On Thursday 20 February 2025, the Australian Competition and Consumer (ACCC) Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb announced the ACCC’s 2025-26 compliance and enforcement priorities in her third annual address to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia.
The ACCC has renewed all of the compliance and enforcement priorities from the previous year (see here for our report on the ACCC’s 2024-25 compliance and enforcement priorities), with the three key themes continuing to be cost-of-living pressures, digital economy and, arguably to a lesser extent this year, greenwashing and sustainability.
The ACCC’s priorities has implications for businesses economy-wide. However, in particular, the ACCC will continue to focus on competition and consumer protection issues in the supermarket and retail sectors, aviation, essential services, and the digital economy. Notably, the ACCC also suggested a stronger emphasis on firms in the supermarket and retail sector and conduct that impacts small business, and a new priority for misleading surcharging practices and other add-on costs.
While not a specific compliance and enforcement priority, Chair Cass-Gottlieb also took the opportunity to herald the key features and work the ACCC is undertaking to prepare for the new merger regime due to come into effect at the start of next year.
We reflect on the ACCC’s results of its previous 2024-25 compliance and enforcement priorities, and provide our outlook for 2025 in our annual Competition and Consumer Insights publication.
ACCC 2025-26 compliance and enforcement priorities
The ACCC has announced the following compliance and enforcement priorities for 2025-26:
Competition issues in the supermarket and retail sector, focussing on firms it considers have market power and conduct that impacts small business.
Consumer and fair trading concerns in the supermarket and retail sectors, with a focus on misleading pricing practices.
Promoting competition in essential services with a focus on telecommunications, electricity, and gas.
Misleading pricing and claims in relation to essential services, with a particular focus on energy and telecommunications.
Competition and consumer issues in the aviation sector.
Competition, product safety, consumer and fair trading issues in the digital economy, with a focus on misleading or deceptive advertising within influencer marketing, online reviews, in-app purchases and unsafe consumer products.
Misleading surcharging practices and other add-on costs.
Consumer, fair trading and competition concerns in relation to environmental claims and sustainability, with a focus on greenwashing.
Unfair contract terms in consumer and small business contracts, with a focus on harmful cancellation terms, including those associated with automatic renewals, early termination fee clauses and non-cancellation clauses.
Improving industry compliance with consumer guarantees, with a focus on consumer electronics.
Improving compliance by NDIS providers with their obligations under Australian Consumer Law (ACL).
Consumer product safety issues for young children, with a focus on compliance with button battery standards and raising awareness about new infant sleep and toppling furniture standards.
The ACCC’s areas of focus for 2025-26: variations on familiar themes
In her speech announcing the new priorities, Chair Cass-Gottlieb emphasised that the ACCC’s interventions are “focussed on complex conduct that presents significant harm and is of critical importance to the community and our economy” and the ACCC will continue to “prioritise sectors and conduct that have a significant impact on cost of living and cost of doing business” whilst also recognising the ongoing impacts of digital transformation and disruption, and the transition to net zero. Simply put at the outset of her speech “competition matters”.
Ms Cass-Gottlieb reinforced the ACCC’s focus on promoting and protecting competition and addressing consumer and fair trading issues (and, where relevant, product safety concerns) in aviation, the supermarket and retail sectors, essential services and the digital economy.
While the ACCC has renewed all of its existing compliance and enforcement priorities from the previous year, we analyse below the shifts in the ACCC’s focus and specific industries and types of conduct that Ms Cass-Gottlieb called out in her speech.
A new priority on misleading surcharging practices and other add-on costs
In addition to retaining the previous year’s priorities, the ACCC will introduce a new priority in 2025-26 to address misleading surcharging practices and other add-on costs. In 2024, the government allocated $2.1 million in new funding to the ACCC to tackle excessive card surcharging.
In the year ahead, the ACCC will “focus on increasing business compliance with the excessive card payment surcharging prohibition and improving pricing practices to ensure all add on costs are appropriately disclosed”.
