Shipping a car from the UK to Australia: costs, rules and steps

Checked against official sources on 9 October 2026. Rules change, so we confirm the details for your shipment when you book.

The short version

1. Work out your pathway: personal import if you've owned and used the car overseas for 12 months, the older vehicles pathway if it's 25 or more years old, or the SEV Register for other models.
2. Apply for import approval in ROVER and wait for it before shipping.
3. Deal with any asbestos before it leaves the UK, especially on older cars.
4. Ship it RoRo or in a container. RoRo from Southampton takes roughly 5 to 7 weeks.
5. Clear customs and biosecurity, pay GST (and duty if the car isn't UK-made), then deliver it.

1. The personal import rule

If you're moving to Australia permanently, you can usually bring your own car if all of these are true:

• you bought it while living overseas;
• you owned and regularly used it for 12 months in a row immediately before you first arrived to live in Australia (a garaged car with very low mileage doesn't count);
• you can stay in Australia indefinitely;
• you apply within 6 months of arriving, and haven't had a personal effects approval in the last 5 years.

Cars that don't meet this need to be 25 or more years old, or a model on the Specialist and Enthusiast Vehicles Register imported through a Registered Automotive Workshop.

2. Import approval and asbestos

Apply in ROVER before the car is shipped ($95). The department has up to 30 business days to decide; recent median times have been a week or two. Asbestos is banned in Australia and foreign tolerance levels aren't accepted, so replace suspect brake pads, gaskets and clutch facings on older cars before shipping and keep the evidence.

3. Duty, GST and luxury car tax

• Duty: under the Australia–UK Free Trade Agreement (in force since 31 May 2023), cars that qualify as UK origin can come in duty free with a declaration of origin. Cars made elsewhere pay 5%.
• GST: 10% of the customs value plus duty plus international freight and insurance.
• Luxury car tax: 33% above the threshold ($91,661 fuel-efficient, $80,809 other cars for 2026–27).
• Personal imports may qualify for concessions; we check this with you before the car sails.

Estimate your bill with our import tax calculator.

4. Shipping and transit times

Most UK cars come RoRo from Southampton. Published RoRo transit times are roughly 38 days to Fremantle and 43 to 46 days to Port Kembla, Melbourne and Brisbane, with sailings every 7 to 10 days. A container suits classics, cars with personal effects, or anything you want fully enclosed. From 1 September to 30 April, stink bug measures apply to RoRo ships; the UK has recently been treated as an emerging risk country with more random inspections. We confirm the rules for your sailing when you book.

Common questions