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The AAAA government relations and industry advocacy strategy has the objective of supporting and growing our industry, we have a significant record of accomplishment over the past six years and we have and a range of exciting new initiatives underway.
The AAAA represents the automotive aftermarket industry before federal, state and local governments and other regulatory bodies. We actively participate in vehicle standards reviews, government and parliamentary inquires, and we both initiate policy reform and respond to any proposed regulatory changes that affect our industry. We regularly consult with our members on government and regulatory matters, we have dedicated internal resources to support our advocacy program and we gain intelligence and strategy advice from our relationships with international aftermarket associations. Our work is underpinned by good research and well considered strategy and we are vigilant in monitoring government actions and proposals that affect our members.
We are active in many government policy and advocacy areas including design, vehicle standards, retail, service & repair, trade & innovation policy, and competition & business regulation.
Our current program of activities includes our strategic and comprehensive efforts on issues critical to fair competition in our industry. Our Choice of Repairer advocacy program includes representation on critical issues including access to data, telematics, warranties and capped-price servicing.
Our output in any one year is considerable and too numerous to list here, but our most recent gains and our major submissions to government for 2014-2015 are listed below.
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15/12/2014 - CHOICE OF REPAIRER CAMPAIGN
Launched in 2009, this long standing campaign has focused on maintaining car owners rights to have their vehicle serviced and maintained though the workshop of their choice. On 15th December 2014, the AAAA signed an historic automotive industry Heads of Agreement with other automotive industry peak bodies on access to service and repair information for motor vehicles. Please click the link below to view a copy of the agreement.
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17/11/2014 - COMPETITION POLICY REVIEW
The Federal Government is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of competition policy in Australia. In our initial (confidential) submission we provided examples of a range of anti-competitive practices occurring in our industry and argued that there is a lack of enforcement instruments or sanctions available to the ACCC meaning that this market behaviour continues unabated. In our follow up submission to the draft report released by the review panel, we supported the majority of the recommendations with the highlights being the proposed changes to third line forcing, bringing in a division between the enforcement and education activities of the ACCC and the opportunity for more ‘market studies’. Please click on the link below to view a copy of the AAAA submission.
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20/10/2014 - REVIEW OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE STANDARDS ACT
In September 2014 the Federal Government released a call for submissions on proposed reforms to Federal Motor Vehicles Standards Act. This review covers a number of critical issues including the potential abolition of Australian Design Rules, import restrictions and duties on second hand (and new) vehicles and national harmonisation of in-service vehicles standards. Please click the link below to view a copy of the AAAA submission.
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1/09/2014 - BULL BAR ISSUES – NSW
In 2014 NSW Police began a blitz to take non-compliant bull bars off the road. This blitz was predominately focused in regional NSW and led to a significant backlash from a number of stakeholder groups. The main issue was that for so long non-compliant bars have been sold and fitted in NSW that many consumers believed that they were in fact legal. A working party has been established and AAAA is working closely with other stakeholders to ensure that a common sense process is followed and that compliant bull bars can continue to be sold in NSW.
AAAA has maintained a consistent message when it comes to the fitment of bull bars. Please click on the link below to view a copy of the AAAA Bullbar Industry Position Paper.
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1/09/2014 - CHANGES TO NSW MOTOR DEALERS AND REPAIRERS REGULATION
During a review of the NSW Motor Dealers and Repairers Regulation 2014, the AAAA made a submission and follow up representations to the NSW Government on two major areas of concern - the Definition of Accessory Fitment and Display of License Details in Advertising. As a result of our submission the NSW Government accepted our revised definition of accessory fitment and the Department of Fair Trading have offered a clarification in respect
to the issue of displaying license details in advertising. Please click on the link below to view a copy of the AAAA submission.
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1/07/2014 - AUSTRALIA'S INNOVATION SYSTEM
The skill base and competitive attributes of the automotive aftermarket are broad, reflecting the wide span of the production and distribution supply chain of the sector. Aftermarket components are provided through multiple channels: car producers, vehicle service, collision repair, retail outlets and direct to car owners. As a consequence, the provision of components embraces many business processes including manufacturing, marketing and distribution of components. The capacity requirements include design, research and development, manufacturing, logistics and distribution, business development, marketing and export development. Products are frequently redesigned for different platforms and the sector is particularly skilled in niche markets and in best practice time-to-market design, manufacturing and delivery. Aftermarket manufacturers are innovative and nimble but the sector is owned by small and medium sized enterprises without dedicated testing facilities. We would like to see government playing a role in supporting innovation in the aftermarket to expand our product range and provide easier access into global markets. Please click on the link below to view the Submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Economics.
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1/11/2013 - PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION INQUIRY INTO AUSTRALIA'S AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY
Following the election of the new Federal Coalition Government in Australia in 2013, a major Productivity Commission inquiry into automotive industry assistance programs was undertaken. The AAAA submission delivers the message that automotive manufacturing in Australia will not completely cease after the exit of the car assemblers and there is a heightened need for Government to acknowledge and support automotive aftermarket manufacturing and exports. Please click the link below to view a copy of the AAAA submission.
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1/10/2013 - REVIEW OF THE DESIGNS ACT
The current Designs Act 2003 prohibits the ability of car manufacturers to register patents on spare parts which would give them exclusivity of the sale of that part for the period of the patent. In our submission to the review of this Act the AAAA argued that the current arrangements should be maintained as the exemption for spare and replacement parts encourages diversity and investment in the industry and provides car owners with choice and a cost effective alternative to the car maker’s braded parts. In December 2014 the Advisory Panel on Intellectual Property (ACIP) released their Options Paper and in line with our position stated “ACIP does not consider that s72 should be repealed or amended at this time”. Please click on the link below to view a copy of the AAAA submission.
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