The ACCC will also continue to work with the RBA on its policy considerations on solutions to the card surcharging and retail payments frameworks to support consumers and businesses while ensuring effective competition in the payments system.
Continuing priority on the supermarket and retail sectors
The ACCC will continue to prioritise competition issues in the supermarket and retail sector, indicating it will focus on firms which it considers have market power and conduct that impacts small business.
Noting that the Australian Government allocated $30 million to the ACCC in 2024 (to be delivered over three and a half years) for dedicated investigation and enforcement activities in the supermarket and retail sector, Ms Cass-Gottlieb said this funding will enable the ACCC to “pursue anti-competitive conduct that may contribute to higher prices for consumers and unfair treatment of suppliers” and “address consumer and fair trading issues with a focus on misleading pricing practices”.
Continuing focus on competition in essential services, particularly telecommunications, electricity and gas
In recognition of the ongoing cost-of-living issues, cost of doing business, and the impacts on price, choice and quality of services, the ACCC’s priority on promoting competition in essential services with a focus on telecommunications, electricity, and gas will continue. Ms Cass-Gottlieb emphasised that “[m]arket concentration is a growing challenge across the Australian economy – in supermarkets and retail, in aviation, and in many of our essential services".
This was also a priority last year (although the financial services industry has been removed from this year’s list of essential services), with the ACCC monitoring and undertaking regulatory functions in the telecommunications and energy industries. The ACCC also made several recommendations aimed at improving competition and consumer outcomes in the energy sector, including “enhancing market transparency, reducing regulatory barriers to new investment and expansion, and implementing regulatory reforms to free up customer switching”.
Continuing focus on competition and consumer issues in the digital economy
For the fourth year in a row, the ACCC will continue to focus on competition and consumer issues in the digital economy, with Ms Cass-Gottlieb emphasising the “critical importance of digital platforms in the Australian economy, the concerning conduct we have observed, and the significant risks posed to competition and consumer welfare”. The ACCC will also work with Treasury towards implementing its proposed new digital competition regime.
In announcing this as a continuing priority, Ms Cass-Gottlieb called out “search engines, app stores, social media services and online marketplaces” as being increasingly necessary for Australian businesses to find, connect and transact with consumers. She also highlighted the ACCC’s:
Recommendations for targeted platform service specific competition measures to address anti-competitive and harmful conduct while maintaining the right conditions for competition, innovation and growth.
Investigations into Google’s search services in Australia, noting that Google had entered exclusive agreements with Telstra, Optus, and TPG that mandated pre-installation of Google Search as the default option on an exclusive basis on Android devices supplied by these telecommunications carriers. The ACCC secured separate undertakings from Telstra, Optus, and TPG, preventing them from renewing or entering into similar agreements with Google in the future.
Enduring focus on misuse of market power and cartels
Ms Cass-Gottlieb emphasised that the ACCC’s “enduring priorities to address anti-competitive agreements, misuse of market power and cartel conduct remain an important foundation of our work to protect and promote competition”. In response to parliamentary pressure throughout 2024 about its lack of new competition cases (with one single cartel case commenced during the year), Ms Cass-Gottlieb noted that:
1. In the 2024 financial year, the total penalties and fines awarded in the ACCC’s competition enforcement program exceeded $100 million, the “highest total ever achieved by the ACCC in a financial year for competition law breaches”; and
2. The ACCC currently has a number of competition cases in various stages of litigation, including the upcoming trial in its misuse of market power proceedings against Mastercard and the recently commenced civil cartel action against Spotless and Ventia.
As to the ACCC’s pipeline of competition investigations and enforcement outcomes, Ms Cass-Gottlieb highlighted that the ACCC has a “strong cartel enforcement program, with several well-advanced investigations spanning a range of important sectors of the economy” and the ACCC has “a robust pipeline of matters under investigation in markets that are of critical importance to Australian businesses and consumers. This portfolio of work spans both the competition provisions and cartel conduct. We expect more important competition actions and outcomes in the year ahead".
