{"id":"C1972A00118","name":"Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1972","slug":"restrictive-trade-practices-act-1972","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"118 of 1972","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":2496,"registerId":"commonwealth-C1972A00118-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-29","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1972","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\nmeta-generator: Aspose.Words for .NET 20.2\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\nRestrictive Trade Practices\n\nNo. 118 of 1972\n\nAn Act to amend the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1971 in relation to Overseas Cargo Shipping.\n\n[Assented to 31 October 1972]\n\nBE it enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:—\n\nShort title and citation.\n\n1.—(1.) This Act may be cited as the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1972.\n\n(2.) The Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1971 is in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.\n\n(3.) The Principal Act, as amended by this Act, may be cited as the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1971–1972.\n\nCommencement.\n\n2. This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.\n\nDefinitions.\n\n3. Section 104 of the Principal Act is amended by adding at the end of the definition of “the Clerk” the words “and includes a person appointed to act as Clerk of Shipping Agreements”.\n\nClerk of Shipping Agreement.\n\n4. Section 109 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting after sub-section (1.) the following sub-section:—\n\n“(1a.) Where the Clerk of Shipping Agreements is, or is expected to be, absent from duty or the office of Clerk of Shipping Agreements is vacant, the Governor-General may appoint a person to act as Clerk of Shipping Agreements during the absence or until the filling of the vacancy, as the case may be.”.\n\nMinister may request undertakings.\n\n5. Section 116 of the Principal Act is amended—\n\n(a) by omitting from sub-section (2.) the word “relevant” (wherever occurring) and inserting in its stead the word “designated”; and\n\n(b) by omitting sub-section (5.) and inserting in its stead the following sub-sections:—\n\n“(5.) The designated officer may appoint an officer or officers to be his deputy or deputies and any undertaking given for the\n\n\n\n\npurposes of this section by a party to a conference agreement shall be deemed to include an undertaking that the party will—\n\n(a) cause a deputy so appointed to be furnished with such information as the deputy requires concerning the progress of the negotiations with the designated shipper body; and\n\n(b) in the event of the absence of the designated officer from a meeting in the course of the negotiations, permit the deputy, or, if there is more than one deputy, one of the deputies, to be present at that meeting and give consideration to any suggestions that he may make.\n\n“(6.) In this section—\n\n‘the designated officer’ means the officer designated by the Minister under paragraph (b) of sub-section (2.) of this section;\n\n‘the designated shipper body’ means the shipper body designated by the Minister in the notice requesting the undertaking.”.\n\nMinister may request undertakings.\n\n6. Section 122 of the Principal Act is amended—\n\n(a) by omitting from sub-section (1.) the word “relevant” (wherever occurring) and inserting in its stead the word “designated”; and\n\n(b) by omitting sub-section (5.) and inserting in its stead the following sub-sections:—\n\n“(5.) The designated officer may appoint an officer or officers to be his deputy or deputies and any undertaking given for the purposes of this section by a shipowner shall be deemed to include an undertaking that the shipowner will—\n\n(a) cause a deputy so appointed to be furnished with such information as the deputy requires concerning the progress of the negotiations with the designated shipper body; and\n\n(b) in the event of the absence of the designated officer from a meeting in the course of the negotiations, permit the deputy, or, if there is more than one deputy, one of the deputies, to be present at that meeting and give consideration to any suggestions that he may make.\n\n“(6.) In this section—\n\n‘the designated officer’ means the officer designated by the Minister under paragraph (b) of sub-section (1.) of this section;\n\n‘the designated shipper body’ means the shipper body designated by the Minister in the notice requesting the undertaking.”.\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is the original 1972 Act as made, so there is no prior version to compare it against — this is the baseline instrument itself. Its scope is internally coherent and focused on its stated purpose: regulating restrictive trade practices by corporations. It does not appear to have been amended from its original form in the version provided. Notably, its scope was subsequently and substantially expanded by the Trade Practices Act 1974, which superseded it — but that expansion occurred in successor legislation, not within this Act itself."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple distinct categories of prohibited conduct, each with their own conditions and thresholds","Conditional logic around the 'substantial lessening of competition' test, which requires case-by-case market analysis","Authorisation and exemption regime introduces a parallel decision-making pathway with its own procedural rules","Cross-references between sections defining prohibited conduct and sections establishing enforcement powers and remedies","Defined terms such as 'corporation', 'market', 'trade or commerce', and 'competition' carry specific legal meanings that differ from everyday usage","Jurisdictional scope conditions tied to constitutional heads of power (e.g. corporations power, interstate trade) add a layer of constitutional complexity","Provisions governing the Trade Practices Commission's structure, functions, and procedures add institutional and administrative complexity alongside the substantive rules"],"plain_english_summary":"The Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1972 was Australia’s first federal law to curb business conduct that restricts, distorts or prevents fair competition — targeting cartels, misuse of market power, exclusive dealing, resale price maintenance and anti‑competitive mergers. It applied to corporations trading in Australia and created the Trade Practices Commission to investigate and authorise exceptions.\n\nIts significance lies in establishing free and fair competition as a public interest and seeding the modern Australian competition law regime."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/restrictive-trade-practices-act-1972","history":"/api/acts/restrictive-trade-practices-act-1972/history","analysis":"/api/acts/restrictive-trade-practices-act-1972/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/restrictive-trade-practices-act-1972/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/restrictive-trade-practices-act-1972/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/restrictive-trade-practices-act-1972/documents"}}