This is the fourteenth interim report of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) inquiry into gas supply arrangements in Australia. The ACCC has continued its focus on the operation of the East Coast Gas Market, where there are immediate and longer-term concerns.
The ACCC has prepared guidelines that set out our interim position on the investigation and enforcement of possible contraventions of the Competition and Consumer (Gas Market Emergency Price) Order 2022 (the Order).
This guide provides information on the collective bargaining approval processes in the Act and outlines how the ACCC assesses the public benefits and detriments associated with collective bargaining proposals.
We have prepared guidelines on the authorisation process for non-merger conduct to help businesses and their advisers lodge applications for authorisation, and interested parties to provide submissions in response to applications.
Changes to the Act from 6 November 2017 mean that it is now possible to obtain protection from legal action for Resale Price Maintenance (RPM) conduct by lodging a notification. Prior to this date, ACCC authorisation was the only way to obtain legal protection for RPM conduct. Authorisation will continue to be available, so now businesses proposing to engage in RPM now have a choice of lodging a notification or seeking authorisation. This Guide provides information about RPM notifications.
Exclusive dealing is common in many business arrangements. Changes to the Act on 6 November 2017 mean that all types of exclusive dealing is only a breach of the Act if the restriction is likely to have the purpose, effect or likely effect of substantially lessening competition. This Guide provides information about exclusive dealing notifications.
On 20 December 2022, the ACCC released its first report as required under the Competition and Consumer (Price Monitoring—General Insurance Policies) Direction 2022.
The Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Information Sharing Scheme (MVIS) is a mandatory scheme that came into effect on 1 July 2022. Under the MVIS, all repairers have fair access to the information needed to service and repair vehicles. This industry guidance has been provided to help data providers comply with the MVIS.