On 10 October 2024, the Federal Government introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (Mergers and Acquisitions Reform) Bill 2024 (“Bill”) to Parliament. The Bill will amend the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (“CCA”) to implement a mandatory and suspensory merger control regime in place of the former voluntary regime.
The Bill has been introduced following extensive public consultation, resulting in a number of important changes to the proposal set out in the earlier exposure draft.
On 30 August 2024, the Australian Treasury released a consultation paper on the proposed monetary and market share thresholds that will trigger a requirement to notify an acquisition to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) under the Federal Government’s proposed new mandatory merger control regime. It is proposed that transactions which meet either of the thresholds must be notified to, and approved by, the ACCC, with penalties imposed for any failure to notify or for implementation of a notifiable merger without prior notification to the ACCC. The closing date for submissions is 20 September 2024.
On 10 April 2024, the Treasurer Dr Jim Chalmers MP announced a major change to Australia’s merger control regime with the introduction of a new single mandatory, suspensory merger control system. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will be the key decision maker and given stronger powers to examine transactions, including serial acquisitions and mergers by businesses with substantial market power. The notification thresholds remain a critical unknown piece and will be subject to further consultation.
On 7 March 2024, the Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Gina Cass-Gottlieb, announced the ACCC’s compliance and enforcement priorities for 2024/25 and the market studies and advocacy work that the ACCC would continue this year.
Ms. Cass-Gottlieb identified a range of industry sectors, as well as specific competition and consumer law issues that will be the focus of the ACCC’s compliance and enforcement activities for 2024/25. Many of these areas continue from last year.
With the rapid rise of environmental consciousness in Australia and abroad, consumer-facing businesses are increasingly making claims about the environmental qualities of their products, services and business operations. While the ACCC has had guidance on the practice of “greenwashing” for some time, policing of environmental and sustainability claims has been a core area of focus for the ACCC in the last 12 months.
From 9 November 2023, the unfair terms regime will change so that significant penalties may apply for breaches of the UCT regime. As a result, businesses need to look again at their standard terms for unfair terms risks.
On 7 March 2023, the Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, announced the ACCC’s compliance and enforcement priorities for 2023/24 and the market studies and advocacy work that the ACCC would continue this year. Ms. Cass-Gottlieb identified a range of industry sectors, as well as specific competition and consumer law issues that will be the focus of the ACCC’s compliance and enforcement activities for 2023/24. Many of these areas continue from last year.
The Treasury Laws Amendment (More Competition, Better Prices) Act 2022 received royal assent on 9 November and is now in force. Maximum penalties for contraventions of the CCA and ACL have significantly increased, effective immediately, exposing business to very substantial risk. The need for robust policies, systems and training to ensure compliance with the legislation has never been more important.
On 28 September 2022, the Government introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (More Competition, Better Prices) Bill 2022. If passed, the Bill will: introduce a civil penalty regime prohibiting the use of and reliance on unfair contract terms in standard form contracts; increase the maximum penalties that may be awarded for breaches of the civil penalty provisions in Parts IV, IVBA, X and XICA of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (and under the Australian Consumer Law to the greater of AUD 50 million, if the court can determine the value of the benefit obtained — three times the value of that benefit, if the court cannot determine the value of the benefit obtained — 30% of the body corporate’s adjusted turnover during the breach turnover period for the offence, act or omission, and increase the maximum civil penalty for breaches by telecommunications providers of the Competition Rule, to up to AUD 71 million plus AUD 3 million for every day that a contravention continues in the most serious cases.
The ACCC has announced two internet sweeps to identify misleading environmental and sustainability marketing claims and fake or misleading online business reviews and a separate sweep to target fake or misleading online reviews and testimonials. The sweeps are being conducted as part of the ACCC’s compliance and enforcement priorities for 2022-23 announced earlier this year, with the broad aim of identifying deceptive advertising and marketing practices related to the environment and sustainability.