Second Competition Law Reform Act Receives Assent
Wednesday 1 November 2017 @ 11.02 a.m. | Corporate & Regulatory | Trade & Commerce
The second Act that forms a part of the major reform to competition law that was begun by the Harper Review has received assent. The Competition and Consumer Amendment (Competition Policy Review) Act 2017 (Cth) (the “Competition Policy Review Act”) received assent on 27 October 2017 as Act 114 of 2017, following the enactment on 23 August 2017 of the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Misuse of Market Power) Act 2017 (Cth) (the “Misuse of Market Power Act”) as Act 87 of 2017. According to an ACCC media release, the passage of both of these Acts will usher in a “new era in competition law”.
Date of Commencement
Neither Act has yet commenced, with the substantive provisions of the Misuse of Market Power Act scheduled to commence at the same time as Schedule 1 of the Competition Policy Review Act.
The Competition Policy Review Act has a default commencement date in April 2018, however in the media release, the ACCC says:
“The Competition Policy Review legislation and the Misuse of Market Power legislation are scheduled to come into effect in the coming weeks.”
For more information on the Misuse of Market Power Act, see TimeBase’s earlier article.
Competition Policy Review Act
The Competition Policy Review Act makes a number of amendments to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (“the Act”), including:
- Amending the definition of ‘competition’ to specifically include goods and services that are capable of importation
- Simplifying and better targeting provisions on cartel conduct and anti-competitive conduct
- Repealing provisions dealing with price signalling
- Defining ‘contract’ and ‘party’ to include covenants
- Prohibiting third line forcing where it has the purpose, effect or likely effect of substantially lessening competition
- Amending the resale price maintenance and notification provisions to allow notification of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission rather than authorisation of the Commission
- Consolidating authorisation provisions in Part VII and Part IX of the Act and granting the Commission a ‘class exemption’ power
- Extending the Commission’s power to obtain information, documents and evidence in certain cases
- Amending the National Access Regime to address the lack of effective competition in markets for nationally significant infrastructure services
ACCC Comment
ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said in the media release:
“I am pleased to see these important reforms pass through the Parliament. The reforms to the misuse of market power prohibition and the new prohibition of anti-competitive concerted practices will improve our ability to target conduct harming the Australian economy…
The reforms also bring changes to the options available to merger parties to have their transactions cleared on either competition or net public benefit grounds. The merger authorisation and formal clearance processes will now be combined and streamlined, with the ACCC as the first-instance decision maker…
These new laws have far reaching implications for the Australian economy and should significantly boost growth. The Harper Review recommended these changes to enhance the benefits that should flow to consumers and businesses when markets operate efficiently.”
TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products. Nothing on this website should be construed as legal advice and does not substitute for the advice of competent legal counsel.
Sources:
Competition and Consumer Amendment (Competition Policy Review) Act 2017 (Cth) and Explanatory Memorandum - available from TimeBase's LawOne website
Competition and Consumer Amendment (Misuse of Market Power) Act 2017 (Cth)
