Right to Repair Aotearoa Coalition
Right to Repair Aotearoa Coalition
The Right to Repair Aotearoa Coalition formed in 2021 with the goal to generate support for Right to Repair legislation in New Zealand. Its members include representatives from Repair Network Aotearoa, Para Kore and WasteMINZ, along with lawyers and academics at Auckland and Waikato Universities.
Our mission is to drive the progress of repair legislation in Aotearoa and raise awareness of repair and the need for legislation with the wider public.
We focus our work on:
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Information and knowledge sharing
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Advocacy and communication.
Our Campaigns
Our initial campaigns were facilitated by Repair Café Aotearoa NZ. With the establishment of the Repair Network Aotearoa, the Right to Repair Aotearoa Coalition is now operating under the Trust.
The Consumer Guarantees (Right to Repair) Amendment Bill is our campaigning priority:
Our other campaigning work includes:
Alex Sims
Alex Sims is a Professor in the Department of Commercial Law at the University of Auckland Business School. Alex’s research and publication areas include intellectual property law and consumer law, two of the key legal areas for Right of Repair. She is a member of the Right to Repair coalition and has written on the Right to Repair.
Paul Smith
Dr Paul Smith wants to see no more ‘durable’ products being sent to landfill. He advocates for a right to repair and through his consultancy, Fixed First, he develops practical solutions that make repair more accessible and economically viable. As Head of Testing at Consumer NZ, Paul transformed the organisation's independent product testing to include repair and durability measures and championed repairability labelling.
Toni Kereama
Toni is a Project Leader within Para Kore Marae Incorporated. Para Kore have been involved in the Right to Repair movement in Aotearoa since 2021 and continue to support and advocate for taonga that have been extracted from Papatūānuku to be well-made, reused and repaired to ensure as little waste as possible.
Brigitte Sistig
Witnessing the development of Repair Network Aotearoa has been a privilege for Brigitte. Engaging volunteers, collaborating across sectors, and campaigning for the right to repair have been instrumental in fostering a vibrant repair community. By championing the economic and environmental benefits of repair, we're building a robust repair culture in New Zealand together.
Sarah Pritchett
She has been advocating for right to repair since 2019 when she established a Right to Repair working group at WasteMINZ. Now working as a sustainability advisor in the public sector Sarah continues to advocate for right to repair and also volunteers at a monthly repair cafe in Ōtautahi. Her favourite thing to repair is retro furniture.
Fiona Lavin
Fiona is the Sector Programme’s Manager at WasteMINZ, overseeing cross-organisation projects and events for the benefit of the waste, resource recovery and recycling sectors and the future of Aotearoa. Fiona is a passionate environmentalist and volunteers in a number of conservation and sustainability groups.
Thandar Win Zaw
Win Thandar Zaw is a PhD student at the University of Waikato, specialising in product-oriented environmental law, waste law and consumer law. Thandar's research topic is "the Role of Law for Extended Producer Responsibility", examining legal issues related to producer responsibility. Repair is part of her research and Thandar has published two articles on the Right to Repair.