A New Digital Competition Regime

ACCAN recently submitted to the Treasury’s consultation on a proposed new digital competition regime. 

This is the culmination of over half a decade of investigations by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) into the digital services sector that has consistently found strong evidence of digital platforms engaging in anti-competitive behaviours in Australia. 

ACCAN welcomes the Government’s proposed reforms which will increase effective competition across Australia’s digital landscape through the implementation of preventative rules to swiftly address anti-competitive behaviours, preventing harm to Australian businesses and consumers.

In this submission ACCAN recommends that:

• The regime should empower the ACCC to make designation decisions on its own initiative.

• A digital services consumer body be funded to provide a consumer voice to the regulator.

• The costs of the regime be recovered through the introduction of a new levy on digital platforms. 

• The regime should require a high burden of proof from platforms who apply for exemptions to designation. 

• Subject to ministerial approval, the regime should give the ACCC the flexibility to alter the list of services and anti-competitive behaviours to adapt to emerging technology and industry changes.  

• The regime should implement anti-avoidance measures to ensure accurate and transparent reporting from platforms. 

• Fees and penalties in the regime should be proportional to designated services global turnover to effectively address obligation violations. 

• Investigation records made by the ACCC should be published to ensure informed public debate. 

• Designated platforms be subject to mandatory record-keeping requirements.