On 28 March 2025, the Australian Government (the Government) published its draft Determination providing the beginnings of detail about the acquisitions that are the subject of mandatory notification, some of the exceptions...more
In Brief - Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb has just announced the ACCC’s Compliance and Enforcement priorities for 2025-2026....more
3/7/2025
/ Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Competition ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenwashing ,
Mergers ,
Retail ,
Supply Chain ,
Sustainability ,
Unfair Competition ,
Unfair Contract Terms
What’s Inside This Issue?
This edition of the K&L Gates Competition & Consumer Law Round-Up provides a summary of recent and significant updates from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), as well as...more
2/11/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Advertising ,
Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Competition ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
False Advertising ,
Mergers ,
Misleading Statements ,
Sustainability ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
It is now confirmed that Australia will have a mandatory and suspensory (competition) pre-merger clearance regime with the passing of legislation last week....more
What's Inside this Issue?
This edition of the K&L Gates Competition & Consumer Law Round-Up provides a summary of recent and significant updates from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), as well as...more
11/22/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Australian Consumer Law ,
Competition ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Mergers ,
Misleading Impressions ,
Penalties ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
In Brief - The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) continue to be vigilant and seek significant penalties for alleged "greenwashing" (misleading...more
10/21/2024
/ ASIC ,
Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Competition ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenwashing ,
Investors ,
Misleading Statements ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities ,
Sustainable Business Practices
In Brief - On 10 October 2024, the Australian Government introduced a bill into Parliament for Australia to enact a mandatory and suspensory competition merger clearance regime....more
The Australian Government (the Government) opened consultation on Australia’s proposed merger notification thresholds. The Consultation Paper proposes a notification regime that consists of four different thresholds—two based...more
In Brief - Following reforms to the unfair contract terms (UCT) regime on 9 November 2023, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) are...more
AUSTRALIAN UPDATE - Updated Bill to Introduce Climate-Related Financial Reporting Regime - Background - The Australian Government released the first reading draft of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market...more
5/29/2024
/ ASIC ,
Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Greenwashing ,
Investors ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Finance
Australia welcomes new business and foreign investment by providing a strong economy, a stable political environment and a skilled and talented workforce. Our comprehensive guide to Doing Business in Australia has been...more
4/19/2024
/ ASIC ,
Australia ,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ,
Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) ,
Board of Directors ,
Business Development ,
Business Entities ,
Capital Gains Tax ,
Competition ,
Copyright ,
Corporate Governance ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Digital Assets ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
FinTech ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Ownership ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
Immigration ,
Income Taxes ,
Insolvency ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Investment Funds ,
Investors ,
Joint Venture ,
Limited Partnerships ,
Modern Slavery Act ,
National Security ,
Notice Requirements ,
Partnerships ,
Patents ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities ,
Sole Proprietorship ,
Supply Chain ,
Tax Rates ,
Thin Capitalization ,
Trademarks ,
Trusts ,
Venture Capital
In a move that has long been advocated for by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Australian government has announced sweeping reforms to Australia's competition law merger control regime....more
In Brief - The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released its compliance and enforcement priorities for 2024-25, with ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb expanding on the Commission's key areas of focus in...more
In Brief - The High Court of Australia (the Court) has provided important guidance on the application of Australia’s unfair contract terms (UCT) regime to global standard form contracts, the validity of class action waiver...more
IN BRIEF - Following a year's 'grace' to allow businesses to be prepared, changes to the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act), which commenced on 9...more
Companies will often make representations about modern slavery as part of their environmental, social and governance (ESG) measures. In this article, we consider whether potentially false or misleading claims about modern...more
IN BRIEF - The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has just issued its long anticipated guidance on the making of environmental and sustainability claims. The ACCC has set out eight principles which, in its...more
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, has outlined the Commission's ambitious compliance and enforcement priorities for 2023-24....more
Principals, contractors, and other building industry participants should take the opportunity in early 2023 to review contracts and procurement practices, specifically with respect to time bars in standard form contracts. ...more
In brief - The ACCC has published the findings of its recent internet sweep of environmental and sustainability marketing claims made by businesses. Across 247 company websites, the ACCC found that 57% of businesses had made...more
In Brief - The Federal Court has declared 38 terms across 11 of Fujifilm's (being Fujifilm Business Innovation Australia or Fujifilm Leasing Australia) small business contracts to be unfair contract terms (UCT) and void under...more
In July, we outlined the new Government's Competition and Consumer Law policy initiatives. The Government has now moved forward with one of these initiatives, publishing for consultation a draft bill and related explanatory...more
As the new Parliament prepares to sit, it is useful to consider the new Labor Government’s key focus areas for competition policy. These changes are intended to further strengthen consumer and small business rights and deter...more
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has just published its compliance and enforcement priorities for FY 2022/23. For the first time, the ACCC has aligned its annual priorities to the financial year. It...more
IN BRIEF - The Australian Government has released the Exposure Draft legislation and Explanatory Materials for an anticipated suite of reforms to unfair contract terms (UCT) laws found in the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and...more