You walked back to the car and found a crumpled rear quarter panel and no note. If you are lucky, a witness wrote down the number plate or your dashcam caught it. Here is the catch: you cannot send a demand to a number plate, and in most of Australia the transport registry will not hand a stranger the owner’s name. The road to that name runs through a police report, and every state and territory runs it differently.
This guide sets out, jurisdiction by jurisdiction, how you get from a plate to a name and address, how long each step takes, and what to have ready when the name arrives. Once you have it, Claim Done’s Car Accident Damage Claim drafts the demand to the owner or driver for a flat $49, and you approve it before it is sent.
Why the plate alone gets you nowhere
Registries guard owner details closely. VicRoads says its paid Vehicle Report gives information about the vehicle “but not the vehicle’s registered owner”. Transport for New South Wales does release a registered operator’s details after an accident, but through Form 1046, which is only open to a solicitor already engaged for proceedings.
So the police report does the heavy lifting. In New South Wales and Western Australia, the official guidance says the report itself names the other party and gives their contact details. In Queensland and Tasmania, it is the document that unlocks the transport registry. Either way, job one is getting the crash onto the police record.
The first 24 hours: report it and freeze the footage
Report it even if it feels minor. Queensland Police treat a crash where a driver has failed to provide the required details as a reportable crash, handled through Policelink on 131 444 or at a station. In the Australian Capital Territory, every collision must by law be reported to police within 24 hours, and the online form produces a collision report number.
The other driver had duties too, and they belong in your demand. The New South Wales Police Force crash FAQs list a party failing to stop and exchange particulars as one of the “Major Traffic Crash” criteria that police investigate, and tell a driver who hits an unattended parked car and cannot exchange details to call police. Transport Victoria states that where property is damaged and the owner is not there, the driver must report the crash to the nearest police station. South Australia Police require a report at a station within 24 hours where details were not exchanged, and a hit-run cannot be reported online there. A driver who did none of that has a problem, and your letter can say so.
Then chase the footage, today. Write to the car park operator or centre management with the date, the level or bay, and a two-hour window, and ask them to preserve the recording and release it to police. These systems record over themselves on a cycle, so a plain request sent on day one beats a perfect one sent on day ten. Check your own dashcam or sentry recording, ask the shops facing the spot, and get any witness’s name and mobile number in writing.
Ready to put it in writing?
Claim Done drafts your letter, application, response or agreement from your answers, from A$29. You review and approve it before anything is sent or lodged. No lawyer's retainer, no subscription.
Ready to put it in writing?
Answer 3 quick questions to check you have the details your document needs, and see your next step.
1. Who is this about?
2. How much is at stake?
3. Do you have it in writing?
Your result is ready. Where should we send it?
State by state: from a plate to a name
New South Wales. Apply for the motor vehicle accident report through the police Community Portal with your event number. Legal Aid New South Wales says it usually arrives within 10 to 15 working days, normally lists the drivers’ names and contact details and the registration numbers, and the fee is not reduced for hardship. Without a police report, the fallback is an access application to Transport for New South Wales under the GIPA Act, which the agency weighs against the other person’s privacy and consults them about before deciding.
Victoria. Victoria Police releases traffic accident reports to a party to the accident for listed purposes, and recovering loss or damage is one of them. You apply online with a statutory declaration. The fee is $89.80, and you should allow at least 10 working days. Nothing is released until the traffic matter is approved, which takes longer while the offender has not been located.
Queensland. Get the police traffic incident report through CITEC Confirm; the Queensland Police FAQs say anyone whose property was damaged can access it for a fee. Then lodge a Form F3522 release of information request at a transport and motoring customer service centre, with that report and a statutory declaration describing the accident, witnessed by a Justice of the Peace or Commissioner for Declarations. A fee applies. It is the clearest two-step path in the country.
Western Australia. Vehicle and property owners can apply for a Crash Incident Report from the Western Australia Police Force. The abridged report includes the name and address of the nominated drivers or registered owners. It will not say who was at fault. That part is on you.
South Australia. South Australia Police processes crash report applications made for insurance purposes or insurance-related litigation within 14 working days. If you are claiming yourself rather than through an insurer, the police guidance points you to a freedom of information application instead. The insurance-route application has to be witnessed by a police officer or Justice of the Peace, with 100 points of identification.
Tasmania. Request the crash report from Tasmania Police Accident Records, which charges a $53.90 file service fee. With that report in hand, a person actually involved in the accident who needs to identify the other party can lodge a Release of Information (MR89) application at Service Tasmania, according to Transport Tasmania.
