Featured News
Productivity Commission releases Final Report on the Right to Repair in Australia
December 2021
On 1 December 2021, the Productivity Commission released the Final Report on the Right to Repair Australia.
Put simply, the Productivity Commission has made a number of recommendations aimed at enhancing consumer rights, promoting competition and enabling access to repair supplies and improving product information and e-waste management.
Full details of the Productivity Commission’s findings and recommendations of final report are available on the Australian Government Productivity Commission website.
Productivity Commission releases Final Report on the Right to Repair in Australia
December 2021
On 1 December 2021, the Productivity Commission released the Final Report on the Right to Repair Australia.
Put simply, the Productivity Commission has made a number of recommendations aimed at enhancing consumer rights, promoting competition and enabling access to repair supplies and improving product information and e-waste management.
Full details of the Productivity Commission’s findings and recommendations of final report are available on the Australian Government Productivity Commission website.
August 2021: Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship
New Colombo Plan Scholarship
November 2021
Six Griffith University undergraduates will spend time overseas learning from our Indo-Pacific neighbours after being named as recipients of the 2022 New Colombo Plan Scholarship.
Bachelor of Laws (Honours)/ Bachelor of Environmental Science student Lilia Ben Dekhil will travel to Singapore to learn about its Right to Repair system and then Vanuatu, to assist the island nation in developing its e-waste recovery schemes.
The New Colombo Plan (NCP) is an Australian Government initiative which aims to deepen Australia’s relationships with the Indo-Pacific by supporting Australian undergraduates to study and undertake internships in the region.
Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship
August 2021
Professor Leanne Wiseman has been awarded a Future Fellowship in excess of $1,087,370 for the project: The role that Intellectual Property (IP) plays in the rights and capacities of Australians to repair their smart goods.
This project aims to investigate the role that Intellectual Property (IP) plays in the rights and capacities of Australians to repair their smart goods. This project will generate new knowledge with regards to how IP can contribute to emerging regulatory approaches to the 'Right to Repair', which has consequences for a more efficient and sustainable use of Australia's resources.
Expected outcomes include advanced knowledge and understanding of IP and the role it can play in rebalancing manufacturer and consumer relationships in digital consumables and in Australia's future environmental sustainability. This will enhance Australia's economy and society through legal, economic, and environmental regulatory reform.
News
Griffith University Repair Café coming to our Southbank campus
19 Apr 2023
Griffith University’s second Repair Café will offer repairs at its Southbank campus on 21 April and the call is out for volunteers.
Stellar six students score New Colombo Plan Scholarships
29 Nov 2021
Six Griffith University undergraduates will spend time overseas learning from our Indo-Pacific neighbours after being named as recipients of the 2022...
ARC awards five Future Fellowships and Linkage funding
11 Aug 2021
Griffith University has been awarded Five ARC Future Fellowships.
Australian Repair Network Media Features
Push for right to repair in Australia
ABC Radio National: August 2022
A panel of leading experts will look at how Australian law can be reformed to strike a better balance between repair access and device safety.
Disability advocate Dr Dinesh Palipana, a doctor and Griffith University academic, is one of the speakers at Australian Repair Summit.
Exploring A Repair Café
Clean Technica: April 2022
Like many great volunteer enterprises, the Repair Café in The Gap started with a conversation, in this case initiated by Kirsty Augustine. “Having grown up poor and needing to look after what we had, I am big supporter of repairing and maintaining one’s items. I am vehemently opposed to planned obsolescence. Having seen other repair cafés pop up around Brisbane, I posted on our local Facebook group to see if there was any interest to start one in The Gap.”
Right To Repair and Sustainability
Your Positive Imprint: January 2022
As a consumer, how do sustainable products and the right to repair affect you? Manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure their product has a reasonable life span and designed in a way that enables consumers to get it repaired and continue using it. Prof. Leanne Wiseman from University of Griffith, Australia, explains the legal and regulatory responses to the international right to repair movement while Kaz and Dan of “Mend It Australia” share their roles in the international movement.
Repairing things in Australia could soon become easier
SBS News: December 2021
The federal government is considering measures enhancing consumers' right to repair after a Productivity Commission report found 'significant barriers' to repairing some goods in Australia.
