SKILLS, training, migration, EV transition and insurance are critical points within the automotive industry’s submission to the federal government prior to the planning of the budget.

The Motor Trades Association of Australia (MTAA) has submitted its 2026–27 pre-budget submission that it said outlines “practical reforms to support the thousands of small and family-owned businesses that keep our transport system moving.”The sector, from workshops and dealerships to recyclers and service stations, employs more than 320,000 Australians and underpins every supply chain, every community, and every household.

Concurrent to the MTAA submission, the National Automotive Leasing and Salary Packaging Association (NALSPA) has also lodged its pre-budget submission that identifies key points as the FBT exemption for EVs – dropped last year – should be reinstated and that FBT concessions should also be extended to cover electrified vehicle facilities and equipment, including e-bikes and home EV chargers.

The MTAA said that its submission “sets out a pathway to strengthen the industry through federal government assistance across the following areas:

• Fairer insurance arrangements
• Stronger apprenticeships and skills pathways
• Smarter skilled migration settings
• Support for EV tools and infrastructure
• Tax and regulatory reform
• National circular economy frameworks

“Without targeted action, repair delays, workforce gaps, higher premiums, and reduced regional access will continue to worsen,” it said.

“With the right support, the sector can drive productivity, emissions reduction, regional jobs, and long-term economic resilience.

“Now is the time to back the businesses and workers who keep Australia moving.”

Its skills, training and workforce development proposals include recommendations to redesign the apprentice incentive program; simplify employer-sponsored skilled migration pathways; update the commonwealth ‘skilled occupation  list’ to reflect genuine shortages; and introduce skilled migration income thresholds.

The MTAA also said that in Australia’s EV transition, the industry should receive EV tools and equipment incentives; continue the DRIVEN charger rebate system; and introduce accelerated depreciation for zero and low-emission vehicle fleets.The industry was in need of overhauls of the tax system, including abolishing the luxury car tax; introducing a nationally-consistent road-user charging framework; and extending FBT concessions for plug-in hybrids and zero and low-emission vehicles.

It is also recommending an end-of-life vehicle stewardship scheme and, with it, a mandatory co-regulated national tyre stewardship scheme.

In its summary, NALSPA said its submission included:

• Targeted cost-of-living relief: The submission argues that the FBT system—delivered through salary packaging and novated leasing—is a proven, efficient way to reduce essential household costs (especially transport), with the greatest benefits flowing to lower- and middle-income workers in health, education, community services and the public sector.
• Retain the Electric Car Discount: NALSPA strongly recommends retaining the FBT exemption for eligible electric vehicles, noting it materially lowers weekly vehicle costs, accelerates EV uptake, supports emissions reduction targets, and delivers strong value for money (around $2–$3 in benefits for every $1 of fiscal cost).
• Policy stability matters: Evidence from Australia and overseas shows EV demand is highly sensitive to policy changes; abrupt or retrospective changes risk increasing household costs, undermining confidence, slowing second-hand EV market development, and delaying emissions reductions.
• Modernise eroded FBT caps: The submission calls for indexation and/or a one-off uplift to long-standing FBT concession caps for not-for-profit and public sector workers, whose real value has almost halved over two decades, weakening an important workforce attraction and retention tool.
• Extend and refine targeted concessions: NALSPA proposes extending existing FBT concessions to selected frontline public sector workers and introducing tightly scoped, capped measures (such as for e-bikes, public transport and home EV chargers) to deliver affordability relief without broad fiscal leakage