{"id":"BILL-r7456","name":"Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026","slug":"treasury-laws-amendment-doubling-penalties-for-accc-enforcement-bill-2026","collection":"bill","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":446038,"registerId":"commonwealth-BILL-r7456-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-05-05","status":"royal_assent","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[],"analysis":{"summary":{"status_summary":"The bill received royal assent on 27 March 2026 and is now Act No. 19 of 2026.","complexity_score":2,"likely_questions":["What specific penalty amounts have been increased by this Act?","How does this change affect ongoing ACCC investigations?"],"complexity_factors":["Amendment limited to increasing penalty amounts","Legislation passed without amendments noted in the source"],"plain_english_summary":"The Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 amends the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 to double the maximum penalty for anti-competitive behaviour and certain breaches of competition and consumer law. This bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on 25 March 2026 and read a first time on that date. The second reading was moved immediately and the debate took place on 26 March 2026. Both the second reading and third reading were agreed to in the House of Representatives on 26 March 2026.\n\nFollowing its passage in the lower house, the bill was introduced and read a first time in the Senate on 26 March 2026. The second reading was moved and debated on the same day, with the second reading agreed to. The bill then proceeded to the committee of the whole for debate before the third reading was agreed to, also on 26 March 2026. This completed the parliamentary process in both houses on the same day.\n\nRoyal assent was granted the next day on 27 March 2026, and the bill became Act number 19 of 2026. The legislation doubles the penalties available under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 for violations involving anti-competitive conduct and consumer law breaches. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission can now pursue higher maximum penalties in enforcement actions.\n\nThis amendment affects all entities subject to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, including businesses engaged in commercial activities across Australia. It impacts those involved in anti-competitive behaviour and breaches of consumer law. Consumers may benefit from the enhanced enforcement of these laws.\n\nThe bill does not create new regulatory requirements but modifies the sanction levels for existing prohibitions. Legal professionals, corporate governance officers, and regulatory bodies will need to update their understanding of the applicable penalty ranges. The full text of the Act as passed by both Houses is available for reference, along with the explanatory memorandum that accompanied the bill.\n\nFollowing royal assent, the provisions take effect as specified in the Act, allowing the doubled penalties to be applied in future cases. Interested parties can consult the Federal Register of Legislation for the official version of the law. This change represents an update to the enforcement framework for competition and consumer protection in Australia."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act remains narrowly focused on increasing monetary penalty caps and adjusting related thresholds and application timing. It does not create new offences, broaden the types of conduct captured by the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, or expand enforcement powers of the ACCC; it only raises the statutory ceiling on penalties in the listed provisions (see Schedule 1 and its application rules). The single technical exclusion (s151BX(7) excluding Crimes Act section 4AB) modifies interaction with the Crimes Act for that one provision but does not broaden the substantive scope of prohibited conduct."},"complexity_factors":["Short, single‑purpose Act (few pages) focused on numeric substitutions and limited textual additions","Around 24 discrete substitutions of $50,000,000 -> $100,000,000 across main Act and Schedules (Schedule 1, items 1, 5–6 table entries)","One substitution raising $71 million -> $121 million (Schedule 1, item 3)","Addition of a single technical provision excluding s4AB of the Crimes Act from applying to section 151BX (Schedule 1, item 4)","Temporal/application rules inserted into the Competition and Consumer Act and Schedule 2 (Schedule 1, Part 2; inserted sections 193 and 310) — adds cross‑reference complexity on retrospective application","Multiple cross‑references to existing provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and Schedule 2 (requires checking each amended paragraph to see final effect)","Low volume of conditional logic and exceptions — amendments are primarily straight substitutions, limiting nested exceptions"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (mechanically)\n\n- The Act amends the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 by increasing a number of monetary penalty caps used for serious competition and consumer law breaches. In multiple places it replaces references to $50,000,000 with $100,000,000 (Schedule 1, items 1, 5–6 and the tables of substitutions). It also increases one related threshold from $71 million to $121 million (Schedule 1, item 3).\n- The Act adds a specific rule that section 4AB of the Crimes Act 1914 does not apply to a particular penalty provision (section 151BX) (Schedule 1, item 4).\n- The Act contains application (temporal) rules: the higher penalties apply to offences, contraventions or acts or omissions that occur on or after the day the Schedule commences (Schedule 1, Part 2; see items 7–9 and the inserted sections 193 and 310 in the Competition and Consumer Act and Schedule 2).\n\nWho it affects\n\n- Large businesses and responsible individuals who may be found to have engaged in serious anti‑competitive conduct or other specified competition/consumer law contraventions where the law currently uses the monetary caps being changed. Courts will now be able to impose higher maximum monetary penalties in those specified circumstances (see the list of substituted provisions in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2).