Right to Repair Inquiry report
This report was sent to the Australian Government on 29 October 2021 and publicly released on 1 December 2021.
The report sets out the commission’s findings and recommendations on the issue of a right to repair in Australia. The focus has been on whether there are barriers to repair that may require a government policy response, either through existing or new laws.
Read the full Right to Repair report here.
Key points
This report finds that there are significant and unnecessary barriers to repair for some products. It proposes a suite of measures that aim to enhance consumers’ right to repair while providing net benefits to the community.
A ‘right to repair’ is the ability of consumers to have their products repaired at a competitive price using a repairer of their choice. Realising this aspiration in a practical way involves a range of policies, including consumer and competition law, intellectual property protections, product labelling, and environmental and resource management.
Consumers already have rights to have their products repaired, replaced or refunded, and to access spare parts and repair facilities, under consumer guarantees in the Australian Consumer Law. These guarantees are reasonably comprehensive and generally work well, but they should be improved by:
introducing a new guarantee for manufacturers to provide software updates for a reasonable time period after the product has been purchased, to reflect the increasing dependence of consumer products on embedded software
expanding options for ensuring compliance with, and enforcement of, the guarantees to assist individual consumers to resolve their claims and for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to address systemic breaches of consumer guarantees
requiring manufacturer warranties to include text stating that entitlements to a remedy under the consumer guarantees do not require consumers to have previously used authorised repair services or spare parts, so that consumers are more aware of their rights.
There are several opportunities to give independent repairers greater access to repair supplies, and increase competition for repair services, without compromising public safety or discouraging innovation. To this end, the Australian Government should:
require suppliers of agricultural machinery to provide access to certain repair supplies to reduce the harm of the pervasive barriers to accessing these inputs
undertake more detailed investigations into specific product markets (including mobile phones and tablets, and medical devices) to better understand the extent of harm and examine whether additional regulation would yield net benefits.
amend copyright laws to facilitate the accessing and sharing of repair information (such repair manuals, and repair data hidden behind digital locks).
A lack of consumer information about a product’s repairability or durability is likely to make it difficult for some consumers to select more repairable and durable products based on their preferences, while reducing manufacturers’ incentives to develop such products. To address this issue:
the Australian Government (in consultation with consumer, environmental, and industry groups) should introduce a product labelling scheme that provides repairability and/or durability information for consumers. A pilot scheme should target a limited number of white goods and consumer electronics products.
There is also scope to improve the way products are managed over their life, to reduce e-waste ending up in landfill. In particular, the government should amend product stewardship schemes to allow for reused e-waste to be counted in scheme targets. Further, the use of electronic trackers within product stewardship schemes should increase, to improve awareness of the end-of-life location of e-waste and ensure it is being sent to environmentally-sound facilities.
Read the full Right to Repair report here.
Response – Choice, 1 December 2021
Choice comments on Productivity Commission report
Quotes attributable to Erin Turner, Director of Campaigns, Choice.
“This report provides a road map to create a strong and useful right to repair in Australia.”
“Most Australians want stronger repair rights. Less than a quarter of people access their repair rights when a product they own breaks. The Australian Government should adopt all of the recommendations made by the Productivity Commission. Implementing these strong recommendations will remove the significant barriers that people face when trying to get their products repaired.”
“The major change with the final report is a new recommendation to develop a labelling scheme to help people find durable and repairable products. A durability label will give people the information they need at the time they need it most – when they are buying a product. When we asked consumers what would help them access repairs, 88% of people called for a star rating system to indicate how long a product should last.
“A durability label will make it easier for people to know how long their product can be repaired and how long their consumer rights apply. It will also drive businesses to make longer lasting products. We’ve seen improvements to the energy and water efficiency of products through mandatory labelling schemes addressing those issues and we expect the same for the durability of products.
“The super complaints scheme recommended by the Productivity Commission will mean that big consumer problems will be identified earlier and better quality information will be provided to help regulators act quickly. A similar super complaints scheme in the UK has helped to identify problems from transport compensation through to the loyalty penalty people pay when they stay with a company for years.”
