Australia Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
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An independent statutory authority, the ACCC administers the Trade Practices Act 1974 and the Prices Surveillance Act 1983 and has additional responsibilities under other legislation.  In broad terms, the Act covers anti-competitive and unfair market practices, mergers or acquisitions of companies, product safety/liability, and third party access to facilities of national significance.

The ACCC is the only national agency dealing generally with competition matters and the only agency with responsibility for enforcement of the Trade Practices Act and the associated State/Territory application legislation.

The ACCC's consumer protection work complements that of State and Territory consumer affairs agencies, which administer the mirror legislation of their jurisdictions, and the Consumer Affairs Division of Treasury.

Trade Practices Act

The objective of the Trade Practices Act, as set out in the legislation, is to enhance the welfare of Australians through the promotion of competition and fair trading and provision for consumer protection.
The major parts of the Act are:

  • Part IIIA - third party access to nationally significant essential facilities.
  • Part IV - anti-competitive practices.
  • Part IVA - unconscionable conduct.
  • Part IVB - industry codes.
  • Part V - unfair practices; product safety and information; country of origin claims; conditions and warranties; actions against manufacturers /importers.
  • Part VA - product liability.
  • Part VB - price exploitation in relation to the new tax system.
    Part VII - authorisation and notification.
  • Part X - international liner cargo shipping.
  • Part XIB - a telecommunications-specific regime dealing with anti-competitive conduct
  • Part XIC - a telecommunications-specific regime for regulated access to carriage services

Prices Surveillance Act Under the Prices Surveillance Act the Commission has three pricing functions: to vet the proposed price rises of any business organization placed under prices surveillance; to hold inquiries into pricing practices and related matters and to report the findings to the responsible Commonwealth Minister; and to monitor prices, costs and profits of an industry or business and to report the results to the Minister.
 

Complaint and inquiries

You can contact your local ACCC office by

Phone on +61 2 6243 1111;
Fax on +61 2 6243 1196;
Letter at P.O. Box 1199k, DICKSON  ACT 2602, AUSTRALIA

or by using the email addresses listed below. Complaints may be made anonymously, but that usually limits the Commission's ability to respond.

There is no fee or charge for making a complaint or inquiry.

The Commission cannot give legal advice and recommends that a solicitor is the most appropriate person from whom to see such advice.

The Commission mainly gives advice in English, and has limited facilities for receiving and responding to inquiries in other languages.

Email Contacts

Click on the links below for direct email contact with particular functional areas of the Commission or to make general inquiries about the Trade Practices Act and the ACCC's role and functions.

Inquiries about the Commission's role in:

General inquiries and complaints about the Trade Practices Act

Media releases