Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is an independent Australian commonwealth government authority established in 1995 from the amalgamation of the Australian Trade Practices Commission (TPC) and the Prices Surveillance Authority, to protect consumer rights, business rights and obligations, perform industry regulation and price monitoring and prevent unauthorised anti-competitive behaviour. The ACCC administers the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth), more commonly known as the TPA.
Contents |
[edit] Roles
The ACCC administers the Trade Practices Act, and has standing to take action in the Federal Court of Australia to enforce its provision. The Trade Practices Act contains a broad range of provisions, such as provisions on price fixing cartels, misuse of market power, and misleading or deceptive conduct. The ACCC also reviews mergers. The ACCC, under the Act, also regulates certain industries by providing access to national infrastucture. The ACCC also has an educative role and seeks to educate both consumers and businesses as to their rights and responsibilities under the act.
The Australian Energy Regulator is a constitutent but separate part of the ACCC and is responsible for economic energy regulation. It shares staff and premises with the ACCC, but has a seperate board, although at least one board member must also be a Commissioner at the ACCC.
[edit] Restrictive Trade Practices
In most cases the spirit of the act, and thus the actions of the ACCC, favours neither consumer nor supplier, but strives to achieve a competitive market without artificial restrictions. For example, refusal of supply, a producer refusing to supply a potential retailer or customer with a product is not itself illegal unless the action would have an anti-competitive effect on the market as a whole. Conversely, practices that are invariably anti-competitive are always illegal, such as price fixing.
[edit] Penalties
Penalties for non-compliance of the TPA can be quite severe, and the ACCC is vigorous in bringing court actions against companies that breach the TPA, that may result in these penalties being imposed. Companies that do not comply with the restrictive trade practices provisions of the TPA may be fined up to AU$10,000,000, and individuals may be fined up to AU$500,000. The ACCC also has powers to enforce restitutive actions on the affected parties. For example, companies are frequently forced to publish retractions of false advertising claims in national newspapers and at their places of business. Companies found in breach of the TPA are usually bound to implement a compliance program to ensure future compliance with the act.
Although the penalties permitted by the Trade Practices Act are quite severe, there has been a reluctance by the courts to impose the maximum penalty. There has been a move recently to make certain offences under competition law (such as price fixing or participation in a cartel) into criminal offences rather than purely civil breaches. It is generally thought that the possibility of being found guilty of a criminal offence -- and the possibility of a custodial sentence for executives involved -- will provide a much stronger deterrent to anti-competitive behaviour.
[edit] Consumer Confidence
The ACCC is regarded by some Australian business people as necessary but often ineffective, while Australian consumers generally hold the ACCC in high regard.[citation needed] Whilst it is acknowledged that the ACCC is required to help safeguard consumer rights, there has been occasional criticism of the organisation as being "all-talk-no-action". This criticism is most likely due to the inherent difficulty in obtaining sufficient evidence to prove breaches of the RTP provisions of the TPA.
Recently the ACCC has exercised its authority in a number of retail areas, including fining retailer Target for false advertising and Woolworths (known as Safeway in Victoria) for illegally fixing the price of bread.
[edit] Chairpersons
[edit] See also
- Competition law
- Competition policy
- Competition regulator
- Consumer protection
- Two-price advertising (in Australia)
[edit] External links
|
|
|
|---|---|
| Federal: | Australian Competition and Consumer Commission | Australian Crime Commission | Australian Customs Service | Australian Federal Police | Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service | Australian Securities and Investments Commission |
| State/Territory: | Australian Capital Territory Police| New South Wales Police | Northern Territory Police | Queensland Police | South Australia Police | Tasmania Police | Victoria Police | Western Australia Police |
