Touring Australia

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Licensing:

http://www.australia.gov.au/information-...n-overseas

Registering and (dare I say it?) buying. You need a name, an identity document (passport is best) and an address (hotel or whatever). They don't give a tinkers curse if you are on a tourist visa or working visa.
Some info from a commercial website;

BACKPACKER CAR INSURANCE

Coming to Australia and planning to buy a vehicle? We highly recommend you to take out third party compulsory insurance (TPPI) for a trouble free holiday around Australia…Third Party Property Insurance covers you against liability for damage your car might cause to other people’s property, usually the other car in an accident. It is strongly recommended that you take Third Party Property Insurance when you buy a car.

For third party compulsory insurance Travellers Autobarn highly recommends Travellers Car Insurance – TCI offers insurance tailor made for overseas drivers. You are allowed up to five drivers, are covered for $5,000,000 (yes, that’s five million dollars!) damage, and for drivers of the age of 19 years and upwards.

To check out prices & excess levels we recommend the following:

Check out Travellers Car Insurance – you can get online quotes and purchase third party property insurances directly online.
Visit any of the Travellers Autobarn branches – should you decide to also purchase a vehicle from Travellers Autobarn you will be offered a discounted rate for your third party property insurance
To find out more about insurance please visit Travellers Car Insurance – please feel free to read some basic information about Australian car insurance:

COMPULSORY INSURANCE (CTP)

The minimum insurance required by law is included under the registration of all vehicles in Australia. This is the Complsory Third Party Personal Injury (CTP Greenslip) insurance. Vehicles cannot be registered without this certificate, so every car with a current registration sticker has this insurance

CTP insurance covers everyone involved in a motor vehicle accident, except the driver who caused the accident, for medical and disability costs that result from the accident. We at Travellers Autobarn strongly suggest that everyone travelling to Australia take out his or her own travel/health insurance.

THIRD PARTY PROPERTY INSURANCE

It is not required to have any other type of insurance in Australia. However, you may also wish to purchase Third Party Property Damage Insurance that will cover you against costs for damages your car might cause to other people’s property, usually the other car in an accident.

We strongly recommend that you take this Third Party Property Insurance when you buy a car. Travellers Autobarn offers insurance tailor made for overseas drivers. You are allowed up to five drivers, are covered for $5,000,000 (yes, that’s five million dollars!) damage, and for drivers of the age of 19 years and upwards. To get your Third Party Property Insurance TODAY please visit Travellers Car Insurance

COMPREHENSIVE CAR INSURANCE

Comprehensive car insurance is not available to non-residents of Australia.

TRAVEL INSURANCE

We reccommend our friends at World Nomads for travel insurance. Click here to go to their site and buy piece of mind.

You can buy, extend and claim online from anywhere in the world, 24/7, even if you’ve already left home! Recommended by Lonely Planet, World Nomads travel insurance is designed for adventurous independent travellers and covers overseas medical, evacuation and luggage such as iPods and digital cameras

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Step 2: The Pick Up
Step 3: Returning
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[noroomtomove]

"Registering a vehicle in Australia

Once bought, a vehicle (car bus truck motorbike)must be registered. Vehicles are registered in their owner’s state of residence, and are overseen by varying state agencies. You do not need to register a vehicle in the state in which it was purchased.

State agencies in Australia
Victoria - http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au
New South Wales – http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au
Queensland - http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au
South Australia - http://www.transport.sa.gov.au
Western Australia - http://www.transport.wa.gov.au
Tasmania – http://www.transport.tas.gov.au
Northern Territory – http://www.nt.gov.au/transport/mvr
Australia Capital Territory - http://www.canberraconnect.act.gov.au

Registration requirements vary between the states, but generally involve identification documents (passport) and a driver’s license (be sure it is an English language one or an international driver’s license), receipt of sale and a roadworthiness certificate.

Beware any car sale that does not include a roadworthy certificate. Most advertisements will actually itemise when the current certificate expires, such is their importance. Without one, any purchase may result in considerable expense – as there may be large improvements that need to be made in order for the car to pass inspection.

Registration will also require a permanent address within Australia, which sometimes makes an advance purchase difficult; however, international companies and hostels often assist with the establishment of a postal address for such situations. "

Regards

[Cormanus]

Rotor,

I don't know what research you've done, but, from a quick scan of a couple of the links in Pterodactyl's and Noroomtomove's posts, I suspect you may have a point. I'm not aware of the qualifications of all the Australian members of the forum, so I don't know whether any of us is qualified to give you the legal advice I suspect you're looking for. I'm certainly not.

Seems to me you've identified the problem: given that your proof of identity will show you as a non Australian resident, you may well need prove you have an Australian address at which to register the vehicle. I'm not sure how you will do that if you can't produce the sort of evidence they require (and you won't be able to) or complete the necessary statutory declaration (and you are unlikely to be able to do that either without committing a spot of perjury).

