New South Wales
This is not legal advice, and it was not written or reviewed by a lawyer. It is our reading of publicly available legislation and government guidance, done by engineers, and it may be wrong or out of date.
Nothing on this page has been confirmed. Treat it as a pointer to the source material rather than an answer.
Road rules change, they differ between states, and an officer at the roadside is not bound by anything we have written. Where we cite legislation, follow the link and read it — that is what governs you. For anything you intend to rely on, ask your state’s transport authority or a lawyer.
Fitted on a road vehicle
Not yet confirmed
Operating while driving
Not yet confirmed
Where you can use it
Vehicle standards govern vehicles used on roads. A vehicle that is not on one is outside them.
Show cars and display vehicles
A vehicle that is not used on a public road is outside these rules. Any colour, any pattern, any brightness.
But: The moment it is driven on a public road it is a road vehicle again, and everything on this page applies to it.
Transported on a trailer
A car being carried is a load, not a vehicle in use, so it does not have to comply while it is on the trailer. This is how a show car reaches a show with the lighting fitted.
But: The trailer and the towing vehicle still have to comply. Switching the lighting on during transport is a separate question — a lit load on a public road can still be caught by what the combination shows. Run it at the venue.
Private property
Driveways, private land, workshops and car parks that are not open to the public are not roads or road related areas.
But: Many car parks that feel private are road related areas in law. If the public can drive in, assume the road rules reach it.
Off-road and private land
Paddocks, private tracks, farms and 4WD parks are not public roads or road related areas.
But: Getting there is usually road use. National parks and reserves have their own rules, and some tracks within them are gazetted roads.
Race circuits and track days
A closed circuit is not a public road, so vehicle standards do not reach it. The circuit's own rules apply instead, and at a sanctioned event so do the sanctioning body's technical regulations. A scrutineer can require lighting to be removed or disabled.
But: Red facing rearward means something specific on a circuit. Rain lights — a red rear lamp within 100 mm of the centreline — have been mandatory at Motorsport Australia race events since 2020 and must be an FIA or CIK approved unit. Approval attaches to the device rather than to the light it emits, so configuring this product to look like a rain light does not make it one. It will fail scrutineering, and until it is checked it tells drivers behind you something untrue. Fit a real one.
Stationary at a show, on display
Parked at a venue with the bonnet up, doors open, engine bay and cabin lit.
But: A vehicle parked on a public street is still on a road, and several jurisdictions word their rules as applying whether you are driving or stationary.
Fitted but switched off
Where the rule is about the light a vehicle shows rather than about what is fitted to it, an installation that is switched off is a different question from a lit one.
But: This does not apply everywhere, and it is left off the jurisdictions where the rule prohibits fitting the lamp at all.
Where you mount it
Inside the cabin
Not yet confirmedNo statement about interior lighting has been found for New South Wales.
Engine bay
Not yet confirmedLighting here is hidden by a closed bonnet. Because the rules turn on what other road users can see, a bay light that cannot be seen while you drive is a different proposition from one showing through the grille or panel gaps. With the bonnet up at a show the vehicle is stationary and usually off a road anyway.
Ute tray or tub
Not yet confirmedWork lights are provided for by name: white, switched separately, and used only while the vehicle is stationary. Coloured tray lighting run while driving is not a work light and does not carry that permission.
On a trailer
Not yet confirmedA trailer is its own registrable vehicle with its own required lamps, so it is inspected and defected separately from the car towing it. The same rule about lamps that are not permitted applies to it, and added lighting must not reduce the effectiveness of the trailer's tail lamps, indicators or reflectors.
What you must not do here
- Anything imitating a regulated lamp — a rain light, brake light, indicator, hazard or emergency warning lamp. Those are approved units doing a defined job, and a copy that looks right is worse than one that looks wrong, because other drivers act on it.
Aftermarket lamps may be fitted in New South Wales provided they meet the vehicle standards for how much light they emit, what colour, how they operate and where they are located. Those standards are set by the Light Vehicle Standards Rules and Australian Design Rules 13, 19 and 67. Whether decorative underbody lighting can meet them has not been confirmed.
The legislation
- Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2017 (NSW), Schedule 2 — Light Vehicle Standards Rules, Schedule 2
The in-service vehicle standards for light vehicles in NSW, including the lamp requirements.
- Fitting vehicle accessories (Transport for NSW guidance), Optional and additional lamps
States that aftermarket lamps may be fitted provided they meet the standards for how much light they emit, what colour, how they operate and where they are located, referring to Australian Design Rules 13, 19 and 67.
Last checked 16 August 2026.
A starting point, not legal advice. Road rules change, and an officer at the roadside is not bound by what we have written here. Where we cite legislation, follow the link and read it — that is the thing that governs you, not our summary of it.