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COVID-19 advice and support for automotive repair businesses

UPDATED: August 14, 2020 with details of metropolitan Melbourne Stage 4 measures. The below advice is largely based on information produced by the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association and as such is relevant to Australian businesses only. AAAA has also kindly agreed to share with VASA members its excellent, informative series of webinars designed to help … Continue reading COVID-19 advice and support for automotive repair businesses

Lawyer with flammable warning sign

A Flammable Refrigerants Review project being undertaken by Weir Legal & Consulting has found 143 different standards, regulations and laws relating to flammable refrigerants during a ‘stocktake’ of legal instruments that control the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration industries across every state and territory in Australia. Presenting the research results at a recent CCN Live conference … Continue reading Need for flammables licensing highlighted by ‘stocktake’ of standards, regulations and laws

HVACR technician

The New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is developing new regulations that will require technicians to be licensed by WorkSafe if they work with flammable, toxic or very high operating pressure refrigerant gases in commercial and industrial refrigeration, heating or air-conditioning systems. These regulations are expected to be in place by mid-2021, with … Continue reading NZ developing new licensing regulations for flammable, toxic and high-pressure refrigerants

Australian National Cabinet meeting

Automatic mutual recognition of state and territory occupational licences will now not kick in until July 1 next year, rather than January 1 as originally announced. The National Cabinet released a statement that bringing the changes into law requires “draft legislation to amend the Commonwealth Mutual Recognition Act 1992” and that this will be released by … Continue reading Automatic interstate trade license recognition delayed until July 2021

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk tours the Century Batteries facility in Carole Park

Brisbane-based Century Batteries is investing $7 million its Australian manufacturing facility, which is expected to boost production to more than 1.3 million batteries per year with almost all materials and components also sourced locally.  Century, which recently gave Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk a tour of its Carole Park facility, employs around 600 people across Australia and New Zealand. It … Continue reading VASA member Century Batteries boosts Australian manufacturing

Cool Penguin F12 refrigerant

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently identified online sales of a potentially unsafe refrigerant promoted for use in automotive air-conditioners.  VASA’s North American counterpart MACS Worldwide is spreading the word with a safety alert on its website. While the product (branded “Cool Penguin F-12”) appears to be marketed as CFC-12, some of the cans contain a mixture of … Continue reading Dangerous fake ‘F-12’ refrigerant sold online in US

A petition calling for restrictions to be lifted from the use of hydrocarbon refrigerants in Queensland, submitted to the state Parliament by One Nation MP for Mirani Stephen Andrews in August, has been given short shrift by Queensland Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, Dr Anthony Lynham. The petition, which gathered 588 signatures, made … Continue reading Claims Made in Pro-HC Petition Debunked by Queensland Minister

VASA director Mark Mitchell, who is part-owner and director of Unicla International, has written a book chronicling and celebrating the compressor manufacturer’s fascinating story and achievements to date. Pre-release copies of the book, titled Unicla and the Midnight Technician, have been well-received by global industry figures including MACS Worldwide president Elvis Hoffpauir, MACPartners Europe president Michael … Continue reading High Praise for Mark Mitchell’s History Book About Compressor Manufacturer Unicla

Grants of up to $5000 are currently available to women working in the Australian automotive sector to support their participation in one of three professional development programs. The grants have been provisioned for use by women right across the country, with a specific focus on the automotive sector, but must be allocated by the end … Continue reading Last 2020 Women’s Leadership Development Scholarships Now Available

THE announcement of a 10-year new car warranty by Mitsubishi Motors Australia has courted controversy because it is conditional on customers exclusively servicing their vehicles at Mitsubishi dealerships, else the warranty duration is reduced to five years. Announced before Mitsubishi had obtained full approval from the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC), the proposed warranty … Continue reading Conditional 10 Year Mitsubishi Warranty Raises Ire of Australian Auto Repair and Parts Industry

VASA’s European Counterpart Launches New Website, Resource to Support Auto-AC industry

MACPartners Europe, the continental cousin of VASA, has launched a new website to support the automotive air-conditioning industry in Europe that provides a centralised portal for webinars and technical bulletins and an opportunity to connect with members of the community, to help strengthen and unite the automotive air-conditioning industry as a whole. Founded in June 2004 by … Continue reading VASA’s European Counterpart Launches New Website, Resource to Support Auto-AC industry