This is the second stage in the review of laws affecting motor vehicle dealers and repairers in Western Australia

Status: Closed, Friday 18 December 2015

A combined review of the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act 1973 and the Motor Vehicle Repairers Act 2003 has been completed.

The community’s views were sought about options for reforming the laws regulating motor vehicle dealers, yard managers, salespersons and motor vehicle repairers operating in WA.

Review purpose

The key purpose of the review was to assess the effectiveness of the legislation and to ensure it is appropriate and operating in the interests of both consumers and industry.

Review finding

The review found that the legislation appears to be operating reasonably well but that there remains scope for a number of regulatory reforms.

Key Points:

Full details in relation to the range of reform options under consideration were included in the consultation paper. Care was taken to weigh up the costs and benefits of the various options for reform.

The following are examples of some of the key issues addressed in the consultation paper:

• the licensing of motor vehicle salespersons
• the categories of motor vehicle dealer licensing
• cooling off periods for motor vehicle purchases
• the types of repair work covered by motor vehicle repairers’ legislation.

Final report

The final report, a Decision Regulatory Impact Statement (DRIS), recommends a number of reforms which were endorsed by Cabinet in July 2019.

In recommending reforms, the primary goal was to provide appropriate protections for consumers whilst at the same time maintaining the commercial viability of the motor vehicle sales and repair industries.

The DRIS final report outlined the issues raised during the review; reported on stakeholder input to the review; assessed options for change; and made recommendations for reform.

Stakeholder consultation

The DRIS represented the third and final stage of the review.

Earlier stages of the review included extensive stakeholder consultation comprising:

• the public release of a consultation discussion paper in August 2013 to identify key issues;
• online surveys targeting motor vehicle dealers, repairers and consumers; and
• the public release of a Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement (CRIS) in November 2015, inviting stakeholder input to the review.

The review attracted a total of 83 written submissions and 650 survey responses.

Compliance

The DRIS was certified by the Department of Treasury’s Better Regulation Unit as complying with the Government’s Regulatory Impact Assessment Guidelines.

Next steps

The Government will proceed with drafting amendments to the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act 1973 and the Motor Vehicle Repairers Act 2003 in readiness for consideration by Parliament.

Amendments to motor vehicle dealer and repairer regulations were made in September 2021 to implement several recommendations from the Review. Further regulation amendments are planned once amendments to the Acts are made.  

Downloads and resources

• July 2019 DRIS on the review of the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act 1973 and the Motor Vehicle Repairers Act 2003 
• November 2015 CRIS on the review of the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act 1973 and Motor Vehicle Repairers Act 2003 
• August 2013 discussion paper on the review of the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act 1973 and Motor Vehicle Repairers Act 2003 

More information

• Motor vehicle consumer section
• Motor vehicle industry section