Interim reports23 Oct 2020

The Ministerial Direction requires the ACCC to provide its first interim report to the Treasurer by 30 September 2020, and subsequent interim reports every six months until 31 March 2025.

The ACCC is directed to consider a range of matters as part of its inquiry, including the intensity of competition for the supply of digital platform services and any practices by suppliers of digital platform services which may result in consumer harm.

The ACCC is proactively monitoring all markets for the supply of digital platform services, digital advertising services and data broking services.

Approach to interim reports

The ACCC intends for each interim report to provide an in-depth focus on a particular sector or sectors that supply digital platform services, as well as data brokers. The areas of focus for interim reports will be announced by the ACCC as appropriate, including when public submissions are invited from interested parties.

Feedback on inquiry reports

Broadly speaking, the inquiry is a public process and written submissions to the ACCC on reports will be posted on the ACCC website.

The ACCC can accept a claim of confidentiality from a party if it is satisfied that the disclosure of information would damage their competitive position, and the ACCC is not of the opinion that disclosure of the information is necessary in the public interest. Further information about confidentiality can be found in the ACCC’s Guidelines on section 95ZN claims in price inquiries

Individuals’ personal contact details will be removed from submissions. Submissions or enquiries can be sent to: digitalmonitoring@accc.gov.au.