Motor Vehicle Census, Australia methodology

Motor vehicles constructed primarily for load carrying, consisting of a prime mover having no significant load carrying area, but with a turntable device which can be linked to one or more trailers.

The estimated average age of registered motor vehicles in Australia. The age of a vehicle is defined as the number of years since it was first manufactured. This is calculated using the formulae below, which allow for the census having been conducted in different months over time. Although the MVC has been taken on different dates over time, it has always been taken on the last day of the month. These formulae assume that vehicles are manufactured at a constant rate over the year, or one month period for the current year.

For vehicles manufactured in the current year:

Vehicle age = snapshot month/24

For vehicles manufactured in previous years:

Vehicle age = snapshot year - Year of manufacture + (snapshot month - 6)/12

The average age is then calculated as the sum of all vehicle ages divided by the total number of vehicles. Vehicles that have an unknown year of manufacture are excluded from calculations of average age.

Motor vehicles constructed for the carriage of passengers. This category includes all motor vehicles with 10 or more seats, including the driver's seat.

Self-propelled motor vehicles containing an area primarily used for accommodation. This includes motor homes and powered caravans.

The official measure of the population of Australia is based on the concept of residence. It refers to all people, regardless of nationality or citizenship, who usually live in Australia, with the exception of foreign diplomatic personnel and their families. It includes usual residents who are overseas for less than 12 months. It excludes overseas visitors who are in Australia less than 12 months.

The type of fuel is as reported to the registering authority and includes leaded petrol, unleaded petrol, diesel, LPG/other gases, dual fuel and other (which includes electric).

Tare weight (i.e. unladen weight) of the motor vehicle and attached trailers, plus its maximum carrying and towing capacity. GCM is the weight measurement used for vehicles such as articulated trucks used for towing trailers.

Tare weight (i.e. unladen weight) of the motor vehicle, plus its maximum carrying capacity excluding trailers.

Rigid trucks of GVM greater than 4.5 tonnes.

Vehicles primarily constructed for the carriage of goods, and which are less than or equal to 3.5 tonnes GVM. This includes utilities, panel vans, cab-chassis and forward-control load carrying vehicles (whether four-wheel drive or not).

Rigid trucks of GVM greater than 3.5 tonnes and less than or equal to 4.5 tonnes.

The manufacturer of the motor vehicle (e.g. Ford, Holden, Mitsubishi, Toyota).

Two and three wheeled motor vehicles constructed primarily for the carriage of one or two persons. This category includes two and three wheeled mopeds, scooters, motor tricycles and motor cycles with sidecars.

Specialist motor vehicles or motor vehicles fitted with special purpose equipment, and having little or no load carrying capacity (e.g. ambulances, cherry pickers, fire trucks and tow trucks).

Motor vehicles constructed primarily for the carriage of persons and containing up to nine seats (including the driver's seat). This category includes cars, station wagons, four-wheel drive passenger vehicles and forward-control passenger vehicles. Campervans are excluded.

Motor vehicles of GVM greater than 3.5 tonnes, constructed with a load carrying area. This includes trucks with a tow bar, draw bar or other non-articulated coupling on the rear of the vehicle.

Rigid trucks are divided into two categories:

• Light rigid trucks of GVM greater than 3.5 tonnes and less than or equal to 4.5 tonnes
• Heavy rigid trucks of GVM greater than 4.5 tonnes.
   

The state or territory of the motor vehicle registry at which a vehicle is registered.

For information on the institutional environment of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), including the legislative obligations of the ABS, financing and governance arrangements, and mechanisms for scrutiny of ABS operations, please see ABS Institutional Environment.

The Motor Vehicle Census (MVC) collates data relating to vehicles which were registered with a motor vehicle registration authority at 31 January 2020. The data is collected under the legislation of each state and territory for the purposes of licensing vehicles to drive on public roads and the collection of third party insurance.

The MVC includes all motor vehicles registered with a state or territory Motor Vehicle Registry (MVR) for unrestricted use on public roads. The scope of the MVC excludes:

• recreational vehicles such as trail bikes and sand dune buggies intended for off-road use
• veteran and vintage vehicles registered for restricted use only;
• consular vehicles; and
• vehicles registered by the defence forces.
   

Registered vehicles are defined as those motor vehicles registered at the date of the census, or that had registration expire less than one month before that date. Data reflects the information as recorded in registration documents.

The MVC has been conducted regularly since 1971 but not every year and not always at the same time of the year. Refer to paragraph 2 of the Explanatory Notes for a list of snapshot dates from 1971.

Data are classified geographically by state or territory of registration and postcode of owner.

The snapshot date for the MVC is currently 31 January of the reference year. The statistics are generally released within 7 months of the snapshot being taken.

The MVC provides the survey frame for the Survey of Motor Vehicle Use (SMVU). Editing of the data is designed to maximise data quality to the level required for the SMVU. The MVC is collected as an administrative data by-product from the state and territory MVRs. The size of the registered motor vehicle fleet (over 19 million vehicles) dictates that quality assurance of each record is not possible. However, considerable effort is made by the ABS to improve data quality with consistency checks and comparisons.

While the data are made available at a detailed level, the ABS is unable to guarantee that it is necessarily sufficient for all purposes for which it may be used. There is also some variation in the reporting from the MVRs, and care should be taken when comparing data across jurisdictions. Data items where conversions of vehicles (eg. fuel type or reconfigurations) have occurred may not be accurately reported or recorded at the MVR.

The types of fuel being used for motor vehicles has undergone change over the years. Leaded petrol is no longer available for sale. However, some older vehicles are still recorded with this fuel type by the MVRs. The number of hybrid and electric vehicles is increasing. However, not all state and territory MVRs currently identify hybrids separately.

Statistics from the 2020 MVC are comparable to previous censuses. Data from the MVC, when categorised by year of manufacture, can be confronted with new motor vehicle sales data available from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI). The MVC is also used as the frame for the Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, Australia (cat. no. 9208.0).

The MVC publication contains detailed Introductory Notes, Explanatory Notes and Glossary that provide information on the data sources, terminology, classifications and other technical aspects associated with these statistics.

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