Buying a Car with Pensioner Rego: Concessions by State

Shop for a used car long enough and you'll hit a few snags. One of the more confusing ones is registration: maybe you're a pensioner chasing free rego through your concession card, or maybe the car you've found was registered by a pensioner and you're wondering whether you can just take over. Here's how it works, state by state, and what it costs to transfer.

The short answer for buyers: the concession doesn't come with the car. When you buy a used car that's on pensioner rego, the discount belongs to the seller's card, and depending on the state you may have to pay back the difference when the rego moves into your name.

Taking over a pensioner's rego

Almost every used car you buy comes with some registration already on it. What it costs varies by state, and each one works it out differently, Western Australia goes off gross vehicle mass, Queensland off the number of cylinders. Not everyone pays the same, either. Some drivers get a concession, and pensioners are one group that does.

So what happens when the car you want was registered by a pensioner?

Whatever car you buy, you have to transfer registration and ownership into your name. Skip it and any automatic renewal lands on the previous owner, and you're not properly insured if you crash it. Moving rego from a pensioner to someone without a concession card is where it gets a bit more involved.

Transferring rego, like registering a car for the first time, differs from state to state, but you'll generally be filling out transfer forms. Expect to need the VIN and the basics about the car (gross vehicle mass for both heavy and light vehicles, make and model). Because you're taking over from an existing owner, you'll also need the vehicle purchase date, stamp duty, evidence of payment, and the pensioner's details to confirm their status. Some states also want the market value of the car.

Here's the catch: the discount stays with the pensioner, and in some states the difference is recovered from you. In Queensland the buyer may have to pay the difference between the concession and standard amounts for whatever's left on the rego, and anyone claiming a concession has to transfer in person rather than online. In NSW, pensioners don't pay motor vehicle tax, so if you're not entitled to the concession yourself you pay that tax at transfer, on top of the transfer fee and stamp duty. Usually the buyer wears it, though it's sometimes a lever to knock a bit off the price. To find out whether a car's under concession before you commit, check the renewal notice or run a car history check.

A pensioner concession isn't the only reduced rate going. You can hold a concession card for other reasons, including disability, an EDA (Extreme Disablement Adjustment), or being otherwise permanently incapacitated. Veterans are often eligible too, contact the Department of Veterans' Affairs to apply. Applying is fairly straightforward but varies by state, so check your state government site for the detail.

Do pensioners get concessional rego?

Yes, every state and territory has a pensioner concession, but what it covers varies a lot. NSW waives the registration fee and motor vehicle tax outright. Most of the others take a cut off the registration fee, and a few add breaks on CTP, licence fees or duty. That matters to used-car buyers too, since any clawback lands on you when you take the car on. Here's how it looks around the country, checked against each state's own pages in October 2026.

ACT

The ACT has two levels. Holders of a Pensioner Concession Card, a Low Income Health Care Card, or a DVA Pensioner Concession or Gold Card pay no registration fee on one light vehicle or light trailer, which includes caravans and motorbikes. You need to lodge a Concession Validation Consent form, and you still pay Motor Accident Injuries insurance and every other part of the bill in full.

An ACT Seniors Card on its own gets a smaller break: 10% off the registration fee on one vehicle or light trailer, or 28% if the vehicle is gas-powered. Call 13 22 81 or visit a service centre with your licence or proof of identity to claim it.

New South Wales

A NSW resident with a Pensioner Concession Card (from Centrelink or DVA) showing a NSW address, or an eligible DVA Gold Card, gets the registration fee and motor vehicle tax waived on one nominated vehicle. Interstate cards don't count. You still buy CTP, and get a safety check at renewal if the car needs one. Automatic renewal is available too, as long as there are no restrictions on the vehicle or your licence.

Western Australia

WA has two tiers, and it's the lower one most pensioners get. A Pensioner Concession Card, or a WA Seniors Card together with a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, takes 50% off the vehicle licence fee. The full 100% concession, which also covers vehicle licence duty, is for people on the maximum rate of a blind, disability support or carer pension (with a Centrelink letter to prove it) and some DVA clients.

