AAAA News

How the Motor Vehicle Information Scheme has changed our industry.

It is hard to believe that a year has passed since the game-changing Motor Vehicle Information Scheme (MVIS) became a reality.

We championed this law on behalf of our industry and consumers, and the new law is already having a positive impact on workshops, and their customers.

Operationalising the law was always going to be a huge undertaking. The formation of the Australian Automotive Service and Repair Authority (AASRA), our work behind the scenes to create an Australian specific secure data release model and website, and then managing the roll out of the AASRA Portal to the industry has been a challenging, but very rewarding undertaking.

The law, through the AASRA Portal, now provides over 3,000 AASRA subscribers with easy access to dealership level vehicle service and repair information, and that number continues to grow. The vast majority of subscribers are independent repairers, with dealerships, collision repairers and locksmiths also represented.

After initial teething problems with technology and resources, Rodger Nardi was appointed as the AASRA Executive Officer in December last year. Since joining AASRA, Rodger has been instrumental in advocating for and supporting the sustainability and continual improvement of the AASRA Portal for the industry.

Today, subscription applications and missing information reports are now processed quickly, and the AASRA website continues to be improved. Approved vehicle security professional subscribers are also now receiving instantaneous vehicle security codes from some manufacturers upon request. This is a welcome, and important new efficiency and AASRA aims to have this service available to subscribers from the majority of volume manufacturers over the coming months and years.

We are very proud that thousands of technicians now enjoy the benefits of immediate access to dealership level service and repair information through the AASRA Portal. The Portal is available to all Australian technicians and if you are not a subscriber, I encourage you to check out AASRA and experience the advantages of joining by visiting www.aasra.com.au

On the topic of the automotive industry skills shortage, it is time to talk about technician remuneration. Technician salary levels are regularly cited as one of the main barriers to attracting and retaining skilled talent. Along with research partner Fifth Quadrant, we undertook a groundbreaking salary benchmarking survey with technicians across the country to remove this conjecture.

The results of this highly anticipated survey are about to be released and will allow us to understand what best practice looks like regarding remuneration and conditions. The full survey findings will soon be available to all AAAA members via our Member Portal, and for our WA members, we will present the survey findings at our upcoming member event in Perth on the
29th of August. To register for this event, or find out about our other upcoming member events, visit www.aaaa.com.au/upcoming-events

Another exciting development is the arrival of two electric vehicles at the Auto Innovation Centre. The AIC was the recipient of a Victorian Government EV Grant, with two new vehicles purchased to support our industry as we begin the EV transition. A Polestar 2 will be used by the AAAA to facilitate the training of technicians on EV safety and competency and for furthering our understanding of EV servicing and repair requirements. The Ford F-150 Lightning will support our vehicle modification sector and is currently the only F-150 Lightning commercially available to the industry for testing and product development purposes. Please contact us or the AIC if you would like access to these vehicles – you can find contact details for the AIC at
www.autoic.com.au/contact-us

Finally, I wish to inform you of a change to the dates of the 2024 Australian Auto Aftermarket Expo. The Formula 1 Championship recently released its dates for 2024 and the Melbourne race dates were a direct clash with our Auto Aftermarket industry event. This was frustrating as we had strategically chosen March dates for our Expo based on the previous two Melbourne F1 races being held in April.

Given the impact the clash of the Melbourne F1 GP had on our 2022 Expo visitor numbers, the inevitable spike in accommodation rates and flight costs for our anticipated 5,000 travelling exhibitors and visitors, and complications for companies who are involved in both events, retaining our original dates in March was an unacceptable proposition.

As a result, we have secured new Expo dates of Thursday the 11th to Saturday the 13th of April, 2024.
I apologise for any disruption this may cause; however Formula 1 date scheduling is outside our control. With the new dates locked in, we now look forward to delivering our biggest and most impressive Australian Auto Aftermarket Expo ever!

If you want to be a part of Expo 2024, email events@aaaa.com (exhibitor enquiries) or
partnerships@aftermarketexpo.com.au (sponsorship enquiries).

This article was originally published in the August Australian Automotive Aftermarket Magazine.