The Situation: The Australian government has restated its commitment to foreign investment and announced procedural reforms to Australia's foreign investment framework. The government aims to attract the significant foreign...more
The Background: The Australian Federal Treasurer recently announced sweeping reforms to Australia's merger review regime. These reforms will overhaul the current merger review regime in Australia to introduce mandatory filing...more
For more than a decade, environmental groups have accused airlines of "greenwashing" or misrepresenting the sustainability of their business operations. Now these claims are gaining traction around the globe. These groups...more
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ("ACCC") also cautions government agencies to be alert to potential bid rigging in the procurement process for public tenders. ...more
Recent Merger Review and Litigation in Australia -
Australia's antitrust merger laws have remained largely unchanged since 1993. The law prohibits the acquisition of assets or shares with the effect or likely effect of...more
Australia's competition authority settles allegations that port operator misused its market power.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ("ACCC") secured a declaration in its first action under Section 46 of the...more
Both houses of the Australian Parliament have passed a repeal of subsection 51(3) of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) ("CCA"). Following the repeal, owners of intellectual property rights in Australia must comply...more
The Development: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ("ACCC") recently issued new guidelines regarding compulsory information requests. The guidelines clarify application of the "reasonable search defense"...more
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ("ACCC") has opposed the proposed $15 billion merger of telecom providers TPG Telecom Limited ("TPG") and Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty Ltd ("Vodafone"). The ACCC's...more
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ("ACCC") has signed a new memorandum of cooperation ("MOC") with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"). The interagency agreement was signed in Washington...more
Although Australia's Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) has contained criminal cartel prohibitions since 2009, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has now made criminal cartel enforcement one of its top...more
8/3/2018
/ Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Cartels ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
Criminal Antitrust Litigation ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
Immunity ,
Popular ,
Price-Fixing
As a result of its dismissal of an appeal from video game publisher Valve in April 2018, the High Court of Australia has affirmed that overseas-based companies that sell to Australia must abide by the Australian Consumer Law...more
5/22/2018
/ Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Australian Consumer Law ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Consumer Rights Directive ,
Cross-Border ,
Goods or Services ,
High Court of Australia ,
Internet Retailers ,
Manufacturers ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Vendors
In a speech to the Energy Users Association of Australia ("EUAA"), the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission ("ACCC") Chairman said that the energy market is not working effectively for commercial and industrial users...more
5/21/2018
/ Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Competition ,
Electricity ,
Energy Market ,
Natural Gas ,
Networks ,
Oil & Gas ,
Price Discrimination ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Utilities Sector
The Background: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ("ACCC") has proposed allowing health insurer Hospitals Contribution Fund of Australia Limited ("HCF") and participating dentists to agree on the maximum...more
4/25/2018
/ Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
CCA ,
Competition ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Hospitals ,
Price-Fixing ,
Rebates ,
Statutory Immunity
Highlighting Changes of Interest in Competition and Consumer Law -
ACCC Issues Paper on Digital Platforms Inquiry -
Summary -
In December 2017, the Australian government directed the ACCC to conduct an inquiry into...more
4/23/2018
/ ASIC ,
Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Big Data ,
Cartels ,
CCA ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
Criminal Antitrust Litigation ,
Data Collection ,
Digital Platform Liability ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
Immunity ,
Online Advertisements ,
Popular ,
Price-Fixing ,
Social Media
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced product safety priorities for 2018. A key priority is for the Commission to work towards the introduction of a General Safety provision within the...more
The Background: Earlier in 2018, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission warned that several domestic companies would face criminal cartel prosecutions in 2018.
The Situation: The ACCC has begun to follow...more
Message from the Editors -
The holiday and new year period was not a quiet one in Australian competition law. Many of the recommendations from an extensive assessment of the Australian competition law were implemented. In...more
The Situation: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ("ACCC") has identified a 39 percent increase in consumer guarantee reports in 2017 as compared with 2016, from 21,000 to 29,000.
Looking Ahead: The ACCC...more
The Situation: Following consumer complaints, the Australian Competition and Consumer Regulator ("ACCC") has released a report reminding airlines of obligations when dealing with the flying public.
Looking Ahead: The ACCC...more
The Situation: Australia has adopted a package of changes to its antitrust laws that are designed to give more power to its antitrust enforcement agency, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and to increase...more
12/8/2017
/ Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Competition ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Forum Shopping ,
Market Abuse ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization ,
New Rules ,
Sensitive Business Information
The Australian competition law environment has undergone some important changes of late. In this Update, we discuss the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's ("ACCC") increasing focus on the unfair contracts...more
12/5/2017
/ Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Australian Consumer Law ,
Competition ,
Harper Review ,
Health Care Providers ,
Medicare ,
Public Health ,
Small Business ,
Supply Chain ,
Unfair Contract Terms ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
New Australia rules banning businesses from charging excessive payments on credit, debit, and other payments have become law, as discussed in our August 2016 Alert. Initially the ban applied only to large businesses....more
The Situation: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ("ACCC") has released new guidelines on mergers in the media industry.
Looking Ahead: The new guidelines provide some—but not sufficient—clarification on...more
11/10/2017
/ Acquisitions ,
Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Commerce Commissions ,
Competition ,
Mergers ,
New Guidance ,
Public Benefits ,
Public Broadcasting ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Television Broadcast Stations
The Ruling: A computer retailer was order to pay a fine for violating the Australian Consumer Law.
The Impact: Businesses must ensure that the terms and conditions in their warranty notices comply with the law, or risk an...more