The right to repair allows farmers to take their equipment to a dealer of their choice to fix a problem or repair the machine themselves.
The issue has been re-ignited following the announcement that a memorandum of understanding had been signed between the American Farm Bureau Federation and agricultural machinery manufacturer John Deere that ensures a farmer’s right to repair their own farm equipment.
“For years we’ve been calling for Australian farmers to have the right to repair their agricultural machinery,” National Farmers’ Federation president Fiona Simson said.
“Farmers are small business owners who should have the same right as anyone else to have their machinery repaired by their preferred repairer or make small repairs on-farm without fear of voiding warranties and travelling long distances to access authorised repairs and then being burdened by their supply restrictions.
“This change would significantly reduce repair work delays, getting farmers and their machinery back in the paddocks much quicker.”
United States John Deere senior vice-president David Gilmore said the agreement with AFBF reaffirmed “the long-standing commitment Deere has made to ensure our customers have the diagnostic tools and information they need to make many repairs to their machines”.
Ms Simson said Australia needed to follow the lead of other countries.
“Right to repair regimes are being introduced across most advanced economies around the world, including specific protections for agricultural machinery,” she said.
“It’s essential the Australian Government keeps pace with the world to ensure Australian farmers can fix their machinery on-farm.”
She said this was backed by the Productivity Commission’s Right to Repair Inquiry in 2021, which recommended the government “should introduce a repair supplies obligation on agricultural machinery”.
Legislation call
The Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association said the voluntary US MoU was an interesting development, but what was really needed was formal legislation.
“All our efforts to make a voluntary MoU work in our industry failed ... (our) view is that real reform in the agricultural machinery market will not occur without formal legislative intervention,” AAAA chief executive officer Stuart Charity said.
He said the AAAA was behind the push to create automotive right to repair legislation for independent automotive workshops, which came into effect from July last year.
The legislation requires all car manufacturers to make all repair and service information available to independent repairers on fair and reasonable commercial terms.
This legislation is the first right to repair legislation in Australia — no such right to repair law exists for the agricultural industry.
“Many of the same issues that affect passenger motor vehicle repair apply to agricultural machinery,” Mr Charity said.
He said an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission report released in 2021 recommended that agricultural machinery should also be subject to legislative mandates that required the machinery manufacturers to make repair and service information, software updates and diagnostic tools available on fair and reasonable terms.
“We certainly support that recommendation,” he said.
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