Either way it covers one vehicle at a time for the primary cardholder: cars, buses and goods vehicles up to 3,000kg unloaded, plus motorhomes, motorcycles and mopeds. The car can't be licensed to a business or subject to a Fines Enforcement Sanction. Your renewal notice shows the concession, and you can move it to another vehicle once the old one is back on full rates.

South Australia

Hold an Australian Government pension card and you get a concession in SA: 50% off the registration fee on one vehicle and one trailer, exemption from stamp duty on CTP insurance, and 50% off the driver's licence fee. A health care card or Seniors Health Card alone doesn't qualify, and neither do vehicles over 4,500kg.

Queensland

Queensland residents with a Pensioner Concession Card, a Queensland Seniors Card or an eligible DVA card can claim a concession on the registration fee, on one vehicle and one recreational boat at a time, and only one concession per couple. Motor vehicles up to 4.5 tonnes, motorcycles and motorised caravans are eligible. The traffic improvement fee and CTP are paid in full.

The fee depends on how many cylinders the car has. For a private car, with a card issued from 1 July 1994, the 12-month registration fee from 1 October 2026 is:

1-3 cylinders (including electric and steam): $151.55
4 cylinders: $192.75
5-6 cylinders: $305.15
7-8 cylinders: $427.35
9-12 cylinders: $501.20

Add the $67.25 traffic improvement fee and CTP of roughly $412 to $428, so a 4-cylinder car comes to about $672 to $688 all up. A non-concession driver pays $385.45 in registration on the same car, so the concession roughly halves that part of the bill. Cards issued before July 1994 pay a flat $108.60 registration fee. All figures are from the Queensland Government fee table.

Northern Territory

Members of the NT Concession Scheme get free driver's licence renewal and up to $154 a year towards registration on eligible vehicles. Business vehicles, caravans, and trailers miss out. Anyone over 60 can stack a further discount through the Senior's Discount card from the Council on the Ageing NT (COTA NT). Heads up, renewing may need a state-mandated inspection, and your renewal notice will tell you if it does.

Tasmania

Tasmanian pensioners with an eligible card (a Pensioner Concession Card or Health Care Card from Services Australia, or a DVA Pensioner Concession or Gold Card) get discounted registration fees, road safety and fire levies, and a cheaper MAIB premium, on one vehicle of each type up to 4.5 tonnes. Utes and vans used privately also get a 40% motor tax rebate. As an example, a 4-cylinder car renewal as at 1 July 2026 cost $518.01 with the concession against $642.77 without. The full detail is on the Tasmanian Government concessions site.

Victoria

Through VicRoads, a Pensioner Concession Card from Centrelink or DVA gets you 50% off the registration fee and 50% off the TAC charge. A Health Care Card gets the 50% off registration but not the TAC discount. It covers one personal, private-use vehicle per card, and a spouse or domestic partner can use the card if it isn't already on another car. Seniors Cards don't qualify.

What it means when you buy

Every state discounts pensioner rego in some way, mostly through the registration fee. But if you're selling a car that's on a concession, or buying one from someone who is, the discount doesn't travel with the car. The new owner pays stamp duty and a transfer fee as normal, plus whatever the state claws back, like Queensland's difference in registration or NSW's motor vehicle tax.

That transfer fee applies to pensioners too, by the way, and it varies between states. Pensioners moving a concession to a new car have their own hoop: in Victoria and WA, the old car's rego has to be back on the full rate before the concession can move. Buyer or pensioner selling, budget for it either way. When it comes time to apply for a concession yourself, you can usually do it online, a few states want a phone call, by logging into your account and uploading documents that prove your pensioner status; once it's approved the discount lands on your rego.

To make sure you're across every fee before you hand over money, read our full guide on car rego here.

How to Buy a Car with Pensioners Rego