The Right to Repair movement in Australia is taking shape

Have you ever faced a situation where the battery in your iPhone doesn’t last longer than your commute to work, and the only way to get your promised 14 hours of screen time is by paying an exorbitant fee to Apple?

Well, this is because in Australia the Right to Repair or replace components in your electronics lies with the manufacturer. And this is why you may end up paying hundreds of dollars for a battery that costs the manufacturer a fraction of that.

Not ideal right?

What is the Right to Repair and why should you care?

As a consumer, we should be able to choose to have our phone repaired or replaced by whomever we like. Whether that’s through the manufacturer, the repair shop on the corner, or anyone else for that matter, who’s licensed to do so.

If you think about cars as an example, we’re perfectly within our rights to go to the manufacturer directly and pay $300 for a new car battery or to our local mechanic who can do the job for half the price.

For this very reason, we have to ask, why should electronics be any different?

How does the Right to Repair affect you?

Without legislation in place that allows for third parties to repair or replace electronic components in smartphones and other devices, it not only creates unfair competition where prices are driven up, but it also means that as a society we end up sending more e-waste to landfill. And this is something we should all care enough to stop.

The Australian Repair Summit

Last month, Rebold participated in the online Australian Repair Summit, a yearly event held by Griffith’s University. We joined a group of keen eyes and ears to discuss important topics about the Right to Repair movement.

This year they focused on the Right to Repair in the automotive and agricultural industries and also gave a general overview of the Right to Repair in Australia. If you’re interested in watching the whole thing just click here.

For those of you looking for a quick overview of what took place at the Australian Repair Summit, below are some of our key takeaways.

This year’s Summit began with Stuart Charity, CEO of the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA).

His job is to protect consumer rights in the automotive industry and this year the association achieved a landmark victory, the Competition and Consumer Amendment Bill 2021.

This bill is one of the first of its kind to protect the Rights to Repair vehicles in Australia. It’s fair to say this was no easy feat, with manufacturers using an array of objections ranging from:

• ‘You’re not looking in the right place’,
• ‘Repairer’s aren’t investing in the right technology’,
• ‘They have a lack of necessary training’,
• ‘Car’s are being repaired so there is no problem here’

We were also lucky enough to hear from iFixit’s CEO Kyle Wiens, who creates free manuals and videos that cover how to repair your phone, computer, camera, and even your vehicle.

Coming from a phone repairing background, Wiens talked about his experience in the marketplace, describing the difficulties he faced when trying to find basic documentation covering the phone’s manufacturing design and if or when you did, you risked being chased by large corporations, including Apple and Samsung.

The future and what’s next for the Right to Repair?

The passing of the Competition and Consumer Amendment Bill 2021 is a step in the right direction for the Right to Repair and the future of increased competition, lower consumer costs, and hopefully a reduction in e-waste.

Obviously, this is a work in progress and something we all need to strive towards to make a change.

If each of us can rally behind the Right to Repair and push for increased competition in the marketplace to help reduce the monopoly that manufacturers currently hold, we can positively affect our future.

In saying that, we must celebrate these small victories when we get them, and in the words of Stuart Charity….

‘There’s still more work to be done.’