All that said, what you propose to do is not at all uncommon, so it is very likely to be possible. I'd be surprised if the commercial site quoted by Pterodactyl would still be up if it were proposing something illegal. You could try following up with that site, wait for a response from the NSW Motor Registry, or make similar requests of the motor registries in other States. You could also try having a hunt at http://www.netrider.net.au to see if anyone posting there has had similar experience.

Vehicle registration is a matter for each state; you may find the process easier in one. I doubt that, though.

Sorry not to have give you a definitive answer. As I said at the outset, you probably need a lawyer or definitive advice from a vehicle registry.

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Cormanus, perjury is not required. Buying and selling of motor vehicles by non-residents, both on working and tourist visas is common practice. The campervan market is evidence of this.

Cheers (packed yet?)

[Cormanus]

Pterodactyl, you may well be right, but common practice doesn't make someting strictly legal and rotor seemed a bit concerned about that. I had a cursory look at the MVR sites in Qld and NSW, and it seemed to me you'd run into a problem if you didn't have a driver's licence in the State you were registering the vehicle as you'd have to use other material to prove your residential address. To do so requires proof of identity—which you could do with a passport—but it would show you resident in another country. You couldn't produce the other sort of documents they require so you'd have to go for a statutory declaration. That requires you to give an address and have some other hapless sod declare you're a resident there. Hence the perjury.

Have a look [url=http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/roads/registration/transfer/index.html]here at the steps required in Her Majesty's Colony of New South Wales.

It's an interesting question.

The answer to your question is no

[Pterodactyl_imp]

It seems to be that you don't need to be a resident to have an address here. For example if you stay somewhere, either privately or commercially. All you need is a visa that is in order.

Cheers

[rotor]

My research is complete (including response from NSW motor vehicles), and I'm giving up on the idea.

As Cormanus points out, I would indeed have to sign a piece of paper stating that I have a permanent residence and address in the state where I'm registering the motorcycle.

Thanks, but no, thanks.

As a general parting note (if I may):
I've traveled the world long and wide, and learned one thing: in a foreign country it is extremely unwise to operate on the fringes of the law, even if "everybody does it". I'll readily do it in my own country, where I know exactly what the odds are, but not in a jurisdiction where I'm at the mercy of bureaucracy whose modus operandi I'm completely unfamiliar with.

Cheers everybody and thanks for all the comments.

[Cormanus]

Darn, Rotor, I was looking forward to finding out how so many people seem to do this successfully. I did some more looking last night, which I hadn't had a chance to write up for you, and that lead to the same conclusion: to be the 'registered operator' of the vehicle, you have to be able to prove that you have a permanent residence in the state in which you're registering.

I don't know if it helps, but being the 'registered operator' is not the same thing as being the owner. Punters are routinely cautioned when buying vehicles that registration is not proof of ownership. So, if you could find an acceptable way to buy a bike, have a local be the registered operator, and then insure yourself when riding it, you'd almost certainly be within the law.

Pterodactyl, what you say about an address is kinda right. The difficulty in the case of the MVR is that you have to prove that you live somewhere which requires rental receipts, bank statements, utility statements or some form of statutory declaration. Where you can't prove your address by any other means, you have to get someone to sign a form saying "I declare that I have known the applicant for at least 12 months and, that to the best of my knowledge, the personal details given in Question 1 are correct.. The details in Question 1 include a residential address which, in this example, must be in NSW. See [url=http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/documents/about/forms/45070018-licence-application.pdf]here. I know that's a license application but, if you don't have an NSW license, you have to jump through a similar hoop to become the registered operator. Indeed, I suspect that, after a while, MVR would start asking questions about why an individual was a registered operator but did not hold a NSW license.

If anyone ever stumbles across information about how foreign visitors can legally buy and register a car in their own name in an Australian State, I'd be very interested to read it.

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Well Rotor better start knowing someone from NSW.

Cheers.

Speaking about knowing someone. When I made my last post I thought to myself - "I wonder how long it will be till Cormanus hits the research button". Sort of a Gotcha really.

[noroomtomove]

OK, here we go final post from me on this topic.
I spoke to Vicroads today and ran your situation up the flag pole and this is the response in short.

Being from Canada and having a drivers license with your photo on it. A valid Passport showing your recent arrival and being in possession of a VISA card you would be good to go in Victoria.
You fall in the Itinerant / Backpacker category and although not advertised as this pathway to registration could be open to abuse, it is possible to start your adventure in Australia in Victoria on a Motorcycle registered in your name.

I could not think of a better part of Australia to buy a bike and start your journey.

By Australian standards Victoria is cold so the sooks don't ride for six months of the year here. So you could pick up a bike that's not that old with low milage at the end of warmer months say April at a good price. You see Comarnus and Petrodactyl live where it's always good for a ride so you don't get the same end of riding season flood of bikes on the market. Just check out ( bikesales.com.au ) use the location function and check out what is for sale in the various Sates.

Victoria is a small State by Australian standard with a higher population density so for the first week or so whilst you are getting used to the ways and means you'll be in an area with more human stuff.

I've run out of time and words for now but might post part two latter on .

Regards

Noroomtomove
(so thats a twist on words here where I live lots of room to move)