Who issues Scheme log books
The club issues log books to its members, using blank books it obtains from the Issuing Body. Clause 4.2 says recognised clubs get log books in the form approved by the Registrar by applying to the Issuing Body, which charges a fee for printing and postage.
The Issuing Body is the Federation of Historic Motoring Clubs SA (the Federation), or another body the Registrar authorises (Definitions). The Federation also issues bulk log books to the Australian Street Rod Federation and the South Australian Hot Rod Association, which pass them on to their member clubs (clause 4.14). Street rod clubs may therefore get their supply through their association rather than from the Federation directly.
Log books are a controlled document. The club is responsible for their custody and issue, must keep unissued books in a secure place at all times, and must report any loss of unissued books to the Issuing Body immediately (clause 4.3). In practice that means one person knows how many blank books the club holds and where they are, and that number is checked when the committee changes.
Before you issue a log book
Before issuing, the club must be satisfied of two things: the applicant is a financial member of the club, and they own a historic, left-hand drive, street rod or individually constructed vehicle eligible for conditional registration (clause 2.27).
A third check comes from clause 2.31. The club must ensure, as far as practicable, that it does not issue a log book to an owner who already holds one from another club for the same vehicle, unless the other club has cancelled it.
A short checklist for the person issuing:
| Check | Where it comes from | How clubs usually confirm it |
|---|---|---|
| Applicant is financial | Clause 2.27 | Membership records show fees paid, or a deemed-financial membership type under the constitution |
| Applicant owns the vehicle | Clause 2.27 | The registration papers or the MR334 completed for the vehicle |
| Vehicle is eligible | Clause 2.27 | The category recorded on the MR334 and any section 163AA exemption |
| No current log book from another club | Clause 2.31 | Ask the member; for transfers, ask for confirmation the old club has cancelled theirs |
| A new MR334 if the member has come from another club | Clause 3.9 | The new club’s authorised person issues the MR334 first |
How the club confirms each item is its own decision. The Code asks for the outcome, not a particular form or method. Some clubs ask members to sign a short statement that they hold no other current log book for the vehicle. That is a sensible option, not a Scheme requirement.
Remember the authorised person rule too: an authorised person cannot certify their own financial membership or approve their own vehicle (clause 2.11). If the registrar is also a Scheme owner, someone else should handle their paperwork.
How long a log book lasts
A log book, once issued, is sufficient to record the vehicle’s journeys for up to three years. At the end of the third year from its first issue, the owner must apply to the club for a new one (clause 2.28).
Three points follow from the wording:
- The clock starts at first issue. It does not reset when registration is renewed, and it is not tied to the club year.
- The owner applies. The Code puts the responsibility on the owner to ask for a new book. The club issues it, after the same checks as the first time (clause 2.27).
- “Up to” three years. A book that fills up before then needs replacing sooner, after the same checks.
For example, a log book first issued on 15 March 2026 reaches the end of its third year in March 2029, and the owner applies for a new one then.
The Code does not use the word “expired”. It is a practical shorthand in a register for a log book past its three years. Whether the club sends reminders ahead of the three-year mark, and how far ahead, is a club decision. One option is a monthly list of books reaching three years in the next 60 days, with a letter or email to each owner.
Replacing a log book
A replacement is a new issue, so the same checks apply. Whether the old book has reached three years, filled up, been damaged or been lost, the club confirms the member is still financial and still owns the eligible vehicle before issuing the new one (clause 2.27).
The Code does not set out a separate replacement process, so these steps are good practice rather than rules:
- Confirm financial status and ownership, as for a first issue.
- Record the old book as no longer current, with the date and the reason (three years reached, full, damaged or lost).
- Issue the new book and record its number against the same vehicle.
- Remind the owner that their 90-day count carries on; a new book does not reset it (clause 3.5b).
What happens to the old book is also a club decision. On a transfer the Code lets the owner keep the cancelled book as vehicle history and evidence of days used (clause 2.29), and an owner may want to keep a full book for the same reasons. If the owner keeps it, mark it clearly so it cannot be mistaken for a current book.
A replacement is also a natural moment to check the vehicle details on file: plate, category and exemption documents. Errors found now are far easier to fix than errors found in an audit.
One current log book per vehicle
An owner must not have more than one current log book for any conditionally registered vehicle (clause 3.5g). The club’s part is to avoid issuing a second book where one from another club is still current (clause 2.31).
Within your own club, the safeguard is your register. Before issuing, check whether the vehicle already has a current book. When replacing a book at three years, a lost book or a full book, record the old one as no longer current on the same day you issue the new one. A register where every vehicle shows at most one current book is the simplest proof the club is meeting clause 2.1l, which asks it to take all appropriate measures in issuing, managing and recording log books.
