Merger Reform

The Competition Review is seeking public input on a variety of questions and potential changes relating to Australia’s merger rules and processes. The Review is seeking this input to help assess:

• whether Australia’s current merger rules and processes are effective, enabling beneficial mergers while addressing those that could be anti-competitive.
• in what ways Australia’s merger rules and processes could be improved.

Why is the Competition Review looking at mergers?

Competition is an important driver of economic dynamism, productivity and real wages. Competition encourages productivity gains to be passed onto consumers through lower prices or higher quality products, and to workers through higher wages. This helps to ease cost-of-living pressures over time.

Mergers can contribute to the efficient functioning of the economy, providing a way for firms to achieve economies of scale, diversify risk and exit underperforming businesses. These efficiencies can potentially be passed on to consumers through lower prices, improved quality, and a greater range of products and services.

Mergers that are anti-competitive can limit innovation, reduce the range and quality of products and services, and increase prices.

Consultation

The Competition Review has released a consultation paper and is inviting public submissions. The consultation paper covers emerging concerns related to Australia’s merger rules and processes, and presents a variety of proposed options for change.

The Competition Review Taskforce will also be engaging in targeted stakeholder engagement and meetings to gather a diversity of perspectives representing consumers, business and industry experts.

Consultation will inform the advice the Competition Review Taskforce provides to government on whether any changes should be made to Australia’s merger rules and processes.