Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026; First Reading

Summary

The Australian Government is doubling the maximum financial penalties for companies that break competition and consumer protection laws, raising them from $50 million to $100 million per offence. The changes apply to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (including its Australian Consumer Law section) and cover breaches like false or misleading conduct, cartel behaviour, and anti-competitive practices across industries like fuel, telecommunications, and electricity. This is intended to make illegal business conduct too expensive to be worthwhile — companies will face steeper penalties if they try to exploit situations like global oil price increases by unjustifiably raising prices, engaging in cartels, or misleading consumers. The courts will still decide the actual penalty up to these new maximums based on how serious each breach is. These stronger penalties start applying to any breaches that happen after the law commences, bringing Australia's competition law penalties more in line with other developed countries.

What happens at this stage

The bill is introduced to the chamber by its sponsor and given a formal title. No debate takes place. This step exists so all members are officially notified the bill is coming before any substantive discussion begins.

Next: Second Reading, where the chamber debates the bill's overall purpose and principles