Tens of thousands of Australian motorists could be left  driving dangerous vehicles that  require an urgent safety recall after the federal government's new private import scheme is introduced in 2018.
Under the scheme, individuals will be able to privately import one car from the United Kingdom or Japan every two years, as long as that vehicle is less than a year old and has travelled fewer than 500 kilometres.
The federal government estimates that 30,000 Australians will take advantage of the rule changes in the first year of the scheme and privately import a car, with the number rising each year after that. 
But the government has backflipped on a promise to protect consumers by maintaining an "online register" of every privately imported vehicle, and to notify owners when global safety recalls are announced by manufacturers.
In   February, Wheels magazine asked major projects minister Paul Fletcher how the important issue of safety recalls would function under the scheme.
"The notification will be done by the Australian government," Mr Fletcher said. "Then you'll need to make your own arrangements as to where you go to get the work done. What we think will happen, in the usual way a market will develop from this; if there's a recall that applies to a number of vehicles that have been imported under this scheme then there will be automotive workshops that will, for a price, do the work that needs to be done."
Fairfax Media can reveal that officials from the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development met with car industry executives at Toyota's Melbourne headquarters on   March 22, to brief them on details of the new Register of Approved Vehicles.
The car industry executives were told Mr Fletcher's statement was "incorrect", and buyers would not be informed of global safety recalls by the government. 
Instead, the onus will be on buyers to ensure crucial safety recall work has been done on their cars.
When asked about Mr Fletcher's previous public statements to the contrary, the department officials claimed the minister had been "misquoted".
"This is an appalling lack of judgment by the government," said one industry executive, who attended the meeting. "What are buyers meant to do, Google their car every single week to make sure there hasn't been a safety recall?"
Under present rules, car manufacturers are responsible for safety recalls, and must contact purchasers and perform safety recall work free of charge.
In the past year more than 1 million cars in Australia have been affected by the world's biggest automotive recall for defective Takata airbags, which can spray "shrapnel" towards a driver in a crash. Toyota, Mazda, Nissan and Honda have recalled Australian vehicles for the defective airbags. 
In   March, Toyota separately announced it was conducting a global recall of 2.87 million vehicles - including every RAV4 made between 2004 and 2014 - to repair potentially dangerous seatbelts, which could be damaged by a metal seat frame part in the event of a crash.
Volkswagen has recalled millions of cars around the world as part of its "Dieselgate" scandal. 
Tony Weber, chief executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, said his members were angry with the government's disregard for road safety.
"This is astonishing that after 40 years of concerted effort to improve road safety in this country that anyone could consider the notion of making safety recalls optional," Mr Weber said.
"That is just astonishing. This isn't just about consumer laws and consumer protection, this is about the basic safety for road users and for pedestrians. What happens to these grey market imports five or 10 years after they are imported? Even if an owner is aware of the recall, if they have to pay, are they all really going to do the work? I can't believe the government plans to make safety recalls optional."