Ms Cass-Gottlieb also noted that, where appropriate, the ACCC will use “non-litigated measures to resolve serious competition concerns more quickly and allow competition in markets to be restored earlier”.
Continuing priority on consumer protection issues, with an emphasis on misleading representations about prices and products
As to compliance and enforcement outcomes in 2024, Ms Cass-Gottlieb noted:
In the 2024 financial year, the total fines and penalties awarded by the courts as a result of the ACCC’s consumer and industry codes enforcement action exceeded $500 million.
In 2024, the ACCC achieved 35 ACL and industry codes interventions, including 9 court cases, 10 infringement notice matters, and 16 court-enforceable undertakings or other administrative resolutions.
In the 2025 financial year to date, the ACCC has commenced Federal Court proceedings in 8 matters, including against Coles, Woolworths, Optus, Magnamail, Clorox and Ausnew.
Penalties imposed by the Federal Court in the 2025 financial year to date include $100 million to Qantas (with a consumer redress program of about $20 million) for making misleading representations about tickets for flights it had already decided to cancel, and $14 million to EnergyAustralia for making misleading statements to consumers about energy prices.
In 2024, the ACCC pursued a comprehensive program of enforcement and compliance work in consumer and small business protection.
Looking ahead, Ms Cass-Gottlieb emphasised the ACCC’s “commitment to prioritise enforcement matters in sectors of critical importance – including supermarket and retail, aviation and essential services. And address conduct that causes significant harm, including conduct that disproportionately impact consumers experiencing disadvantage or vulnerability”.
She also reinforced the ACCC will:
Continue to use its full range of tools and powers to promote consumer welfare. This includes delivering ACL and industry codes compliance initiatives; and exploring new ways to raise the standard of acceptable business practice in Australia.
Use non-litigated interventions, where appropriate, to address ACL concerns and resolve issues expeditiously and to ultimate the benefit of consumers.
Continuing focus on environmental claims and sustainability
Environmental claims have remained a priority each year since 2022-23 and has been listed first in each announcement. However, this year, the ACCC has pushed this priority down the list to 8th out of 12 priorities. This likely reflects the ACCC’s enduring focus on this priority, with more emphasis being placed on the pricing and cost-of-living issues outlined above.
Ms Cass-Gottlieb said “this priority will include a focus on greenwashing in recognition of the substantial impact of this conduct on consumer trust and engagement.” She also flagged that the ACCC has “several important investigations that are ongoing” and the ACCC “will continue to proactively target misleading green claims aimed at consumers in a range of sectors including energy, food, fashion and homewares".
In December 2024, the ACCC released its final sustainability collaboration guidelines and Australian competition law to “make it clear that competition law need not be a barrier for those considering sustainability collaborations that benefit the public”. Ms Cass-Gottlieb noted the ACCC will continue its work to ensure:
That genuine sustainability collaborations between businesses are not unnecessarily deterred.
Competition on green merits is driving innovation in the transition to greater environmental sustainability.
In response to a question from the audience, Ms Cass-Gottlieb noted the importance of competition in the transition, noting how “everyone would suffer” in the face of diminished competition should competition not be adequately protected during the transition.
We will shortly publish a wrap-up of recent greenwashing and sustainability regulatory developments in Australia, including privately litigated cases – watch this space.
Continuing focus on unfair contract terms
In relation to unfair contract terms, the ACCC is yet to commence a case since significant changes were introduced to the unfair contract terms regime in November 2023, including the introduction of significant penalties. The ACCC has signalled that this will continue to be a priority this year, with a sharpened focus on harmful cancellation terms, including those associated with automatic renewals, early termination fee clauses and non-cancellation clauses.
Continuing priorities in consumer, fair trading and product safety
In 2025-26, the ACCC will continue to focus on:
Consumer and fair trading concerns in the supermarket and retail sectors, with a focus on misleading pricing practices.
