A parking brake apparatus is provided for a vehicle having components of a parking brake system. The parking brake apparatus comprises a parking brake controller arranged to (i) obtain a first signal indicative of whether a hill start assist system is installed on the vehicle, and (ii) provide one or more control signals to be applied to components of the parking brake system to apply parking brakes when the first signal is indicative of a hill start assist system installed on the vehicle is present and a second signal indicative of the hill start assist system being activated is received.