Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims today announced the next part of an integrated strategy to prevent cartel involvement – release of The Marker, a short film that shows the devastating effects involvement in a cartel can have on individuals and businesses.
“The ACCC’s approach to stamping out cartels is to partner education with enforcement. We have stepped up proactive intelligence gathering and data assessment and have identified industries and sectors to monitor,” said Mr Sims.
“Education is the next step. The Marker shows how cartel activity can ruin relationships, careers, reputations and long term financial security, and may ultimately land guilty parties in jail.
“Individuals and businesses who are currently in a cartel or who have been involved in one face potential hefty fines or penalties, including the possibility of up to ten years in jail,” he said.
The film is supported by a Video News Release featuring Mr Sims, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and University of Melbourne Associate Professor Caron Beaton-Wells.
Mr Joyce highlights the destruction cartels cause to business and employees, speaking directly to Qantas’ involvement in an international air cargo cartel.
Professor Beaton-Wells led groundbreaking research into cartel activity and found that over half of business people do not know that cartel conduct is a criminal offence.
Additionally, despite being told the legal consequences, almost one in 10 business people said they would be likely to engage in cartel conduct if the opportunity presented itself.
The ACCC runs an immunity program that enables past or present cartel members to confess their actions and cooperate with investigations in exchange for immunity from ACCC-initiated civil and (through the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions) criminal proceedings.
“I urge anyone with involvement in cartel activities to contact the ACCC and seek an immunity marker,” Mr Sims said.
“But only the first person or business through the door is eligible, providing they weren’t the clear leader in the cartel and hadn’t coerced people in other corporations to participate.”
Mr Sims said offering immunity from proceedings was a critical tool in gaining evidence needed to take action against cartels and stop them from damaging the economy.
“Almost 100 companies or individuals have come forward under the ACCC immunity policy since its inception in September 2005.
“There is no honour among thieves, so people and businesses involved in cartels will never know when someone has decided to come clean and tell us everything.
“Those who don’t get immunity face serious financial loss, damage to their personal and business reputations, loss of a career and even loss of freedom.”
Mr Sims is urging CEOs to spread the word that fixing prices, rigging bids, sharing markets and restricting outputs attracts serious civil and criminal sanctions.
“The ACCC has sent The Marker to CEOs at 300 of Australia’s largest companies and we are advising them to show it to employees at all levels of their business,” said Mr Sims.
“I hope the film helps individuals realise that breaking the law for short term gain is just not worth it – and if they’ve had any involvement in a cartel, the answer is to come to the ACCC and seek an immunity marker.”
The ACCC works to curtail cartels through education, monitoring and investigating industries where cartels are likely to exist and working with overseas counterparts to detect cartels that operate on a global level.
To see The Marker and find out more about cartels, visit www.accc.gov.au/cartels