Before a new vehicle is registered for use in Australia for the first time, it must meet the Australian Automobile Standards Act 1989, which applies to all new motor vehicles. According to the 1989 Automobile Standards Act, all new motor vehicles are required to be fitted with an Identification Plate, which can provide certification to the registration departments of each state, the owners of new vehicles and all the public to prove that the new vehicles can run on public roads in Australia.

On July 1, 2021, the Road Vehicle Standards Directive 2018 (RVSA) officially replaced the original Road Vehicle Standards Directive 1989 (MVSA). At the same time, the Australian government introduced a new ROVER system to supervise road vehicles exported to the Australian system for the first time.

In Australia, the whole process from application to obtaining vehicle type approval (VTA) is called certification, and the whole certification process is managed by Australian government departments. The competent department is the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional, Development and Communications of Australia.

There are mainly three types of certification for new automobile products in Australia: Full Volume, Low Volume and Low Production Passenger Cars (LPPC).

In addition, for heavy vehicles with a total mass of more than 4.5 tons, it is necessary to meet the relevant regulations on heavy vehicles issued by HNVR, the Australian national heavy vehicle regulator. For vehicles transporting dangerous goods, in addition to being imported and registered as normal vehicles, they also need to meet the Australian Dangerous Goods Directive and be registered with regulatory authorities in various regions of Australia in order to operate normally.