Right to repair laws may change after Productivity Commission recommendations
ABC News: December 2021
The ability to repair everyday items has become harder over time, but that could change with the Productivity Commission recommending the federal government amend laws to give consumers more rights.
Australian Government Productivity Commission Right to Repair Inquiry report
Right-to-repair movement gains momentum with Apple's policy shift
ABC PM: November 2021
Tech giant Apple is launching a self-repair program, allowing customers to fix their own devices. It follows mounting pressure from the grassroots right-to-repair movement, which wants individuals and independent repair shops to be able to fix devices.
Featured: Guido Verbist, right to repair advocate; Ritesh Chugh, socio-tech expert, Central Queensland University; and Leanne Wiseman, Professor of law, Griffith University.
Movement pushing for the 'right to repair' broken products
A Current Affair: September 2021
Technology has changed our lives mostly for the better but as the products get smaller and more portable, their reparability has been rapidly declining. "They're being designed in a way that doesn't enable repair," Griffith University intellectual property law professor, Leanne Wiseman, told A Current Affair. But now there's a new "right to repair" movement underway to put pressure on the Australian Government in the hope of giving consumers the right to fix purchases instead of throwing them away.
The Right to Repair and Waste Policy Reforms in Australia
LUP Global: April 2021
Interview with Leanne Wiseman, Professor of Law at Griffith University, and John Gertsakis, Co-founder of the E-waste Watch Institute and a Director of the Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence.
Productivity Commission examines our rights to repair
ABC Radio Life Matters: December 2020
The Productivity Commission has recently released an issues paper as part of an inquiry into what is termed the 'right to repair'.
At a time when we have become increasingly reliant on disposable goods, what needs to change to ensure consumers can repair goods safely at competitive prices and keep products out of landfill? Guests are Leanne Wiseman, Professor in intellectual property law at Griffith University and John Gertsakis, co-founder of Ewaste Watch and Adjunct Professor at the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney.
Right to repair under scrutiny
ABC Radio AM: October 2020
Does it annoy you that you can't replace the battery in your own phone? Or, that the warranty on your car or washing machine will be voided unless you use the manufacturer's repairer? How about fridges not being made to last? Well, after years of consumer complaints, the Federal Government has announced an inquiry.
Think: Digital Futures – Rethinking Repair
Radio 2SER: May 2020
Electronic waste is a mounting problem, with hundreds of thousand of tonnes of electronics going into landfill every year, in Australia alone. You’re more likely to just buy a new appliance, rather than spending more time and money to get it repaired. Electronic locks on technology mean both owners and repair people struggle to do basic fixes on the things we buy. How did we end up with this throwaway culture, where it’s easier to buy something new than to have it repaired? And how do we find a way out?
Australia’s Right to Repair
Radio Adelaide 101.5: February 2020
These days, it’s far easier to replace your electronic device than to repair it. Manufacturers rarely encourage consumers to return their faulty phones, tablets or computers – and consequently there have been enormous accumulations of waste and environmental ramifications. In the EU, an EcoDesign Directive has been developed for implementation next year, which modifies consumer laws for the right to return their devices to manufacturers for repair. While the Australian consumer affairs minister has promised the introduction of such laws, Australia seems to be lagging behind in the global Right to Repair movement.
Professor of Law at Griffith University in Queensland, Leanne Wiseman, joins Breakfast’s Tom Mann and Zoe Kounadis to discuss the Right to Repair movement and where Australia fits in in this plan.
US and EU laws show Australia’s Right to Repair moment is well overdue
The Conversation: February 2020
As the US and EU experience has shown, Right to Repair legislation – laws that make it easier for consumers, repairers and tinkerers to fix their broken goods – can offer an attractive alternative to the problem of overflowing, dangerous e-waste.
Right to repair movement gaining international momentum: Australia urged to follow
ABC Radio PM: February 2020
If you're frustrated by the cost and hassle of fixing your smartphone, washing machine, or even your car - there may be cause for hope. There's a growing push against the manufacturers that don't want you or your repairman to fix your device.
The Right to Repair movement has seen laws passed in Europe in recent months to make repair easier and cheaper. The US is considering legislation, and Australia is being urged to follow.