It’s been a busy few weeks in competition law – here’s your crib sheet!
Caroline Chong, Maxine Rennie and Christopher Kok summarise significant developments in competition law and link to our blog posts and Insight articles, in case you want to read more.
Australian Merger reform – new mandatory merger clearance regime commencing 1 January 2026
- On 28 March 2025, Treasury released the exposure draft of the Competition and Consumer (Notification of Acquisitions) Determination for public consultation, which sets out details of the merger notification thresholds and the information and document requirements for notification. See our Insight article here.
- On 27 March 2025, the ACCC released its draft merger assessment process guidelines for public consultation. See our Insight article here.
- On 20 March 2025, the ACCC released its draft merger assessment guidelines for public consultation. See our Insight article here.
- On 4 March 2025, the ACCC released its guidelines on the transition to the new merger clearance regime. See our Insight article here.
- For an overview of the new merger regime, see our Insight article here.
High Court dismisses appeal by ACCC in the Hutchinson proceeding
On 2 April 2025, the majority of the High Court dismissed an appeal by the ACCC from the Full Federal Court’s decision in the ACCC’s proceedings against construction company J Hutchinson Pty Ltd and the Construction Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU). The High Court decision confirms that a degree of ‘reciprocity’ or ‘meeting of the minds’ is required for two parties to arrive at an understanding for the purposes of sections 45E and 45EA of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).
For more, see our blog post here.
Australian Budget 2025/26 – Government announces a ban on ‘non-compete’ clauses for workers earning less than $175,000
The Commonwealth Government has announced that it will introduce a statutory ban on ‘non-compete’ clauses for workers earning less than $175,000, to take effect from 2027. Further, the Commonwealth Government is looking to ban arrangements between businesses as to wage fixing and ‘no poach’ clauses.
For more, see our Insight article here.
Parliamentary Inquiry and report on Australian live music – competition and consumer law takeaways
In March, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts published its report ‘Am I Ever Gonna See You Live Again’. This report explores the challenges and opportunities in the Australian live music industry, following an inquiry foregrounding the impacts that COVID-19, changing consumer trends, and global competition and market dynamics have had on the sector.
We examine the key takeaways and broader themes with a competition and consumer law lens in our blog post here.