MTAA Welcomes the Government’s Response to the Productivity Commission’s Final Report on Smash Repair and Insurance

The Motor Trades Association of Australia (MTAA) has today welcomed the release of the Productivity Commission’s final report on its inquiry into Smash Repair and Insurance and the Australian Government’s response to the recommendations contained in that report.

The Commission’s key recommendations clearly highlight the need for improved relations between smash repairers and motor vehicle insurers and the Association is pleased that the Government has agreed with the majority of the Commission’s recommendations.

In particular, MTAA welcomes the Government’s commitment to establish an industry code of conduct. MTAA’s Executive Director, Mr Michael Delaney, said “a voluntary industry code of conduct would improve transparency, efficiency and fair trading in the smash repair market and would also be a positive step towards improving the commercial relationship between the smash repair sector and the motor vehicle insurance sector”.

MTAA also welcomes the Government’s commitment to establish an Implementation Taskforce to oversee the development of an industry code and the Association looks forward to working constructively with the Government and representatives from the motor vehicle insurance sector to develop a voluntary code for the sector and to address the serious problems identified by the Commission in its report.

The Association is also pleased that the Australian Government has given an undertaking to review the relationship between the smash repair and motor vehicle insurance sectors in nine months time, with a view to considering further regulatory options if the sectors have not been unable to reach an agreement on a voluntary code or if the serious problems identified by the Commission remain.

For further information, please contact Michael Delaney, Executive Director of MTAA, on (02) 6273 4333.