The Full Court of the Federal Court has today set aside the decision of the Australian Competition Tribunal to grant authorisation for Tabcorp Holdings Limited to acquire Tatts Group Limited, referring the decision back to the Tribunal for further consideration.
“The ACCC is pleased that the Full Federal Court has set aside the decision, however the reasons for the decision are not yet public,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has lodged a Notice of Appeal from the Federal Court’s decision on 30 August 2017 dismissing the ACCC’s proceedings against Medibank Private Limited (Medibank).
The ACCC has instituted proceedings against Servcorp Ltd and two of its subsidiaries (Servcorp) alleging that a number of terms in Servcorp’s standard form contracts with small businesses are unfair and should be declared void.
Servcorp supplies serviced office space and virtual office services such as office suites, secretarial services, IT, communications and personal assistants to its clients, many of whom are Australian small businesses.
The Federal Court has today dismissed proceedings brought by the ACCC against LG Electronics Australia Pty Ltd (LG).
The ACCC had alleged that LG made false or misleading representations to consumers about their rights in relation to faulty LG products.
In relation to complaints about defects with its televisions, the ACCC alleged LG misrepresented to consumers, retailers, or repairers that:
The Federal Court today ordered Get Qualified Australia Pty Ltd (GQA) to pay an $8 million penalty for multiple breaches of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and its sole director, Mr Adam Wadi, to pay a penalty of $500,000.
This is one of the highest penalties ever awarded for breaches of the ACL.
Justice Beach stated that “the education sector has been infected by the parasitic practices of operators preying upon the vulnerable and the unwary” and that GQA’s conduct was “serious, extensive and deliberate”.
The Court also made declarations that GQA:
The ACCC has commenced proceedings in the Federal Court against Mr Tuan Nguyen to enforce payment of a $50,000 penalty previously ordered for breaches of consumer law.
In 2013, the Court found that Mr Nguyen was knowingly concerned in false or misleading representations made by Artorios Ink to five small businesses to sell printer cartridges.
The Court ordered Mr Nguyen to pay a penalty of $50,000 but he made no payments and filed for bankruptcy.
The ACCC has instituted proceedings against Domain Name Corp Pty Ltd and Domain Name Agency Pty Ltd (also trading as Domain Name Register) (the Domain companies) alleging that they engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct and made false or misleading representations to Australian businesses about the domain name services they offered.
The ACCC is also alleging that the sole director of both the Domain companies was involved in the conduct.
The Federal Court has ordered Snowdale Holdings Pty Ltd (Snowdale) to pay penalties totalling $750,000 for making false or misleading representations that its eggs were ‘free range’, in proceedings brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
“This is the highest penalty that a Court has ordered in relation to misleading ‘free range’ egg claims. It reflects the seriousness of Snowdale’s conduct and the importance of egg producers being truthful about marketing claims they make,” ACCC Commissioner Mick Keogh said.
Markets must work in favour of consumers and the public must be convinced of the benefits of competition or distrust in the market mechanism can grow, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chair Rod Sims warned today.
Addressing the 2017 Australian Conference of Economists in Sydney, Mr Sims signalled any loss of public confidence in market economics puts at risk the positive change countries and institutions are capable of if they embrace an open market system.
ACCC Commissioner Mick Keogh discusses the challenges consolidation presents for Australian agriculture, and the tools to preserve and promote competition in the sector.