Competition
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 and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions 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.
This can benefit consumers through lower prices, more choice, and higher quality goods and services as well as help support sustainable wage growth for workers.
Mergers and acquisitions that are anti‑competitive can limit innovation, reduce the range and quality of products and services, and increase prices.
Review
The Competition Review looked at:
- 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.
The Competition Review Taskforce provided advice to government on whether any changes should be made to Australia’s merger rules and processes and what those potential changes may be.
Reforming merger control
Government response
In response to the Review, the government will modernise Australia’s merger system to make it faster, stronger, simpler, more targeted and transparent.
The reform
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will be empowered and resourced to administer a mandatory and suspensory administrative system.
This means more clarity and certainty for businesses, more help to safeguard consumers and more competition.
Subject to further consultation and the passage of legislation, the reforms will commence on 1 January 2026.
For more details, see the Government’s merger reform.
Consultation
Current
Merger Notification Thresholds consultation
August 2024
Treasury released the consultation paper on merger notification thresholds to support a new merger system.
Submissions are invited on the consultation paper until 20 September 2024.
Under a mandatory and suspensory notification system, thresholds determine which mergers or acquisitions should be captured by a merger control system.
For a merger or acquisition that satisfies or is above the notification thresholds, notifying the ACCC will be compulsory.
The system will be risk‑based and targeted at mergers that are most likely to harm competition and consumers.
Consultation will inform the approach to thresholds, which are an important element of the Australian Government’s reforms to merger rules and processes announced on 10 April 2024.
Previous
Exposure draft consultation
July – August 2024
The Treasury has released the exposure draft of Treasury Laws Amendment Bill 2024: Acquisitions and explanatory memorandum.
This legislation will deliver the Australian Government’s reforms to merger rules and processes announced on 10 April 2024.
The exposure draft sets out the framework of the new mandatory and suspensory merger control system.
For more information, see Reforming mergers and acquisitions – exposure draft.
Issues consultation
November 2023 – January 2024
In November 2023, Treasury released a consultation paper on Australia’s merger control system.
Consultation ran until January 2024. Treasury received 51 submissions and engaged with 42 organisations through roundtables.
The consultation sought feedback on whether Australia’s current merger rules and processes are effective and in what ways Australia’s merger rules and processes could be improved.
For more information, see: Merger reform consultation.