ACCC authorises Casual Mall Licensing Code of Practice

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has authorised* the Shopping Centre Council of Australia's Casual Mall Licensing Code of Practice.

The SCCA is a representative body for shopping centres throughout Australia. Its code aims to provide balanced guidelines for casual mall licensing, which involves traders, generally for a short period, occupying part of the common area of shopping centres.

"Casual mall licensing has become an increasingly common feature of shopping centres in Australia," ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today. "Common users of casual mall licences include product launches and demonstrations and brand awareness campaigns.

"The code places some restriction on the circumstances in which a shopping centre proprietor can grant a casual mall license to a competitor of an existing tenant. However, the ACCC considers these restrictions to be minimal.

"The restrictions apply only in respect of granting a casual mall license that introduces a competitor directly adjacent to or in front of an existing tenant, and only in limited circumstances. In the limited circumstances where the restrictions do apply, casual mall licensees potentially affected by the arrangements have a range of alternatives, including locating in a different area of the shopping centre.

"The ACCC considers that the provisions contained in the code are likely to provide a public benefit by balancing the reasonable and consistent treatment of permanent retail tenants with the introduction of casual mall licensees within a shopping centre. This in turns allows them to make better informed business decisions and provides certainty over the life of leases entered into.

"The code also contains general disclosure obligations that are in line with those that apply to landlords more generally under state and territory retail tenancy legislation. In effect, the code extends these general disclosure requirements to also apply in respect of casual mall licensing."

The code is modelled on an existing casual mall licensing code enacted by the South Australian Government as a schedule to the South Australian Retail and Commercial Leases Act, which has been operating successfully since 2002.

It is voluntary code and ultimately individual shopping centres retain the discretion over whether to adopt it.

More information regarding the applications for authorisation and a copy of the determination are available on the ACCC's website, by following the links to Public registers, Authorisations and notifications registers and Authorisations register.

Background

*Authorisation provides immunity from court action for conduct that might otherwise raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974. Broadly, the ACCC may grant an authorisation when it is satisfied that the public benefit from the conduct outweighs any public detriment. The ACCC conducts a comprehensive public consultation process and issues a draft determination before making a decision to grant or deny authorisation.