What is this plate?

Determination of Design of Number Plates 2003 (No 1)
http://www.legislation.act.gov.au/ni/2003-66/20030214-4192/pdf/2003-66.pdf

(B) a numberplate for a motor vehicle which is registered in the name:

(i) of the Government of an overseas country, or of an international
organisation, being a vehicle used for the purpose of a diplomatic
mission;

(ii) of a diplomatic agent or a person (not being a person who is an
Australian citizen or who is a permanent resident of Australia) who is a
member of the family of a diplomatic agent forming part of his or her
household; or

(iii) of a member of the administrative and technical staff of a diplomatic
mission or a person (not being a person who is an Australian citizen or
who is a permanent resident of Australia) who is a member of the family
of such a person forming part of his or her household;

shall be formed of metal plate bearing a black legend on a blue reflective
background;

Saw one of these today (yeah I know, I’m 9 months behind). I don’t think it is a WA plate. The car looked brand new and was from a local dealer. I’m with the International Org. Or does IO mean they’ve taken out a loan?

More likely to the the WA plates mentioned above. The DC/DX plates have ACT on them from memory. Why you would want the hideous colour like that anyway I don’t know. They really need to do an update of the ACT plates though and offer more variations, like the european plates offered in VIC/NSW/QLD, and scrap the Centenary plates until 2012/2013, I fail to see the point of them for the next 5 years!

Yes, the IO plates are for International Organisations (such as the International Organisation for Migration and United Nations) as listed by DFAT on their web site, as per below. What surprises me is that there is no state designation on the plates, as there are for DC/DX (Diplomatic Corps/Staff) plates and CC (Consular Corps) plates. Most IO plates are domiciled in the ACT, as all DC/DX plates are, but some are not – and CC ones of course are all interstate. Without the state designation they do look a bit dodgy – and un-Australian!

International Organisations in Australia
A | C | E | I | P | U | W
A

ADB
C

CCAMLR
CCSBT
E

EIB
I

IDLO
IOM
P

PITIC
U

United Nations
W

World Bank Group

Very strange, heaps of info about DC and DX prefix plates out there, but nothing about this type of plate that I could find online.
Could it be for ambiguous states like Taiwan? If it is, they’d be the only diplomats not to drive a BMW or Merc.

I’m going to suggest IO means Intelligence Organisation. I mean, that shade of blue is the same as the ASIS logo and who would ever suspect they’re being spied on by a Mazda?

I think more likely something like the Palestinian Authority or representatives of the Taiwanese government – something not recognised as a State, but State-like.

ikarus said :

The_Soarer said :

Its an ACT “International Organisation” plate. Used for registration of a “vehicle of members of personnel of a permanent mission or an international organisation”

Ahh.. So that’s where all the World Vision money goes…

It could be the personal vehicle of someone who works for one of these organisations. Same too with Diplomatic cars too, most you see are owned by the person driving them, not the embassy.

I suspect it’s a nerdish attempt at binary humour.

The_Soarer said :

Its an ACT “International Organisation” plate. Used for registration of a “vehicle of members of personnel of a permanent mission or an international organisation”

Ahh.. So that’s where all the World Vision money goes…

Nice one SheepGroper 😉