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).
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).
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).
Who it affects
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).
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.
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Act 2026 amends the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 by increasing the maximum penalty for specified anti-competitive behaviour and certain breaches of competition and consumer law. Schedule 1 Part 1 item 1 substitutes $50,000,000 with $100,000,000 in paragraph 45AF(3)(a), paragraph 45AG(3)(a) and paragraph 76(1B)(a). Item 2 changes subparagraph 151BX(3)(a)(i) by omitting $50 million and substituting $100 million. Item 3 substitutes $71 million with $121 million in subparagraph 151BX(3)(a)(ii). Item 4 adds subsection 151BX(7) to state that section 4AB of the Crimes Act 1914 does not apply to section 151BX. Item 5 applies the same $50,000,000 to $100,000,000 substitution to paragraph 45AF(3)(a) and paragraph 45AG(3)(a) within Schedule 1. Item 6 performs identical substitutions across twenty-four provisions of Schedule 2, namely paragraphs 151(5)(a), 152(2A)(a), 153(3)(a), 154(5A)(a), 155(3)(a), 156(3)(a), 157(3A)(a), 158(10A)(a), 159(4)(a), 161(7)(a), 162(6)(a), 163(5A)(a), 164(4)(a), 166(8)(a), 167(3)(a), 168(2A)(a), 194(8)(a), 195(4)(a), 197(8)(a), 198(4)(a), 199(4)(a), 203(9)(a), 204(4)(a) and 224(3A)(a). Part 2 items 7, 8 and 9 insert application provisions that limit the new penalty levels to offences committed or contraventions, acts or omissions that occurred on or after commencement. The Act received royal assent on 27 March 2026 as Act No. 19 of 2026 and commenced on 28 March 2026.
Main concepts
Official source available
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Amends the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 to increase the maximum penalty for anti-competitive behaviour and certain breaches of competition and consumer law.
Parliamentary progress
Progress
House of Representatives
Introduced and read a first time
25 Mar 2026
Second reading moved
25 Mar 2026
Second reading debate
26 Mar 2026
Second reading agreed to
26 Mar 2026
Third reading agreed to
26 Mar 2026
Senate
Introduced and read a first time
26 Mar 2026
Second reading moved
26 Mar 2026
Second reading debate
26 Mar 2026
Second reading agreed to
26 Mar 2026
Committee of the Whole debate
26 Mar 2026
Third reading agreed to
26 Mar 2026
Finally passed both Houses
26 Mar 2026
Assent
Act no: 19
Year: 2026
27 Mar 2026
Notes
Documents and transcripts
Text of bill
First reading
As passed by both Houses
Explanatory memoranda
Explanatory memorandum
Transcript of speeches
All second reading speeches
Minister's second reading speech
Proposed amendments
House of representatives
2nd reading amendment
SMALL, Ben, MP
2nd reading amendment
WATSON-BROWN, Elizabeth, MP
Senate
2R - Australian Greens [sheet 3737]
MCKIM, Sen Nick
CW - Australian Greens [sheet 3735]
MCKIM, Sen Nick
Schedules of amendments
No documents at present
Notes
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).
Why it matters (claimed purpose and practical effects)
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).
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.
Costs, incentives, trade‑offs and implementation practicalities
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).
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
Market effects checklist (brief)
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).
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.
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.
Speech and individual choice: not directly affected. However, increased penalties for certain misconduct may change firms’ willingness to pursue particular commercial strategies.
Net 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).**
The central concept is the statutory maximum penalty applicable to corporations for contraventions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. The Act distinguishes between provisions in the body of the Act that address cartel conduct and related offences, provisions in Schedule 1 that replicate those cartel rules, and the extensive list of civil penalty provisions in Schedule 2 that form the Australian Consumer Law. A further concept is the treatment of indexed amounts in the telecommunications-specific enforcement provision at section 151BX, where the Act both doubles the base figure and expressly disapplies Crimes Act indexation to produce a fixed $121 million ceiling. Application provisions constitute another core concept, ensuring the higher maxima operate only prospectively and thereby preserving the principle against retrospective increases in penalty exposure. The Act does not alter the underlying prohibitions, the standard of proof, the range of enforcement tools available to the ACCC, or the factors a court must consider when determining an appropriate penalty within the new maximum. It simply raises the upper limit against which those factors are applied in cases involving large corporate respondents.
Who it affects
The changes directly affect corporations that engage in conduct after 28 March 2026 that contravenes the cartel provisions in sections 45AF and 45AG, the penalty provision in section 76, or any of the twenty-four listed paragraphs within Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. Telecommunications companies face the revised ceilings in section 151BX. The ACCC is affected in its capacity as the agency that institutes proceedings and seeks pecuniary penalties, because the higher maxima expand the range of outcomes it can request from the Federal Court. Legal practitioners advising corporate clients on competition compliance and consumer law risk management must now factor the doubled exposure into opinions and training programs. Directors and officers of large proprietary companies and listed entities bear indirect responsibility because penalty levels influence the design of internal compliance systems and the assessment of personal liability risks under related provisions. Smaller businesses and individuals remain subject to the pre-existing lower maxima or to the general $500,000 cap that applies to them, so the Act does not alter their exposure. Consumers and competitors may experience indirect effects through any additional deterrence created by the higher corporate penalties.