Australian Capital Territory. Police Accident Records releases reports for purposes such as civil disputes, but considers a request from an individual only with evidence supporting legal proceedings or other mitigating circumstances. A non-injury report costs $15 and takes about 30 working days. If the other driver never lodged their own online report, their details cannot be given to you.
Northern Territory. Apply to Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services for a Motor Vehicle Crash Report, at a police station or by sending the form to the Information Access Team. The fee is 50 revenue units, a dollar figure reset every 1 July.
The waiting, done honestly
Add those processing times up. In the Australian Capital Territory, 30 working days is roughly six calendar weeks before a name arrives. In Victoria, two weeks is the best case. That wait is normal and it does not weaken the claim itself: Legal Aid New South Wales puts the time limit for starting a court case over vehicle repairs at six years in that state. What the wait does damage is evidence. The footage request, the quotes and the witness details belong in week one, not after the name turns up.
Owner or driver: who gets the demand
The report or the registry gives you a registered owner, who may not be the person who was driving. Address the demand to the owner, set out the date, place and damage, attach the evidence, and ask them to pay or to confirm in writing who had the car that day. Legal Aid New South Wales notes that in some cases the owner, not the driver, ends up responsible. If the owner names someone else, the demand goes to that driver next, and the owner’s reply joins your file.
Evidence that makes a demand hard to ignore
Start with two itemised written quotes from licensed repairers. Add photos of the damage close up and from a distance, showing paint transfer and the height of the impact; a scrape at bumper or tow-bar height tells its own story about the kind of vehicle involved. Keep the police event number and the report, the footage or the operator’s written refusal, and receipts for any towing or hire car. A witness who saw it happen should give a short signed account while it is fresh, and a properly structured witness statement written now carries far more weight than a recollection dug up months later.
If the demand is ignored
The demand sets a deadline, usually 14 days, and says where the claim goes next. In Queensland, that is QCAT’s minor civil dispute jurisdiction, which covers property damage caused by a motor vehicle up to $25,000. In New South Wales it is the Local Court, whose Small Claims Division hears claims up to $20,000 and General Division up to $100,000. Our not-at-fault accident guide covers the court or tribunal for every other state and territory, and the parked-car demand guide covers the letter when the driver did leave a note and then went quiet.
What Claim Done does, and what it costs
The Car Accident Damage Claim is a flat $49. You answer questions about the collision and tell us about the report, quotes and photos. Claim Done’s document engine drafts a demand addressed to the owner or driver, and to their insurer if you know it, that itemises the loss, points to each piece of evidence and sets a deadline. You review and approve every word, and then it is sent by email. No retainer, no subscription, and no paying a lawyer to write a letter you could have had today.
If the deadline passes and the claim is headed to QCAT, the Tribunal Application is $97. It prepares the application and a witness statement, and you lodge it yourself. Claim Done is not a law firm: it turns your facts and evidence into a properly structured document. Every service is listed on the pricing page.
The police report is the slow part. The demand does not have to be. When the name and address land, start your Car Accident Damage Claim, tell us what you have gathered, and have a demand ready to approve and send the same day.
Frequently asked questions
Can I find out who owns a car from its number plate online?
Not from a public website. VicRoads says its paid Vehicle Report covers the vehicle but not the registered owner, and other registries work the same way. The owner's name comes through the police crash report or, in Queensland and Tasmania, a release application to the transport department backed by that report.
Will police investigate a hit and run on my parked car?
It depends on the state and the circumstances. In New South Wales, a party failing to stop and exchange particulars is one of the criteria for a crash police investigate. Report it either way, because the event or report number is what every later step asks for.
What if the owner says someone else was driving?
Ask them to name the driver in writing, then send the demand to that person and keep the owner's reply as evidence. Legal Aid New South Wales notes that in some cases the owner, not the driver, ends up responsible, so keep the owner on your file until someone pays.
How long do I have to make the claim?
In New South Wales, Legal Aid New South Wales says you have six years from the accident to start a court case to recover the cost of repairing your vehicle. Other states and territories set their own limits, so check your court or tribunal's website. The practical deadline is much shorter, because footage is recorded over and witnesses forget.
Do I need the police report before sending a demand?
No, not if you already have the other person's name and address from a note, a witness or the driver. In that case send the demand now. The police report route is for when all you have is a plate.
What happens when you put it in writing — properly
Same problem. What a prepared case looks like.