Right to Repair laws one step closer

Australian consumers are one step closer to obtaining their right to repair their own products or have them fixed by a repairer of their choice, following the conclusion of a year-long inquiry by the Productivity Commission.

On Wednesday (December 1, 2021), the Productivity Commission made public its final inquiry report on the issue of a right to repair in Australia. The report was handed to the Government on October 29, 2021.

Currently, in Australia, there is no legislation protecting a consumer’s right to repair their own products without having to engage the manufacturer or an authorised dealer or repairer. This especially concerns the agriculture industry whereby manufacturers are increasingly making it hard for farmers or fleet managers to fix their own machines, leading to increased downtime.

This is often due to increased complexity in the technology and computer software involved, making it near impossible for a machine owner or independent repairer to access the tools needed to fix the equipment.

The increasing noise around Right to Repair finally prompted Federal Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, to request an inquiry into the issue in October last year.

The Tractor and Machinery Association of Australia, alongside multiple machinery manufacturers, released a joint statement in July 2021 in support of law amendments to grant farmers the right to repair, however cautioning against modifications and rogue repairers.

A year of public submissions and hearings later, the Productivity Commission has released its final report, which finds there to be “significant and unnecessary barriers to repair for some products.”

The Productivity Commission has also released a series of recommendations to the Government that includes:

More significantly for the farming industry, the Productivity Commission is recommending the Government require suppliers of agricultural machinery provide access to certain repair supplies to fast track repair, as well as amend copyright laws to facilitate the accessing and sharing of repair information (such as repair manuals and repair data hidden behind digital locks).

One organisation which has been lobbying for law amendments to grant consumers a right to repair is the National Farmers' Federation (NFF), which welcomed the report findings.

"Farmers, as small business owners, should have the same right as anyone else to have their machinery repaired by a suitable qualified repairer, without the fear of losing their warranty, and without being locked into needlessly exorbitant repairs by the dealership network and for spare parts," said NFF CEO, Tony Mahar.

"Maintenance and repairs of farm machinery is not an opportunity for dealers to dip their hands into the pocket of the farmer and to bulk up their profit margins.

“The introduction of a right to repair will ensure farmers get a good price for any repairs through a more competitive market for aftersales services.”

The NFF said it seeks to work with manufacturer and dealership representatives to ensure an effective right to repair scheme that creates true competition in the aftersales market for agricultural machinery, while addressing any potential or perceived safety concerns and ensuring a workable framework for manufacturers and dealers.

"A right to repair will capture some of the good practice already demonstrated by some machinery suppliers and dealerships, we understand that most manufacturers and dealers want to do the right thing by their customers – a right to repair will remove the perverse financial incentive to use aftersales services to squeeze more money out of farmers,” Mahar said.

The Productivity Commission has recommended the Government design and implement an agriculture specific Right To Repair scheme by the end of 2022.

"We urge the Treasurer to take immediate action and commence the design of a right to repair scheme for agricultural machinery," Mahar said.