What people will want to know
The higher penalties apply only to conduct that occurs on or after 28 March 2026. Conduct that took place before that date remains subject to the former $50 million maximum even if proceedings are commenced afterwards. The Act does not change the way penalties are calculated; courts continue to apply the same statutory factors and common-law principles, merely against a higher ceiling. Section 151BX receives special treatment because its indexed component is reset to $121 million and future indexation under the Crimes Act is excluded, producing a static figure. The twenty-four Schedule 2 provisions cover a range of Australian Consumer Law obligations including certain unfair contract term prohibitions, consumer guarantee remedies, and specific product safety or information obligations that carry corporate penalties. No new reporting or notification duties are created. Existing investigation powers, leniency policies and settlement practices of the ACCC remain unchanged. Companies with ongoing compliance programs should review whether their risk assessments and insurance arrangements adequately address the increased maximum exposure for the listed contraventions.
Status and what happens next
The bill received royal assent on 27 March 2026 and became the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Act 2026, Act No. 19 of 2026. It commenced the following day, 28 March 2026. The legislation is now fully in force and requires no further parliamentary steps. An electronic version is available on the Federal Register of Legislation. The ACCC may seek the new penalty levels in any proceedings concerning post-commencement conduct. Businesses should treat the doubled maxima as the operative ceiling for compliance planning and board reporting. No transitional regulations or further legislative instruments are required by the Act itself. Future amendments to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 may interact with these provisions, but the current text stands as enacted.
Powers, duties and rights created
The Act creates no new investigative, prosecutorial or adjudicative powers for the ACCC or the courts. It imposes no fresh duties on corporations to disclose conduct or to implement additional compliance measures. The only new statutory right is the implicit protection against retrospective application of the higher maxima, secured by the express application provisions in items 7, 8 and 9. Subsection 151BX(7) creates a limited clarification that removes the possibility of automatic indexation under the Crimes Act for that particular penalty provision. In substance the Act adjusts an existing remedial power, the power of a court to order a pecuniary penalty, by increasing its upper boundary for corporate respondents. No rights of action for private litigants are expanded or curtailed. The ACCC retains exactly the same standing to seek declarations, injunctions, compensation orders and other remedies; only the quantum of any pecuniary penalty it may request has changed for the specified contraventions.
Money, penalties and enforcement
The Act doubles the corporate maximum penalty from $50 million to $100 million for the cartel offences in paragraphs 45AF(3)(a) and 45AG(3)(a), for the civil penalty provision in paragraph 76(1B)(a), and for each of the twenty-four listed paragraphs in Schedule 2. In section 151BX the base figure moves from $50 million to $100 million while the indexed component moves from $71 million to $121 million, after which indexation ceases. These amounts are maximums only; actual penalties remain within the discretion of the court and are determined by reference to the nature and extent of the contravening conduct, the size of the corporation, the deliberateness of the breach, and other established factors. Enforcement continues to be conducted by the ACCC through civil proceedings in the Federal Court or, where criminal offences are involved, through the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. No new penalty calculation formulas, mandatory minimums or automatic fine mechanisms are introduced. The financial exposure for a single contravention by a large corporation has therefore increased by $50 million in most cases and by $50 million plus the adjusted indexed component in the telecommunications provision.
Pressure points and controversies
The principal policy trade-off lies between the objective of strengthening deterrence for serious competition and consumer law breaches by large corporations and the risk that significantly higher maxima may produce disproportionate outcomes or chill legitimate commercial conduct. The decision to fix the section 151BX penalty without further indexation creates a second trade-off between certainty for regulated entities and the long-term erosion of real penalty value through inflation. The presence of proposed amendments from cross-bench members indicates that some parliamentarians considered further adjustments desirable, yet the enacted text reflects only the doubling of the listed maxima and the prospective application provisions. Because the Act leaves all other elements of the enforcement regime untouched, including the requirement that penalties remain proportionate to the contravention, courts retain full capacity to moderate awards below the new ceiling. The absence of any alteration to small-business or individual penalty caps means the measure is targeted exclusively at entities large enough to attract the corporate maxima.
What changes if it passes
Because the Act has received assent and commenced, corporations that commit any of the listed contraventions on or after 28 March 2026 face a maximum pecuniary penalty of $100 million, or $121 million in the case of the indexed component of section 151BX. The ACCC can now seek, and the Federal Court can impose, penalties up to those higher limits when the facts warrant. Compliance programs, board risk registers and insurance policies must be recalibrated to reflect the new exposure. No existing litigation or conduct is affected. The underlying rules of competition and consumer law remain identical; only the financial consequences for breach by large corporate respondents have increased. Future conduct will be assessed against the revised statutory ceilings, and the ACCC's public statements on enforcement priorities may emphasise the heightened stakes for cartel and serious consumer law breaches.
