Government departments that can give you advice

Department of Commerce: Consumer Protection

Consumer Protection promotes consumer protection and fair trading in Western Australia by:

providing information and advice to dealers about their rights and responsibilities;

helping dealers resolve disputes with consumers;

investigating dealer complaints about other dealers' unfair trading practices;

prosecuting unscrupulous dealers; and

advising dealers about their business licensing activities.

Other roles include:

Licensing of motor vehicle dealers, yard managers and salespeople;

Licensing and certification of motor repair businesses and repairers (tradespeople);

Approving training courses for industry participants and the trainers who provide those courses;

Overseeing the conciliation of disputes between licensees, other motor industry traders and consumers;

Making recommendations for disciplinary actions against licensees and certificate holders where required; and

Making recommendations on payments to consumers from the Motor Vehicle Repair Industry Compensation Fund and Motor Vehicle Industry Education and Research Fund.

Investigating complaints

The Compliance Section:

Investigates complaints about backyard dealers;

Investigates breaches of the Motor Vehicle Dealer's Act

Inspects dealers' vehicles to ensure roadworthiness.

Inspects dealers' records (registers, contracts, Form 4s) to ensure they are accurate and up-to-date.

You can contact the compliance section on 9282 4361

to lodge complaints about back yard dealers or other licensees you believe are breaching the Act.

Resolving contract and warranty disputes

The conciliation section has a primary role in resolving disputes consumers have with dealers and repairers over contractual, warranty and repair matters.

You can contact them on 9282 4361

for advice on resolving disputes.

Dealer/repairer mechanical inquiry service

The conciliation section also provides a dealer/repairer inquiry service by which a dealer/repairer can request a Consumer Protection technical officer attend their premises (for a fee of $70 in the metropolitan area) to give advice about a potential warranty or repair dispute. The trader will be given a copy of the technical officer's written report.

Licensing dealers

The licensing section processes licences, you can contact them on 9282 4362 for advice.

For information and advice on any other consumer protection issues, ring the Consumer Protection advice line on 1300 30 40 54 from anywhere in Western Australia for the cost of a local call.

Department of Transport

The role of the Department of Transport in respect of the motor vehicle industry is to:

Provide a vehicle licensing system and an electronic licensing system to allow authorised dealers to conduct dealer-licensing transactions on-line;

Ensure dealers are complying with the Road Traffic Act in respect of vehicle licensing and transfer documentation, and the registration of vehicles; and

Provide inspection services on behalf of the Department of Commcerce to ensure the roadworthiness of vehicles which have been declared unfit for sale by Commerce officers.

Department of Transport, Licensing also provides a support function to the Police Service and Consumer Protection.