How to avoid joining a cartel

If you are invited into an arrangement that seems like a cartel, you should seek independent legal advice and notify the ACCC.  Remember that if you don’t, others might choose to break ranks and report your involvement to the ACCC.

To help identify possible invitations to join in cartel activity, view the following hypothetical scenarios:

If you believe the arrangement to be a cartel, you should consider the:

  • real possibility of a criminal conviction and gaol time
  • the effect a criminal conviction will have on your everyday life and freedom to travel internationally
  • penalties that a court may impose against you for breaching the Competition and Consumer Act
  • financial penalties that will outweigh any unlawful profits your business could make by joining the cartel
  • damage to your reputation and that of your business as well as your future business plans
  • the losses your customers and suppliers will suffer, and the possibility they will seek to recover these losses from you
  • the potential cost and distraction from your normal business as you defend yourself against an ACCC investigation and subsequent court proceedings, which can take years.

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