Statuses worth tracking
The Code does not define log book statuses, but a register needs some. Three cover the cases the Code describes:
| Status | Meaning in the register | Code reference |
|---|---|---|
| Current | Issued to a financial member for an eligible vehicle and still within three years of first issue | Clauses 2.27, 2.28 |
| Expired | Past the end of the third year from first issue; owner needs to apply for a new one | Clause 2.28 |
| Cancelled | Cancelled by the club because of resignation, transfer, sale, cancelled registration or loss of financial status | Clauses 2.29, 3.5j, 3.9, 4.9, 4.10 |
Record the date and the reason whenever a book is cancelled. Five years later, when the Department asks, “cancelled 12 May 2026, member transferred to another club” answers the question in a way that “cancelled” alone does not.
When a log book must be cancelled
The Code requires cancellation in five situations. The trigger in each case is something the member does, so the club depends on knowing about it.
| Situation | What the Code says | Clause |
|---|---|---|
| The member resigns | The club must ensure the log book is cancelled | 2.29 |
| The member moves to another club | The owner returns the log book to the issuing club for cancellation | 3.9, 2.29 |
| The member stops being financial | The owner must cancel the registration and return the log book to the issuing club for cancellation | 3.5j |
| The vehicle is sold | Registration is cancelled and the issuing club cancels the log book | 4.9, 3.5j |
| The owner cancels the Scheme registration | The issuing club cancels the log book | 4.10 |
Members do not always return their books. The guide to lapsed members who still hold log books covers how a club follows up fairly, and what it records when a book never comes back.
Transfers between clubs
A member moving to another club follows a set order. They return the log book to the issuing club so it can be cancelled, and the new club’s authorised person issues a new MR334 before the new club can issue a new log book (clause 3.9).
When the old club cancels the book, it enters a change of membership in it. The book can then be returned to the owner to keep as part of the vehicle’s history and as evidence of the days already used that calendar year, but it cannot be used under the new club (clause 2.29). The owner’s 90-day period carries on from the original start, unless they buy a new registration period (clause 3.10).
For the old club, a transfer means three entries: the book cancelled with the date and reason, the change of membership noted in the book, and the book returned to the owner. For the new club, it means a new MR334 first, then a new book.
What owners must record
Owners keep the log book, and the Code sets out exactly what they must do with it. Clubs should explain these rules when they issue a book, because most breaches are honest mistakes.
- Before every journey: record the date and a brief description of the journey before it starts (clauses 3.5c, 3.6).
- Midnight counts: a journey can be one trip or several, but a journey from 10 pm to 2 am the next day uses two days, and both must be recorded (clause 3.7).
- The 500 metre exception: moving the vehicle within 500 metres to relocate it on a property, or to let another vehicle get to a road, is not a journey, but only if the Registrar has endorsed that condition on the registration certificate (clause 3.8).
- Carry it: the log book must be in the vehicle while driving and produced to police or an authorised officer on request (clause 3.5d).
- After renewing: once a renewal is paid, the owner enters the new registration period in the log book (clause 4.7).
- The 90-day limit: no more than 90 days in each period of 12 months registration (clause 3.5b).
A one-page summary of these points, handed over with each new log book, is a simple way for a club to meet its duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practical, that members follow the Code (clause 2.1c).
Reporting log books to the Federation
Two of the club’s three yearly Scheme reports are about log books, and both go to the Issuing Body:
| Report | Due | Clause |
|---|---|---|
| Logbook Declaration (form from www.fhmcsa.org.au) | Within two months of the end of the financial year | 2.30 |
| Report of log books issued to members | Within three months of the end of the financial year | 2.32 |
Both are much easier when the register is kept up to date through the year. Due dates, a worked calendar and the third report (to the Registrar) are in the guide to the yearly Scheme reports.
Records to keep
The club must keep records of all log books issued to financial members for five years from the date of the document, along with MR334 records and other Scheme administration documents (clause 2.39). The Department may audit them, and inadequate records can lead to the club losing its recognition (clause 2.40).
A log book register that will stand up to an audit records, for each book: the book number, the member, the vehicle and its plate, the category, the date issued, the date it reaches three years, its status, and the date and reason for any cancellation. The free log book register template has these columns ready to use.
How MemberCrew helps
MemberCrew keeps each log book on the vehicle it belongs to, with the vehicle’s full log book history, and tracks each one as current, expired or cancelled. It lists lapsed members who still hold log books and produces the log book reports for the Federation in one click, ready for the club to send. MemberCrew records log books; the club still issues the Federation’s books and lodges its own reports. See vehicles and log books in MemberCrew.
For the wider picture of the club’s duties, start with the guide to the Conditional Registration Scheme.