\n- The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) as the regulator and enforcement agency: the maximum exposure faced by respondents in ACCC enforcement matters has been increased; that changes the enforcement stakes in litigation and settlement negotiations.\n- Courts and practitioners, because sentencing/penalty arguments and calculations will use the new dollar caps and the amended thresholds (Schedule 1, items 1–6; application items 7–9).\n\nWhy it matters (claimed purpose and practical effects)\n\n- The official stated change is to increase the available maximum penalties for certain anti‑competitive behaviour and specified breaches of competition and consumer law. Mechanically, this increases the statutory ceiling on financial penalties the court may impose for the listed offences/contraventions (Schedule 1, Items 1–6).\n- If higher maximum penalties influence behaviour, the immediate incentive effect is a larger financial risk for large firms and individuals involved in serious breaches. That changes the calculus for: whether to comply; how much to spend on compliance or legal defences; whether to settle or litigate in ACCC matters; and how firms price risk into contracts or conduct.\n\nCosts, incentives, trade‑offs and implementation practicalities\n\n- Who pays: defendants found liable (companies and/or individuals) pay higher fines if the court imposes them. The law does not create a new tax or levy; it raises the upper limit courts may impose where an offence or contravention is proved under the cited provisions (Schedule 1 substitutions; Schedule 2 substitutions).\n- Who decides: courts still decide whether a breach has occurred and how much of the permitted maximum penalty to impose. The ACCC brings prosecutions or civil penalty proceedings; but the court determines the penalty within the legal framework (see the amended penalty caps listed in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2).\n- Compliance and litigation costs: raising maximum penalties increases downside risk for large firms, which can increase spending on compliance, internal controls, and external legal advice. It also raises the commercial value of ACCC claims, which may increase pressure to settle or, conversely, lead to longer, higher‑stakes litigation.\n- Distributional effects: the change targets large breaches (the caps are relevant for more serious conduct). The benefit of higher penalties is concentrated (potentially higher penalty receipts and stronger enforcement tools for ACCC); costs are diffuse (higher compliance and litigation costs borne by regulated firms and possibly passed on to consumers). The Act itself does not specify how penalties are used after collection.\n- Substitution and strategic effects: firms may change behaviour (avoid risky conduct, restructure transactions, adopt tighter compliance), but they may also adopt risk mitigation strategies such as insurance or contract clauses that shift risk to other parties. There is a possible increase in rent‑seeking around enforcement outcomes (for example, more aggressive settlement bargaining), but the statute simply raises the ceiling — it does not alter the legal tests for liability.\n- Implementation and legal interpretation risk: courts will apply the new figures to future cases and may need to interpret how the increased caps interact with other penalty‑setting principles (e.g., seriousness, benefits obtained). The Act contains explicit temporal rules so it applies only to conduct occurring on or after commencement (Schedule 1, Part 2; inserted Division 7 s193 and Schedule 2 Part 9 s310), reducing retrospective application risk.\n- The statutory exclusion (section 151BX(7) added by item 4) that “Section 4AB of the Crimes Act 1914 does not apply to this section” is a technical rule that narrows the operation of the Crimes Act in respect of that specific penalty provision. That alters interaction between the Crimes Act and the Competition and Consumer Act for that provision; courts and practitioners will need to account for that change when considering corporate liability or other cross‑Act issues (Schedule 1, item 4).\n\nMarket effects checklist (brief)\n\n- Private enterprise and competition: the Act does not change what is prohibited; it increases penalties. That raises the financial risk of engaging in prohibited conduct and can influence competitive conduct indirectly through deterrence and compliance costs (see substituted penalties in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2).\n- Prices and productivity: any effect on prices or productivity would be indirect — through compliance costs, litigation costs, or penalties that firms may pass on to consumers. The Act does not directly regulate prices or productivity.\n- Ownership and contract freedom: the law does not alter property, ownership rules or contract enforceability; it may change how parties allocate legal risk in contracts.\n- Speech and individual choice: not directly affected. However, increased penalties for certain misconduct may change firms’ willingness to pursue particular commercial strategies.\n\nNet mechanical takeaway (plain): this is a focused statutory amendment that doubles or increases several monetary penalty caps used in enforcement of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, applies those higher caps prospectively to conduct on or after commencement, and contains a technical exclusion of s4AB of the Crimes Act for one specific penalty provision (Schedule 1 items and application provisions cited above).**"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/treasury-laws-amendment-doubling-penalties-for-accc-enforcement-bill-2026","history":"/api/acts/treasury-laws-amendment-doubling-penalties-for-accc-enforcement-bill-2026/history","analysis":"/api/acts/treasury-laws-amendment-doubling-penalties-for-accc-enforcement-bill-2026/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/treasury-laws-amendment-doubling-penalties-for-accc-enforcement-bill-2026/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/treasury-laws-amendment-doubling-penalties-for-accc-enforcement-bill-2026/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/treasury-laws-amendment-doubling-penalties-for-accc-enforcement-bill-2026/documents"}}