Transport for NSW sets the display rules for registered recreational vessels in New South Wales. This guide is written from the government’s own pages, not from other sticker shops. It covers powerboats, sailing vessels (including yachts), and tenders. If your boat is modified, interstate, or used commercially, confirm the current wording with Transport for NSW before you apply lettering.
NSW boat registration rules
Read first (NSW Government):
- What to display on your vessel
- How to register a vessel
- NSW Boating Handbook (PDF)
- Boat and vessel registration
Does this vessel even need NSW registration?
The Boating Handbook lists when a recreational vessel must be registered to use NSW waterways:
- powerboats and sailing boats with an engine of 4.0 kW or more (about 5 hp)
- powerboats and sailing boats 5.5 m or longer, with or without an engine
- vessels that need a mooring licence or marina berth
- personal watercraft (PWC)
You must be 16 or over to register. After approval you receive a certificate and a registration number (letters and numerals). NSW no longer requires a registration label on the hull. The number still has to be shown.
NSW Boat Registration Stickers 
NSW Boat Regos 
NSW jetski Regos NSW Yacht Registration Numbers
What NSW says the number must look like
From What to display on your vessel, every registered vessel must show its registration number:
- on both sides, or on the transom if it is a sailing boat
- in solid, clear characters
- in a colour that contrasts with the hull
- using numerals and uppercase letters
- well above the normal waterline, so it stays visible
Height minima on that page:
- Powerboats: at least 150 mm
- Sailing boats and PWC: at least 100 mm
The Marine Safety Regulation 2016 also makes it an offence to operate (or allow operation of) a registered vessel if the required number is defaced, obliterated, or not displayed as required.
A personalised NSW number can use up to six letters and numbers and must end with N. Transport can refuse offensive combinations. Personalised numbers follow the same display rules as standard numbers.
Powerboats
If Transport for NSW treats the vessel as a powerboat, use the 150 mm minimum on both sides of the hull, above the waterline, in uppercase contrasting characters.
Powered vessels (not sailing boats with an engine, and not PWC) also need a safety label: maximum people, load, and other safety information, placed where everyone on board can see it.
Most powerboats built after 1 July 2006 also need an Australian Builders Plate, permanently attached where the driver can see it (cockpit or near the helm). A modified boat may invalidate that plate.
Yachts and other sailing vessels
NSW uses “sailing boat” for vessels that use sail — including yachts with an auxiliary engine. If the vessel is registered, the number still has to be shown.
Differences that matter for display:
- you may put the number on the transom instead of both hull sides
- the height minimum is 100 mm, not 150 mm
- contrast, uppercase, and waterline rules are unchanged
Licensing is separate from display. A sailing boat using its engine at 10 knots or more needs a NSW general boat driving licence. Registration display still applies whenever the vessel is registered.
Tenders
The Boating Handbook defines a tender as a boat under 7.5 m used to move people or goods between shore and a parent vessel (or another vessel). It stops being a tender if it goes more than 1 nautical mile from the parent.
There is no NSW Government shortcut that says “tenders skip registration numbers.” If the tender itself must be registered (engine size, length, or mooring/marina rules), it must show its number like any other registered vessel.
Equipment (Handbook), which is not the same as lettering:
- Up to 3 m: paddle or oars; bucket, bailer or bilge pump; waterproof torch at night.
- Same as powerboats and sailing boats if it goes more than 200 m from shore on enclosed waters, or anywhere on open waters.
- Over 3 m: same safety equipment as powerboats and sailing boats.
If a dinghy is being used as a tender, use the tender equipment rules.
Other marks NSW still wants on the boat
From the same government pages:
- HIN / Boatcode — permanently attached and clearly shown on the hull.
- PWC behaviour label — required on all PWC.
- ABP — as above for most powerboats and some PWC.
Practical check before you order lettering
- Confirm the vessel must be registered in NSW.
- Decide the category: powerboat (150 mm, both sides) or sailing/PWC (100 mm, sides or transom for sailing).
- Keep characters uppercase, solid, and contrasting.
- Sit them above the waterline so they stay readable.
- Check HIN, safety label, and ABP for that vessel.
- Re-read the official “What to display” page if anything has changed.
Please Note: The information provided is for informational purposes. Rules do change. Before placing any order for boat registration stickers please confirm with Transport for NSW — Maritime on 13 12 36.
