.
We buy cars, utes, SUVs and 4WDs 2021 or newer with 100,000 km or less. If yours is older or has done more kilometres, send it through anyway and we’ll tell you straight away if we can help. You get a genuine offer by phone from a licensed dealer, not an online estimate. A deposit is often paid the same day. The inspection happens after you accept, at a time and place that suits you, and the balance goes into your bank account. We collect the car only after you confirm the funds have cleared.
“I was paid before Autohaus took possession of my car, which from my experience normally doesn’t happen.” Spiros
We arrange collection anywhere in Australia, Canberra included. Read more about selling your car in Canberra, or call 1800 73 55 73 for a free valuation with no obligation and no fees taken out of the offer.
Questions sellers ask
Can I keep my ACT plates when I sell?
Not if the car keeps its rego. Standard plates have to stay on a car sold with current ACT registration, so they go to the buyer with it. If you sell the car unregistered, the plates are surrendered when you cancel, not kept. For personalised plates, ask Access Canberra whether and how you can keep them before you agree a sale.
Do I need a roadworthy to sell a car in Canberra?
The ACT puts the inspection on the buyer's side. Before transferring the rego, a buyer needs one if the car weighs up to 4.5 tonnes and is more than 6 years old, or is imported, so agree who pays before the sale. If you sell to us, usually no roadworthy or safety certificate is needed, and we confirm what applies to your car on the call.
How do I notify Access Canberra if the buyer doesn't hold an ACT licence?
Use your ACT Digital Account, post the notice to PO Box 582, Dickson ACT 2602, or hand it in at an Access Canberra Service Centre. The online form is only for sales where both of you hold ACT licences. Everything else you do as the seller stays the same.
What if my buyer never transfers the rego?
This is why your notice of disposal matters. You stay the registered operator until Access Canberra records the buyer's details, so lodge a notice that clearly identifies them and keep a copy. If a fine or toll notice for the car turns up later, contact the agency that issued it and use your copy to show when you sold and to whom.
