The state’s government says community support is behind making the industry safer for both operators and road users
The Western Australian government is reforming the tow truck industry to help protect people involved in traffic accidents and combat bad behaviour as well as price gouging.
Consumer Protection invited more than 6,000 stakeholders to engage in consultation on reforms for the industry, receiving 37 formal submissions and more than 400 survey responses from industry participants, consumers and government agencies.
About 90 per cent of survey respondents agreed the industry should be regulated.
The WA government says it will develop a regulatory strategy that ensures a fair and safe towing industry, including honing in on the licensing of tow truck operators and criminal checks.
The WA government says the state is one of two in Australia with the lowest levels of regulation of its towing industry.
“Regulation in WA is long overdue and is essential to ensure that consumers are properly protected whilst improving safety and confidence in the industry,” transport minister Rita Saffioti says.
“The community consultation has identified a host of concerns that we want to address through the reform process.”
According to the WA government, the reform of the industry comes after strong community support for protecting vulnerable traffic accident victims.
Guidelines for the reform will be represented to the WA government for consideration by mid-2022.
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The following suggested reforms received strong community support:
- tow truck businesses and drivers should be licensed, with criminal background and associations checks being part of the application process
- access to the road network should be controlled, with powers to suspend and cancel licences for breaching road laws, safety and fees included
- set price caps and registered depots should be used for storage to manage the issue of excessive towing
- additional requirements on Authority to Towforms signed by consumers before a vehicle is towed to increase transparency about what the consumer is authorising
The responsibility for executing these changes has been moved to the Department of Transport, which will be tasked with presenting reform options to the WA government this year. This could result in legislative changes.
“The views expressed as part of the consultation process indicated widespread community concern about the tow truck industry in WA,” Commerce Minister Roger Cook says.
“Ethical operators report that they are disadvantaged by the tactics of some unscrupulous drivers who threaten, mislead and harass people to get business.
“The consensus is that this behaviour needs to be stamped out.”