Misleading pricing and claims in relation to essential services, with a particular focus on energy and telecommunications. Ms Cass-Gottlieb emphasised “it is critical that service plans, and pricing claims are clear, accurate and deliver the value represented to customers”.
Consumer issues in the aviation sector.
Unfair contract terms in consumer and small business contracts, with a focus on harmful cancellation terms, including those associated with automatic renewals, early termination fee clauses and non-cancellation clauses.
Product safety for young children, with a focus on the enforcement of button battery standards and raising awareness about new infant sleep and toppling furniture standards.
Consumer and fair trading issues in the digital economy, with a focus on misleading or deceptive advertising within influencer marketing, online reviews, in-app purchases and unsafe consumer products. Ms Cass-Gottlieb highlighted that “promoting choice, compliant sales practices and removing unfair contract terms such as subscription traps in online sales, is a key focus for the ACCC;
Improving compliance by NDIS providers with their obligations under ACL.
Improving industry compliance with consumer guarantees, with a focus on consumer electronics.
Other key developments in 2025-26: watch this space
Australia’s new merger regime: a strong caution against filing non-compliance and draft ACCC guidelines due out soon
The introduction of the new merger control regime will introduce a range of significant changes for business – see here for our comprehensive reporting of the key changes and implications.
While this is not a specific compliance and enforcement priority, Ms Cass-Gottlieb also highlighted successfully implementing merger reform, promoting compliance with the new regime, and taking enforcement action, where necessary, will be a significant focus for the ACCC in 2025 to 2026. In particular, the ACCC will closely monitor compliance with the mandatory requirements when the new regime comes into effect next year. Ms Cass-Gottlieb flagged that “some parties may be tempted to test the boundaries to avoid notification of transactions or genuine compliance with the regime” and the ACCC “will not hesitate to take enforcement action against mergers that fail to be notified, including notifiable serial acquisitions, that are the subject of attempts to evade obligations”. Ms Cass-Gottlieb also noted the ACCC “will continue to investigate and take action against mergers that we consider are likely to substantially lessen competition” under section 50 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).
Ms Cass-Gottlieb also indicated that the ACCC will release guidelines on the transition arrangements in coming weeks, with consultation on draft process guidelines and draft analytical guidelines expected to commence before the end of March 2025.
In response to a question put by event facilitator, Gilbert + Tobin Partner, Elizabeth Avery, Ms Cass-Gottlieb stated that despite “tremors” in global geopolitics, the “force is strong” here and the draft guidelines will reflect a robust Australian jurisprudential base. Ms Cass-Gottlieb re-emphasised the ACCC’s intent on intervening where it “sees greatest harm”, where it considers it needs the “strongest education and deterrent effect”, but all the while acting “proportionate[ly] to the harm and conduct”.
Also in response to Ms Avery, Ms Cass-Gottlieb discussed the ‘triage’ and ‘risk-based’ approach the ACCC will take to engaging with merger parties and the other significant work the ACCC was undertaking to ensure it was prepared for the new regime to ensure efficient engagement with merger parties.
Unfair trading practices reform: ‘closing the gap’ in the consumer protection framework
The ACCC will continue its advocacy for the introduction of a prohibition on unfair trading practices (see here for our analysis of the proposed prohibition). Ms Cass-Gottlieb cautioned that the ACCC “continues to observe concerning business conduct that, while not necessarily breaching current consumer laws, nevertheless causes significant harm to consumers and small businesses and can erode trust and confidence across entire sectors.” She argued that introducing a prohibition on unfair trading practices would modernise Australia’s consumer protection framework and support a new standard for business conduct, driving better outcomes for consumers, markets and the economy.
The ACCC has published on its website Chair Cass-Gottlieb’s address to CEDA and the ACCC’s 2025-26 compliance and enforcement policy and priorities.