Census of Motor Vehicle Licences in New South Wales, December 1971

80-column punched cards stored details of all classes of motor vehicle licences in New South Wales in 1971, excluding Metropolitan taxi licences. The census was conducted by the NSW Department of Motor Transport to provide a detailed breakdown before data migration to a large computer system. It captures the distinct licence classes required for motorcycles, cars, trucks, and other commercial vehicles.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the distribution of vehicle licence classes across New South Wales based on the described categories.
• Studying the administrative transition from punched-card systems to computer databases based on the data migration context.
• Comparing the prevalence of commercial vehicle licences (Classes 2-5) against standard private licences.
• Researching historical data processing methods for government records based on the 80-column punched card format.

Strengths

• Provides a detailed snapshot of vehicle licensing from a specific historical point (December 1971).
• Distinguishes between multiple licence classes (1-6) with specific privileges, as described.
• Originates from an authoritative government source (NSW Department of Motor Transport).

Limitations

• Excludes a specific category of licences (16,000 Metropolitan taxi licences).
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data is available only in PDF format, which may complicate machine-readability and analysis.

Provenance

Source

NSW Government, Department of Motor Transport

Collection Method

Administrative records stored on 80-column punched cards.

Time Range

December 1971

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-26 19:20:51.560706; freshness should be verified.

Geography

New South Wales, Australia