Two registrars, one title
Clubs call their membership officer the registrar, and the Scheme is run by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles. They are different people with different jobs. On this page, “the club registrar” means you, and “the Registrar” means the State official.
The club registrar usually approves new members and keeps the register of members and their vehicles. In a club recognised for the Conditional Registration Scheme, the club registrar may also be one of its authorised persons, which brings duties set out in the Code.
Your year at a glance
Most of the club registrar’s work follows the Code. This table maps each job to the clause behind it and to the part of MemberCrew that helps.
| Your job | The Code | How MemberCrew helps |
|---|---|---|
| Approve new members | Club practice | New members show as Pending until the club registrar or an admin approves them |
| Confirm an applicant is financial | Clause 2.8 | Financial status sits on the member’s record |
| Complete MR334s | Clauses 2.8 to 2.11 | Vehicle details (plate, make, year, VIN) on the vehicle record |
| Issue log books | Clauses 2.27, 2.28, 2.31 | Each book recorded against its vehicle, with its issue date; no book for a member who is not financial |
| Cancel log books | Clause 2.29 | Cancelled with date and reason on resignation; history kept |
| Find lapsed holders | Clauses 2.33, 3.11 | The year-end compliance page, with a follow-up record per member |
| Yearly reports | Clauses 2.30, 2.32, 2.33 | Each report produced with its due date, to check and send |
| Keep records five years | Clause 2.39 | Records kept together; full export at any time |
Signing an MR334
As an authorised person, you approve applicants and their vehicles by completing the MR334, and in doing so you confirm the applicant is a financial member of the club (the Code, clause 2.8). Your SA client or licence number goes on every form you complete (clause 2.10).
The form has six mandatory vehicle details: the eligibility category, plate number, make, body type, year, and chassis or VIN (the Code, clause 2.8). If a vehicle is jointly owned, every owner must be a financial member (clause 3.1). You cannot approve your own vehicle or certify your own membership (clause 2.11).
In MemberCrew, the member’s record shows whether they are financial, and their vehicle record holds the plate, make, model, year, colour, engine and VIN. Checking those against the owner’s paperwork takes a minute instead of a search through two spreadsheets.
MemberCrew does not track MR334 form numbers yet; that is coming later. Until then, the duplicate copies in the MR334 booklet remain the record of each form’s number.
Your appointment lasts only while you remain a member of the club (the Code, clause 2.12). If you leave or step down, an elected official must tell the Registrar within 14 days (clause 2.13).
Issuing a log book: three checks
Before you hand over a log book, the Code asks for three checks:
- Financial. The applicant is a financial member of the club (the Code, clause 2.27).
- Owner of an eligible vehicle. They own a historic, left-hand drive, street rod or individually constructed vehicle eligible for the Scheme (clause 2.27).
- No other current book. As far as practicable, they do not already hold a log book from another club for the same vehicle, unless that club has cancelled it (clause 2.31).
The first two are on the member’s record in MemberCrew, and MemberCrew backs up both ends of the rule. It refuses to issue a log book to a member who is not financial, and it refuses a second live log book on the same vehicle, matching the owner’s duty not to hold more than one current book for a vehicle (the Code, clause 3.5g). A book from another club is a different matter: that depends on what the member tells you and what the previous club has done, which is why a transferring member’s old book matters.
A log book lasts up to three years from when it was first issued, and at the end of the third year the owner applies to the club for a new one (the Code, clause 2.28). In MemberCrew each book shows as current, expired or cancelled, with its full history on the vehicle. Two reports help you stay ahead: Log book renewals due (books reaching three years by the coming 30 June, and expired books) and Log books with no issue date, for older records you still need to chase.
Unissued books are your responsibility too. The club stores them securely and reports any loss to the Issuing Body straight away (the Code, clause 4.3).
Resignations, transfers and sales
Three events end a log book’s life early, and each is handled a little differently.
- Resignation. The club cancels the log book (the Code, clause 2.29). MemberCrew does this when the resignation is recorded, noting the date and reason.
- Transfer to another club. A change of membership is entered in the book. It can go back to the owner as part of the vehicle’s history and as evidence of days used that calendar year, but it cannot be used under the new club (clause 2.29). The new club issues a new MR334 before a new book (clause 3.9).
- Sale. Conditional registration cannot pass to the buyer. It is cancelled on the change of ownership, and the issuing club cancels the log book (clause 4.9).
In MemberCrew, cancelling a book keeps it in the vehicle’s history, so you can show later when and why it ended. The log book rules guide covers each case in more depth.
From the end of the financial year
The club registrar’s busiest stretch comes after the financial year closes. For a club whose financial year ends on 30 June, it runs like this:
- Once renewals close. MemberCrew’s year-end compliance page lists active members who are not financial, are not on a deemed tier such as Life, and still hold a log book. It shows their contact details, vehicles, registrations, book numbers and paid-through dates, and keeps a follow-up record for each member, so you can note every call and letter. Follow them up before anything is reported; our guide to lapsed members with log books suggests a fair process.
- At year end. An admin can cancel log books in bulk, with a dry run first so you can see exactly which books would be cancelled before anything changes.
- By 31 August. The report of members with Scheme vehicles who are no longer financial goes to the Registrar (the Code, clause 2.33), and the completed Logbook Declaration goes to the Federation of Historic Motoring Clubs SA (clause 2.30).
- By 30 September. The report of log books issued to members goes to the Federation (clause 2.32).
MemberCrew produces each report from the register and shows its due date for the year you select, on screen, in print or as a CSV file. The Logbook Declaration reproduces the Federation’s form wording with its blanks, adds the year’s figures and attaches the list of books issued. You still check and send each one; MemberCrew does not lodge anything with the Registrar or the Federation. The yearly Scheme reports guide explains each report and how to work out dates for other financial years.
The record you leave behind
The Code asks the club to keep, for five years from each document’s date, every vehicle approved on an MR334, the duplicate MR334 copies, every log book issued and the related membership records (the Code, clause 2.39). The duplicate copies stay in the booklet, which remains the Registrar’s property.
The register itself is what the next club registrar inherits. Because every change in MemberCrew is recorded in the activity log, they can see what you did and when, and the committee can download a full export of the club’s records at any time.