In 1990, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, the Motor Trades Association of Australia and the Australian Council of Trade Unions approached the Australian Government to form a nation Industry Training Advisory Body (ITAB) that would oversee the formulation of nationally consistent, high quality training for the automotive industry.

Today, Automotive Training Australia (ATA) is an established ITAB that actively represents all sectors of the industry and works to ensure that formal, accredited training meets industry needs, facilitating the training of a highly skilled workforce consistently able to meet the professional, production, service and competitive practice needs of the Australian Automotive Industry. Owned by Industry, for Industry, ATA's role is to:

• Advise government on the training needs of the automotive industry nationally

• Develop nationally consistent training to meet those needs

• Market the benefits of training across the industry

• Provide advice and assistance to business enterprises