Opinion: Why Australian farmers need the right to repair
13 November 2024
When machinery breaks down, particularly during busy times like harvest, farmers become tangled up in restrictive repair rules - but a taskforce is seeking to improve this. Pic: AgriShots
An article by Sean Cole
As many farmers would appreciate, when something breaks down on the farm, it’s more than an inconvenience, it’s time and money slipping through their fingers. When a tractor or header is out of action in the middle of harvest, every minute counts.
But instead of just rolling up their sleeves and fixing the problem, farmers are tangled up in restrictive repair rules, making them feel less like owners of their machinery and more like renters.
Agricultural industry associations want to change that and give farmers greater flexibility to the repair their own farm equipment. This includes allowing farmers to take their equipment to a qualified dealer of their choice to fix a problem without fear of voiding warranties and travelling long distances to access authorised repairers and then potentially being burdened by their supply restrictions.
The National Farmers’ Federation Right to Repair Taskforce, comprised of commodity councils and state farming organisations, has been busy in discussions about how to make right to repair a reality for farmers. It is a critical issue for farmers across multiple sectors, from broadacre cropping to livestock.
The taskforce originally sought an industry Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a right to repair with the Tractor and Machinery Association. While both parties engaged in the conversation in good faith, an MoU that we believed best ensured the appropriate rights of Australian farmers unfortunately could not be reached.
Given the above, the agricultural industry’s sights are now set on securing a mandated right to repair for agricultural machinery. A legislative solution aligns more closely with the recommendations from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Productivity Commission and leading right to repair experts such as Professor Leanne Wisemen from Griffith University.
It’s also about being on a level playing field with our international competitors. Just this month, the right to repair became law in Canada, enshrining the right for farmers in legislation. The US state of Colorado introduced similar legislation in 2023.
The NFF taskforce has been busy actively engaging with a range of stakeholders including key politicians and Government bodies including the Commonwealth Treasury, the ACCC, and the Productivity Commission.
We welcome the recent comments from the Assistant Minister for Competition, Dr Andrew Leigh MP, acknowledging that right to repair issues can put farmers under real financial pressure. The taskforce will continue to work closely with the government and other stakeholders to push this issue forward, advocating for a sensible, practical solution that lets farmers get on with their job alongside valued supply chain partners from the farm machinery sector.
Sean Cole is the Advocacy and Rural Affairs Manager at GrainGrowers, and a member of the National Farmers’ Federation Right to Repair Taskforce.
