Australian Collision Industry Alliance update

By Sam Street | 13 June 2023  I  PAINT& PANEL MAGAZINE

The Australian Collision Alliance (ACIA) hosted its first information night at Ultimo TAFE on 1 June. Over 50 industry stakeholders from insurance companies, industry suppliers, multi-site operators, independent repairers, TAFE personnel, Motor Trades Associations and apprentice groups attended. There was a presentation made by founding member Sam Street, and founding directors Rob Bartlett of SupplySide and Carl Bizon of AMA Group explaining the vision for this not for profit by the industry for the industry.

On 2 June, demonstrating the true meaning of alliance, The National Collision Repairer invited this Paint & Panel editor to its Sydney symposium as part of a panel with Bartlett and Bizon to inform delegates about the ACIA. 

These two presentations have prompted a huge amount of interest for both joining the alliance and with hands up to help out.

It was necessary to have three founding directors in order to set up The ACIA as a legal entity. There will be four more board directors appointed who will be voted in by alliance members later in the year.

The ACIA plans to employ a coordinator who will be a resource to assist the repair industry with planning and materials for information activities from shop open days to careers fairs and industry events.

This coordinator will also liaise with the directors and a number of action groups made up of industry stakeholders. Some action groups have already been defined such as marketing, website, social media, procurement, funding, events, stakeholder engagement and diversity and inclusion. Others will be announced shortly. If you are interested in joining one of volunteering in any way email theacia2023@gmail.com. The more people join, the less work each individual action group member. The likely time commitment would be around one hour per week with a monthly online meeting.

Now that the ACIA is established it hopes that independent repairers and other industry stakeholders will join and support the initiative(scan the QR code below). There will be further information sessions in other states throughout the year. 

A number of industry stakeholders have generously donated $5,000to an accelerator fund to get the entity going. These are : Axalta, SupplySide,Fix Network, AMA Group, BASF, Car Craft Group, Fortress, Sheen Panel Service,MotorOne, Smart Repair Australia, 3M, Sherwin Williams, ADAS SolutionsAustralia, Auto Parts Group, iBodyshop, Action Smart and Compass.