Australia: ACCC 2026-27 Compliance and Enforcement Priorities

February 2026 Acknowledgment of country The ACCC acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of Country throughoutAustralia and recognises their continuing connection to the land, sea and community. We pay Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Land of the Ngunnawal people23 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 2601 © Commonwealth of Australia 2026 This work is copyright. In addition to any use permitted under theCopyright Act 1968, all material contained within this work is provided under aCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Australia licence, with the exception of: ƒthe Commonwealth Coat of Arms ƒthe ACCC and AER logos any illustration, diagram, photograph or graphic over which the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission does not hold copyright, but The details of the relevant licence conditions are available on the Creative Commons website, as is the full legal code for the CC BY 4.0 AU licence.Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Director, Corporate Communications, ACCC, GPO Box 3131, Important notice The information in this publication is for general guidance only. It does not constitute legal or other professional advice, and should not be reliedon as a statement of the law in any jurisdiction. Because it is intended only as a general guide, it may contain generalisations. You should obtainprofessional advice if you have any specific concern. The ACCC has made every reasonable effort to provide current and accurate information, but it does not make any guarantees regarding theaccuracy, currency or completeness of that information. Parties who wish to re-publish or otherwise use the information in this publication must check this information for currency and accuracy prior topublication. This should be done prior to each publication edition, as ACCC guidance and relevant transitional legislation frequently change. Any ACCC 02/26_26-11 www.accc.gov.au Contents About this policy The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is Australia’s peak consumerprotection and competition agency. The ACCC is an independent statutory government authorityserving the public interest. Most of our compliance and enforcement work is conducted under the promoting competition among businesspromoting fair trading by business The ACCC uses a range of tools to encourage compliance and prevent breaches of the Act, includingbusiness and consumer education, and working closely with stakeholders and other agencies. TheAct also provides the ACCC with a range of enforcement remedies to address contraventions of the This policy sets out the principles we adopt to achieve compliance with the Act, and outlines ourcompliance and enforcement functions, strategies and tools. Enduring Priorities There are some forms of conduct so detrimental to consumer welfare and the competitive processthat the ACCC has dedicated teams to focus on them and will be regarded as long-term priorities. Cartel conduct The ACCC will always prioritise cartel conduct causing detriment in Australia. When dealing withinternational cartels, the ACCC will focus on pursuing cartels that have a connection to, or causedetriment in Australia; that is, cartels that involve Australians, Australian businesses or entities Anti-competitive conduct The ACCC will always prioritise conduct that prevents, hinders or damages competition. This includescollusive practices among competitors, anti-competitive agreements and practices, and exclusionary Product safety The ACCC will always prioritise product safety issues which have the potential to cause serious harmto consumers. Consumers experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage The ACCC recognises that consumers experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage can bedisproportionately impacted by conduct in breach of the Act. The ACCC therefore prioritises conduct Conduct impacting First Nations Australians The ACCC acknowledges that certain conduct in breach of the Act has the potential to specificallyimpact on the welfare of First Nations Australians. The ACCC also recognises that First Nationsconsumers living in remote areas face particular challenges in relation to asserting their consumer Small business and agriculture The ACCC is committed to ensuring that the protections of competition and consumer laws andindustry codes of conduct apply to small businesses, including the agriculture sector. Scams The ACCC will enforce the Scams Protection Framework and continue to detect and disrupt the harmcaused by scams. 2026–27 Priorities Each year the ACCC reviews its compliance and enforcement priorities. Our current compliance andenforcement priorities are listed below. Competition issues in the supermarket and retail sectors, focusing on firms with market power Consumer and fair trading concerns in the supermarket and retail sectors, with a focus onmisleading pricing practices. Promoting compet