Left-hand drive vehicles and conversions

Left-Hand Drive vehicle registration

Most vehicles in NSW are required to be Right-Hand Drive in order to be registered (as mandated in ADR.42/00 General Safety Requirements) unless they are:

• Legally exempt from ADR.42/00 
• 25 years and older light motor vehicles with Left-Hand-Drive (LHD).  

LHD vehicles which meet the above criteria can either be:

• fully registered (which allows unrestricted road access); or
• conditionally registered under the Classic Vehicle Scheme (CVS) or Historic Vehicle Scheme (HVS), provided the vehicle is only driven occasionally and meets the relevant club’s eligibility requirements.

NOTE: A heavy motor vehicle, i.e. those with a Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) exceeding 4.5 tonnes, must be RHD unless approved by NHVR – contact the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) for details.

Signage for Left-Hand Drive (LHD) vehicles

The requirement for a LHD car, truck or bus to display Left Hand Drive signage is dependent on the condition of the vehicles registration and its Gross vehicle Mass (GVM):

• A vehicle with a GVM 4.5 tonnes or less (i.e. a light vehicle) – is not required to display a 'left-hand drive' sign (unless that’s a condition of its registration).
• A vehicle with a GVM exceeding 4.5 tonnes (i.e. a heavy vehicle) that’s specifically approved to have LHD by the NHVR – must display a sign with the words ‘left-hand drive’ in letters at least 75 millimetres high, with a colour contrast background, on the rear of the vehicle.

Conversions from left to right-hand drive

Motor vehicles converted from left to right-hand drive can either be:

• fully registered in NSW, provided the modified vehicle is properly certified and safe for use in road transport 
• conditionally registered under TfNSW’s CVS or HVS, provided the modified vehicle is properly certified, complies with its applicable standards requirements, is safe for use in road transport and meets the club’s eligibility requirements.

Which vehicles require certification

In NSW, vehicles converted from LHD to RHD require certification to be registered.

Depending on when that vehicle was first registered in NSW, that certification would have been:

• a Vehicle Report (issued prior to RTA’s introduction of the Engineering Certification Scheme)
• an Engineer’s Certificate issued under the Engineering Certification Scheme (ECS)
• a Compliance Certificate issued by a VSCCS Licensed Certifier.

A vehicle that has been converted from LHD to RHD that is seeking conditional registration under either the CVS or HVS must provide a Compliance Certificate issued by a VSCCS Licensed Certifier for that modification.

NOTE: Certification CANNOT be issued to a vehicle converted from RHD to LHD.

VSCCS Compliance Certificates do not expire. Each modification only needs one certification.

Find a VSCCS licence certifier

VSCCS Licensed certifiers are authorised by TfNSW to assess and to certify vehicles and vehicle modifications within their field of expertise.

To find a licensed certifier, see Vehicle Safety and Compliance Certification Scheme Bulletin No. 01.

Check with the certifier if they’re able to assess and certify your planned modifications.

Documents to show your club’s Responsible Person

Provide a completed Classic or Historic Vehicle Declaration to your club’s Responsible Person for endorsement along with the following documents to support your declaration:

• previous registration papers on which a modification condition and certification details have been recorded, provided the vehicle has had no other significant modifications; and either
• a copy of an ECS Engineering Certificate (as recorded on the vehicle’s previous NSW registration records), which details the left to right-hand-drive conversion; or
• a VSCCS Compliance Certificate for the left to right-hand-drive conversion 
• evidence of previous registration in the CVS or the HVS.

You'll also need to show the certification document at a Service NSW Centre to get conditional vehicle registration.

If you have questions about certification documents please call 1300 137 302 or email Technical.Enquiries@transport.nsw.gov.au.