Queensland State Archives posted a photo:
In Australia, panel vans were a development of the Australian “ute” (utility), a variety of pickup based on a car chassis They were first offered by Holden from December 1953 in the FJ model, and by Ford Australia from May 1961, based on the XK Falcon.
Painters, electricians, and general labourers quickly found panel vans ideal for their trades, as the cargo bay offering extended capacity otherwise wasted in passenger space, and a highly customisable interior, without the bulk or extended dimensions of other longer-base vans.
Australian police forces also purchased fleets of panel vans to use in a black maria, or paddywagon, role. These were known formally as Divisional Vans and in slang as Divvy Vans.
Panel vans enjoyed tremendous popularity in Australia throughout the 1970s, but by the late 1980s, they began to slowly disappear from Australian roads as demand fell and major manufacturers slowly ceased