It's a landmark day for the Australian Mechanic Industry! The mandatory sharing of vehicle service and repair information to independent repairs has been passed in the senate and will be law on the 1st of July 2022.
The ‘Competition and Consumer Amendment (Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Information Sharing Scheme) Bill 2021 has been welcomed by mechanics in the Australian motor industry. The bill was presented at the house on March 24th, the senate on the 15th of June and passed on the 17th of June 2021.
The aim of the bill is to promote competition within the automotive sector by giving the aftermarket repairers access to all the requisite repair data that a car dealership service centre has. It is reported that 1 in 10 motor vehicles taken to a repair workshop in Australia are affected by minimal or lack of access to repair information. With that being said, this results in higher service and maintenance costs for consumers and a greater monopoly for car manufacturers.
Prior to the legislation being past the manufacturers had the option to provide important service and repair information to specific franchise dealer mechanics only instead of the wider repair networks. For many dealerships the servicing department is a much larger source of profit than the sale of the car itself.
Assistant treasurer Michael Sukkar, commented that the legislation changes will translate into cheaper servicing and maintenance from mechanics due to increased competition and flexible information sharing.
“This is a huge win for car owners, The average household spends more than $1500 a year on servicing and repairing their car. By levelling the playing field for independent repairers and creating a more competitive market, these reforms will bring down the cost of owning a car.”
“Under these reforms, consumers will be able to go to a repairer of their choice without having to worry about whether they have the information to do the job.”
The biggest positive of the legislation is it ensures a strong and competitive Australian automotive service and repair industry. It is estimated that the move will keep over 106,000 Australian mechanics in jobs.
The Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Information Sharing Scheme is to come into effect on July 1, 2022.
For more information on the scheme click here.