Canberra residents recall the Dickson Motor Registry as a place of dread for decades, a necessary evil for annual vehicle inspections. A photograph from 1968, held by the National Archives of Australia, depicts a long queue of cars awaiting assessment, a scene that resonated with many when recently shared on The Canberra Page Facebook group.
For years, every vehicle registered in the Australian Capital Territory was required to undergo an annual inspection to receive a “pink slip” – proof of roadworthiness. The process, however, was far from smooth. Responses to the Facebook post revealed a collective memory of lengthy waits, particularly during the summer months, and inspectors who were perceived as uncompromising.
“The most stressful day of the year when you were a young bloke,” one commenter wrote, encapsulating the anxiety felt by many. Another simply recalled “automatically feeling guilty, even though there was no cause for it,” highlighting the psychological toll of the inspection process.
Vehicle inspections in the ACT have a long history, dating back to 1936. Initially conducted outdoors on a track near the Royal Canberra Hospital, inspections later moved to Mort Street, Braddon, in 1962, before the opening of the Dickson facility in 1968. By the early 1980s, the queues at Dickson had grow notorious, frequently stretching for hours. Some recalled cars “lined up around the block” and even “backed up all the way to Northbourne Avenue.”
The annual ritual often consumed an entire morning, or even a full day. “I remember having to capture the whole morning off work to get the car registered,” one person shared. For families, it was often a planned outing. “It was a day trip, and you needed to take lunch,” another commenter remembered.
The summer heat exacerbated the ordeal. One Canberran recounted bringing an esky filled with drinks and lunch for their three young children, describing the experience as “hot as Hades and a dreadful way to spend half a day!!” Others attempted to strategize, with one suggesting Friday afternoons as the best time to avoid the worst of the crowds, and another advocating for rainy days, hoping that dripping water would discourage overly thorough inspections.
For young drivers with limited financial resources, the inspection presented a particular challenge. “Yes, quite stressful for young people of modest means,” one commenter noted, adding that many older English-built cars were prone to oil leaks. This spurred a cottage industry of quick fixes: borrowed tires, steel wool stuffed into exhaust pipes to muffle noisy engines, and hastily wiping oil from engine components before presenting the vehicle.
One person recalled spending the day before an inspection spraying anti-grease under the engine, and gearbox. Another admitted to installing a hidden switch to disable brake lights on a Mini, hoping to pass the brake test. There was even a belief that having a female driver present could influence the outcome. “The smart boys always got their girlfriends to take their flash cars over the pits,” one woman wrote. A man claimed his FE Holden passed only after a blonde female neighbor drove it through the inspection line.
Stories of improbable passes abounded. One driver, facing a non-functioning horn, simply leaned out the window and yelled “BEEP!” during the inspection, and was surprisingly successful. However, not everyone was so fortunate. One commenter remembered a Dodge Fargo truck that was “basically holes joined together by rusty metal,” which predictably failed when its brake pedal went straight to the floor.
By the late 1970s, the severe congestion at Dickson prompted the ACT Government to begin phasing out the annual inspection requirement, allowing private mechanics to conduct inspections. By October 1980, one-year-old vehicles were exempt. Further changes followed, reducing the number of vehicles requiring inspection until, by the finish of 1995, only vehicles over ten years old needed to be inspected. Currently, only private vehicles over six years old transferring ownership are subject to inspection.
The Access Canberra shopfront at Dickson closed in September 2017, with services relocating to a new Motor Vehicle Inspection Station in Hume. The hope is that the new facility will avoid the long queues that defined the Dickson experience.
