A special seminar as part of the Australian Auto Aftermarket Expo will provide a close-up look at the new Law in action

In a phenomenal moment for the Australian Automotive Aftermarket industry, the Mandatory Data Sharing legislation which the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA) had campaigned for more than 12 years was passed into Law in 2021.
Since then, the AAAA has been spearheading the work required to make the law operational by the July 1 2022 commencement date.
The new Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Information Sharing Scheme law will, for the first time, amend the Competition and Consumer Act (CCA) to establish a scheme for motor vehicle service and repair information to be shared with all Australian repairers and Registered Training Organisations (RTOs).
It has been designed to provide a fairer playing field for the repair and service of the automotive brands available in Australia in an industry worth $25 billion annually, compelling car manufacturers to share all mechanical repair and service information with the independent auto repair sector on “fair and reasonable commercial terms”.
Also unique to this law is the fact that it requires the establishment of an industry body to operationalise the scheme. From this requirement, the Australian Automotive Service and Repair Authority (AASRA) has been developed, pulling directors and alternative directors from the
AAAA, Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA), Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and the Motor Trades Association of Australia (MTAA), supported by an independent chair.
AAAA Chief Executive Officer, Stuart Charity, recently provided an update on the progress of the law and AASRA as part of a series of informative member webinars hosted by the AAAA.
This webinar acted as an educational precursor to a special presentation which will be held as part of the AAAExpo’s comprehensive seminar program.
The “Fair and Open Competition in the Automotive Industry” seminar will be presented by the AAAA’s Director of Government Relations and Advocacy, Lesley Yates. Answering questions such as how is it going to work, does the new law increase competition and choice for consumers, and does it guarantee fair and open competition in our industry, the seminar is expected to be a ‘hot ticket’ at the show.
Expo attendees will not only have the chance to hear direct from Lesley on how the new law will operate and the benefits and challenges ahead, but walk-throughs of how independent repairers can utilise the secure data release model in real time are also planned.

“The timing of the Expo and its seminar on this subject is quite perfect, as the Expo is being held 11 weeks out from the launch of the mandatory data sharing scheme,” Stuart said.
“We will be undertaking a lot of activity at the Expo around informing the industry of what is going on and how they can use those 11 weeks to prepare, both in Lesley’s seminar and at the Workshop of the Future Pavilion.
“We are even working towards providing a live demonstration of how the AASRA system will work with participating OEMs.
“While we still have a bit to do, there is and will be plenty to talk about at the Expo. We have a lot in place and this has been a complex and massive task – we are kind of creating history here, as there is nothing like this scheme around the world.
“A lot of work at the moment is around the onboarding of car companies to the AASRA platform, and already 37 car brands operating in Australia have committed to the AASRA platform.
“We have finalised the scheme rules and we have launched the website and the secure data release platform, and those will be progressively updated as we get ready to go from July 1.
“It is a really exciting time.”
The Fair and Open Competition in the Automotive Industry seminar is just one of many free seminars across the three days of the Expo focusing on the topics that matter to the automotive industry.
The comprehensive Seminar Series is complemented by the highly anticipated Workshop of the Future pavilion, replicating a futuristic workshop and bringing together state-of-the-art equipment and technology with regular presentations from industry experts across four key zones, providing workshops a path to begin a pivot toward meeting the needs of the changing car parc.

Click here to learn more about the Pavilion

To register for the ‘Fair and Open Competition in the Automotive Industry’ Seminar and view the full seminar program, visit www.autoaftermarketexpo.com.au/visiting/seminar-series-2022 or for the Collision Repair Expo Seminar Series, visit www.collisionrepair.com.au/visiting/seminar-series-2022. Registration is free to all those in the trade, and simply by registering and attending the event, you will go in the draw to win a $3,000 Visa Gift Card.

For AAAExpo information, visit www.autoaftermarketexpo.com.au