Social post angles
Australia raises corporate penalty ceiling to $100 million for competition breaches. The Act doubles maximum fines under the Competition and Consumer Act for cartel conduct and selected Australian Consumer Law contraventions committed after 28 March 2026. Telecommunications firms face a new $121 million cap after indexation is removed from section 151BX. The change affects only post-commencement conduct, leaving all earlier breaches under the former limits. Twenty-four separate provisions in Schedule 2 now carry the higher corporate maximum, covering a wide range of consumer protection obligations. Directors should review compliance frameworks because the financial exposure for large entities has increased by fifty million dollars per contravention. The Act introduces no new obligations or investigative powers, only a higher ceiling on existing penalty provisions. Cross-bench amendments were proposed during passage yet the final text simply doubles the listed maxima and preserves prospective application.
An electronic version of this Act is available on the Federal Register of Legislation (www.legislation.gov.au)
Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Act 2026
No. 19, 2026
An Act to amend the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, and for related purposes
Contents
1 Short title 1
2 Commencement 2
3 Schedules 2
Schedule 1,Doubling penalties 3
Part 1,Amendments 3
Competition and Consumer Act 2010 3
Part 2,Application 5
Competition and Consumer Act 2010 5
Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Act 2026
No. 19, 2026
An Act to amend the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, and for related purposes
[Assented to 27 March 2026]
The Parliament of Australia enacts:
1 Short title
This Act is the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Act 2026.
2 Commencement
(1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.
Commencement information
Column 1
Column 2
Column 3
Provisions
Commencement
Date/Details
The whole of this Act
The day after this Act receives the Royal Assent.
28 March 2026
Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.
(2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.
3 Schedules
Legislation that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.
Schedule 1,Doubling penalties
Part 1,Amendments
Competition and Consumer Act 2010
1 Amendments of listed provisions
Substituting references to $50,000,000 with references to $100,000,000
Item
Provision
Omit
Substitute
1
Paragraph 45AF(3)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
2
Paragraph 45AG(3)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
3
Paragraph 76(1B)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
2 Subparagraph 151BX(3)(a)(i)
Omit “$50 million”, substitute “$100 million”.
3 Subparagraph 151BX(3)(a)(ii)
Omit “$71 million”, substitute “$121 million”.
4 At the end of section 151BX
Add:
(7) Section 4AB of the Crimes Act 1914 does not apply to this section.
5 Amendments of listed provisions,Schedule 1
The provisions of Schedule 1 listed in the following table are amended as set out in the table.
Substituting references to $50,000,000 with references to $100,000,000
Item
Provision of Schedule 1
Omit
Substitute
1
Paragraph 45AF(3)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
2
Paragraph 45AG(3)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
6 Amendments of listed provisions,Schedule 2
The provisions of Schedule 2 listed in the following table are amended as set out in the table.
Substituting references to $50,000,000 with references to $100,000,000
Item
Provision of Schedule 2
Omit
Substitute
1
Paragraph 151(5)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
2
Paragraph 152(2A)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
3
Paragraph 153(3)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
4
Paragraph 154(5A)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
5
Paragraph 155(3)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
6
Paragraph 156(3)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
7
Paragraph 157(3A)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
8
Paragraph 158(10A)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
9
Paragraph 159(4)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
10
Paragraph 161(7)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
11
Paragraph 162(6)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
12
Paragraph 163(5A)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
13
Paragraph 164(4)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
14
Paragraph 166(8)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
15
Paragraph 167(3)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
16
Paragraph 168(2A)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
17
Paragraph 194(8)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
18
Paragraph 195(4)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
19
Paragraph 197(8)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
20
Paragraph 198(4)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
21
Paragraph 199(4)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
22
Paragraph 203(9)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
23
Paragraph 204(4)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
24
Paragraph 224(3A)(a)
$50,000,000
$100,000,000
Part 2,Application
7 Application of amendments in items 1 to 4
The amendments made by items 1 to 4 of this Schedule apply in relation to:
(a) offences committed; or
(b) contraventions, or acts or omissions, that occurred;
on or after the commencement of this Schedule.
Competition and Consumer Act 2010
8 In the appropriate position in Part XIII
Insert:
Division 7,Application of amendments made by the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Act 2026
193 Application of amendments
The amendments made by item 5 of Schedule 1 to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Act 2026 apply in relation to offences committed on or after the commencement of that Schedule.
9 In the appropriate position in Chapter 6 of Schedule 2
Insert:
Part 9,Application provision relating to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Act 2026
310 Application of amendments relating to penalties
The amendments made by item 6 of Schedule 1 to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Act 2026 apply in relation to offences committed, or acts or omissions that occurred, on or after the commencement of that Schedule.