Right to repair legislation passes first reading in a significant win for advocates including Consumer NZ, WasteMINZ, repair cafes, and other interest groups. Hon Marama Davidson’s Members Bill, the Consumer Guarantees (Right to Repair) Amendment Bill, passed its first reading in March. The Bill aims to extend product lifespans, keep resources in circulation, reduce landfill waste, and lower household costs by supporting repair over replacement. The Consumer Guarantees Act (Act) already provides under Section 12 that a manufacturer is to take reasonable action to ensure that facilities for repair and parts are available for a reasonable period after the goods are supplied. However, one of the contentions raised is that there is an opt out provision in Section 42, where a manufacturer can be exempted from these repair requirements if the manufacturer has notified consumers that repair facilities and parts will not be made available. To address this, the Bill would remove this exemption. In addition, Section 12 of the Act, which provides for guarantees in respect of repairs and spare parts where goods are not of acceptable quality, would be extended to include not only the requirement to facilitate repair, but that a manufacturer, upon a consumer’s request, must provide “the most recent version of any information, spare parts, software, and other tools that the manufacturer uses for diagnosing, maintaining, or repairing the goods”. Information requested must be given free of charge, unless paper copies are requested. The fee charged to consumers for any spare parts, software, and other tools must also be reasonable and not exceed what is charged to any other person. Section 19 of the Act, which lays out the requirement for suppliers to remedy a situation by either fixing, replacing or providing a refund, would also be amended to give greater weight to the repair option. Here, the Bill would insert a new section that empowers a consumer to request that a supplier repairs goods rather than replace them. If the supplier is not able to repair the goods within a reasonable time, the consumer has the recourse to have the goods repaired elsewhere, and obtain from the supplier all reasonable costs of repair. In relation to manufacturers’ express guarantees, Section 14 would be amended to provide that a consumer is not required to only use a manufacturer’s authorised repairer or parts; or risk voiding their warranty. This is expected to speed up access to repairs and reduce costs. At its first reading, the Bill had cross party support as to its intent. However, concerns were raised, including around the broad range and low value consumer goods that would be encompassed. The majority of those supporting the Bill agreed that the scope needed to be narrowed, but that this would be addressed at Select Committee, where submissions would play an important role. The only support from the Coalition came from NZ First, which indicated its ongoing support was contingent on addressing the Bill’s broad scope and the feedback received through the select committee process. The Development, Science and Innovation Committee report is due 19 August 2025.
