Cutting the Red Tape, Not the Corners: The ACCC’s Fresh Take on Smarter Regulation

Caroline Chong, Belinda Prior and Peta Stevenson explore the ACCC’s innovative ideas to cut regulatory red tape and boost business productivity, while keeping robust competition and consumer protection front and centre.

The Australian Labor Government has thrown open the doors to regulatory reform, inviting fresh ideas to help businesses spend less time and resources on regulatory compliance, and more time on growth and innovation. In response to a call-out from the Treasurer in advance of the Reform Roundtable, 38 Commonwealth regulators have delivered over 400 proposals to streamline compliance and boost productivity – many of which can be put into action without the need for new laws or extra funding or resources.

The ACCC was among the 38 regulators to respond to the Treasurer’s call for bold regulatory reform, with proposals to reduce red tape and power up productivity. If any of these reforms are implemented, businesses can expect a more streamlined, efficient and less burdensome regulatory environment.

The ACCC’s Regulatory reform opportunities
As described by ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb:

‘the ACCC is committed to a right-size, risk-based regulatory approach. One that protects consumer wellbeing and competition, while fostering economic dynamism and productivity.’

That approach is reflected in the ACCC’s 1 August 2025 response to the Treasurer entitled ‘Regulatory reform opportunities’, in which it highlighted a range of initiatives and opportunities to right size regulation. Those initiatives were presented as falling into two key categories:

1. initiatives that can be prioritised under existing legislation and resources; and
2. other initiatives requiring changes to legislation.

The ACCC’s three immediate priorities
The ACCC has given primacy to three immediate priorities under its existing powers and resources which are considered to be pivotal to its strategy to quickly boost economic productivity:

1. Implementing a new merger regime in an efficient and effective way to deliver benefits to competition without imposing unnecessary burden or delay. As we explored in our Insight, from 1 January 2026, the ACCC commits to assessing 80% of merger notifications and waiver applications within 20 business days and reporting regularly on this. It also commits to regularly consulting businesses and advisors to efficiently progress its consideration of mergers, creating a fast and more cost-effective path for simple transactions to provide parties with certainty quicker, and using compulsory information gathering powers in a targeted manner (mainly during Phase 2).
2. Allowing businesses greater flexibility in meeting product safety standards to reduce unnecessary costs to businesses while still protecting consumers. Businesses will have more flexibility to comply with mandatory product safety standards including the recognition of appropriate international standards to keep pace with modern risks and eliminate outdated standards. This is expected to reduce compliance costs and facilitate innovation, while maintaining consumer safety. The ACCC also identifies an opportunity for harmonisation of the various reporting regimes to achieve a single national repository of data.
3. Harmonising electrical safety standards across Australian jurisdictions to reduce regulatory burden and unnecessary costs to businesses. Businesses should review their compliance frameworks to prepare for a more unified regulatory environment in electrical safety, including a nationally consistent electrical safety regulatory framework to address inconsistencies and regulatory gaps in the current regime.

Other initiatives within existing legislation and resources
Beyond its three priority areas, the ACCC acknowledged that more can be done within its current powers and resources to right-size regulation and relieve regulatory burden, including:

• Streamlining and reducing reporting obligations: Removing or reducing regulatory requirements (where it has discretion) to minimise regulatory burden while applying the necessary protections. Examples include streamlining telecommunications reporting obligations and reducing reporting obligations for consumer data right participants.
• More efficient data sharing: Streamlining information requests, including by issuing more targeted notices to businesses to aim for a ‘collect once, use many’ approach to reduce duplicative data requests.
• Anti-scam coordination and ‘no wrong door’ reporting: Implementing a ‘no wrong door’ approach to reporting of scams to create collaboration with other government agencies and law enforcement, reducing duplication by coordinating efforts of the ACCC, ASIC and ACMA through the National Anti-Scam Centre’s partnership model to proactively disrupt scams.
• Class exemptions and proportionate enforcement: Reviewing opportunities for new class exemptions across different sectors of the economy on the basis of risk and net public benefit. This proactive approach would eliminate the need for individual authorisation applications for commonly occurring and low risk conduct that do not harm the public.

Initiatives requiring reform to legislation and/or increased resourcing
The ACCC identified a further range of initiatives aimed at streamlining its regulatory functions and enhancing economic efficiency which require change to legislation and additional resources, with the ACCC flagging it would engage with Treasury on these, including:

• Consolidating electricity market regulation: The ACCC supports transferring all electricity market functions to the Australian Energy Regulator and unravelling the complexity of the current regulatory environment, which requires liaison with multiple agencies. This would allow the ACCC to focus exclusively on its enforcement of the Electricity Retail Code and the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) and its broader, economy-wide responsibilities in the electricity sector, promoting regulatory clarity and efficiency.
• Streamlining certification trade mark assessments: The ACCC proposes a significant reform to relinquish its current role assessing certification trade marks. This deregulation is expected to simplify and speed up the certification process for stakeholders, reducing administrative complexity.
• Revoking the Wheat Port Code: The ACCC recommends revoking the Wheat Port Code, acknowledging it is ineffective in its current form and an unnecessary cost to new and small entrants. The ACCC considers that this measure would foster greater competition and lower barriers to entry in the sector.
• Uplifting its data and digital capabilities: The ACCC is aiming to strengthen its data and digital infrastructure and capability, including the responsible use of artificial intelligence and optimising potential opportunities for data sharing across government. These improvements are designed to make the ACCC a more efficient regulator and to reduce duplicative reporting requirements for businesses.

The ACCC’s support for broader legislative reforms
The ACCC is also advocating for two legislative reforms it noted would significantly improve economic efficiency and productivity:

• Targeted digital competition regime: The ACCC remains concerned that current regulatory frameworks are inefficient in addressing competition issues arising from increased market power of digital platforms and infrastructure monopolies. The ACCC supports introducing a service-specific digital competition framework that creates binding obligations to prevent anti-competitive practices as a risk based, proportionate response to potential harms. This regime would facilitate interoperability and contestability in critical digital services, thereby broadening competition and fostering innovation, particularly among Australian businesses.
• Expanded regulatory tools for essential services: The ACCC calls for an expanded suite of regulatory actions to address market power in essential services in order to supplement the national access regime under Part IIIA of the CCA. This will be paired with a review of whether the current price notification regimes should be retained.

If implemented, the above ideas for reform have potential to help businesses spend more time on growth and innovation, while still upholding robust competition and consumer protection standards.