The Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA) released its 2025 Critical Issues Report at the Bridgestone Family Channel Conference in Sydney (16–19 November), offering a clear picture of a sector that continues to grow while rapidly adapting to EVs, hybrids and ADAS – and confronting a national shortfall of around 40,000 technicians.
Lesley Yates, Director of Government Relations & Advocacy at the AAAA, said the findings highlight a sector that is practical, committed and ready to deliver.
“With clear guidance and the right people, workshops are equipped to promise: the whole job, done right, done here,” she said.
EV attitudes: cautious hype, serious readiness
Independent workshops remain sceptical of aggressive EV projections and see parts of the public debate as overhyped, yet readiness is advancing quickly. Twenty-one per cent of workshops report they are already equipped to service EVs, with most actively investing in tools and planning further upgrades. Capability development is centred on battery and thermal diagnostics, insulation-resistance testing, high-voltage safety and PPE, and navigating OEM software workflows to ensure EV and electrified-hybrid jobs can be completed safely and on time.
ADAS attitudes: mainstream safety, disciplined validation
ADAS features are now standard across much of the car parc, and workshops are preparing technicians for disciplined validation. The focus is on post-disturbance checks following windscreen, suspension and steering work, ride-height changes or any movement of cameras and radar. Shops are strengthening calibration environments – targets, level floors, adequate space and lighting – and refining documentation that distinguishes validation from calibration, supported by post-alignment and post-repair checks. Technicians are calling for nationally consistent triggers and simple guidance suitable for mechanical, tyres, glass and collision.
Car parc disruption: the rise of Chinese brands
The rapid growth of Chinese-built vehicles on Australian roads is reshaping the service mix, introducing newer platforms, evolving diagnostic and software pathways and different parts catalogues. Independents are responding by broadening scan-tool and data coverage, updating workflow guides and aligning training with the vehicles turning up in their bays. The message for 2025 is clear: coverage matters across tools, data, procedures and parts.
Growth with a skills handbrake
The aftermarket continues to post year-on-year growth, driven by value, speed and whole-job completion, including software updates, but capacity is tightening. The Report identifies a shortfall of around 40,000 technicians as the defining risk to cycle times, customer costs and business expansion. Workshop owners say EV and ADAS capability, security and immobiliser access, OEM programming and coding, and consistent validation practices now determine throughput. Where shops invest in tools, training and secure workflows, first-time-fix improves, re-visits fall, delivering faster turnaround and fewer referrals for motorists.
What Australia needs next (2026–27)
Strengthening people and pathways remains essential: retaining automotive trades on the skilled occupation priority lists, streamlining employer-sponsored migration and boosting apprentice completions through paid training time, clear progression and flexible workplaces. National ADAS clarity is urgently needed, with simple validation triggers linked to real-world scenarios. Practical upskilling should expand through stackable micro-credentials in high-voltage safety and diagnostics, security and immobiliser access, OEM programming and coding, and ADAS validation and calibration. Tool and data coverage must also keep pace with the influx of Chinese brands and other new platforms.
The 2025 Critical Issues Report combines AAAA national research across independent workshops with industry operations and market data. It tracks capability investment in EV and ADAS, workforce constraints, platform coverage including Chinese brands, and the outcomes that matter to consumers: safe, timely and affordable repairs finished in one visit. The Report is free for AAAA members and available to non-members for $1,500.