Note, however, that a form of third-party insurance is included in the vehicle registration fees: https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/registration/registration-fees

Note, however, that a form of third-party insurance is included in the vehicle registration fees: https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/registration/registration-fees/about-the-transport-accident-commision-tac-charge https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/registration/registration-fe.... For a regular car, the TAC charge and its 10% insurance duty are somewhat more than the registration fee (my most recent annual renewal had a $302.40 registration fee and a $413.60 TAC charge + insurance duty, as one garaged in a low-risk zone; that increases to $532.40 if you’re in a high-risk zone, which looks to be not far off “metropolitan Melbourne”). The TAC charge being a form of third-party insurance and mandatory commonly misleads people into thinking that what’s normally called “third-party insurance” is mandatory, but as you say, it’s not.