Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development
The ACCC welcomes new powers that allow for faster, streamlined exemptions to Australia’s competition laws in response to national emergencies and other exceptional circumstances.
The Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 2026 received royal assent yesterday.
The ACCC’s new powers will allow it to fast-track competition exemption decisions for businesses that need to urgently coordinate with their competitors to mitigate potential harm to consumers and the broader economy.
This may include, for example, coordinating to ensure continued supply of a critical product or service during a national crisis.
The new powers will be triggered by the declaration of a national emergency by the Government under the National Emergency Declaration Act, or when the Treasurer declares exceptional circumstances apply.
“The ACCC supports a more efficient approach to competition law exemptions during emergencies to ensure the continued supply of essential goods and services,” ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.
“We welcome the royal assent of this legislation, which recognises the importance of swift and effective exemptions processes to help Australian businesses cooperate where collective action is likely to be most effective to respond to the exceptional circumstances and support affected communities.”
“The new streamlined exemption processes will help businesses to move quickly to coordinate practical responses during emergencies. The ACCC will apply clear safeguards, so coordination goes no further than necessary and impacts on competition are minimised,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.
“Under the new streamlined exemption powers, the ACCC can only grant exemptions for activities that would likely assist in the response to, or recovery from, the exceptional circumstances which are declared.”
The ACCC will develop practical guidance on these new powers, and work closely with businesses and other stakeholders to help them understand these new streamlined processes.
The ACCC’s existing powers that allow it to grant exemptions from competition laws where there is likely to be a net public benefit remain unchanged.
Background
Australian competition law recognises that, in some circumstances, activities that might breach the competition laws may have a net public benefit.
Authorisations and class exemptions make it possible for such activities to go ahead without breaching the law.
These amendments give the ACCC the power to streamline processes to grant authorisations and issue class exemptions in national emergencies and other exceptional circumstances.
The ACCC can only use these powers if the Treasurer has made a declaration that exceptional circumstances exist or a national emergency declaration under the National Emergency Declaration Act 2020 is in place.
For an exemption to be granted, the ACCC must be satisfied that the business coordination covered by the exemption is likely to assist in the response to or recovery from the exceptional circumstances or emergency.
Once a national emergency or exceptional circumstances declaration is made, businesses can use a streamlined authorisation process to allow them to coordinate, where that coordination would assist in the response to, or recovery from, the exceptional circumstances or emergency.
The ACCC will also be able to use a streamlined class exemption process to quickly put in place automatic exemptions for coordination by businesses across a range of sectors to assist in the response to the exceptional circumstances.