On 24 November 2011, the Senate passed the Competition and Consumer Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2011 which introduces new prohibitions against disclosures of pricing and other competitively sensitive information. The new law will take effect six months after the Bill receives Royal Assent (most likely in June 2012).
The new law prohibits two types of price signalling, subject to a number of exceptions:
Regulations specifying the particular goods and services to which the new law will apply are still to be released. The Government has stated its intention that the new prohibitions will initially only apply to the banking sector, but has left open the possibility of extending it to other industry sectors in the future.
On Friday, Treasury released a consultation paper outlining its proposed merger notification thresholds, as part of the upcoming overhaul of Australia’s merger law regime.
The High Court has found in favour of the ACCC in an important proceeding raising fundamental issues concerning the scope of the systemic unconscionable conduct prohibition and the principles...
The Treasurer has now released draft legislation for the new Australian merger control regime, which will come into effect on 1 January 2026, subject to the legislation’s passage through Parliament.