Category: MIL-OSI

Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development

Consumer and competition issues in essential services, environmental claims and sustainability, financial services and other critical areas will be among the ACCC’s compliance and enforcement priorities during 2023-24, ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb announced today.

Unveiling the ACCC’s annual compliance and enforcement priorities at a Committee for Economic Development Australia (CEDA) event in Sydney, Ms Cass-Gottlieb also listed as a focus competition and pricing issues in gas markets including compliance with the recently-applied price cap order.

“Our priorities must and do reflect the issues impacting the Australian economy, consumers and businesses in Australia,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.

“The present key issues of cost of living pressures, the price of essential services including energy and telecommunications, the integrity of environmental and sustainability claims, ever increasing losses to scams, consumer and fair trading harms from manipulative marketing practices in the digital economy and the always high risk to markets, business rivals and consumers from anti-competitive conduct, strongly feature in our priorities.”

The ACCC’s focus on environmental claims and sustainability was broadening beyond consumer and fair trading issues to include competition law and product safety considerations, Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.

“We’ve established a new internal taskforce focused on sustainability that will build our expertise, inform and coordinate our efforts across the agency,” she said.

“In particular the taskforce will examine and seek to influence a range of issues where environmental and sustainability issues intersect with the application of competition and consumer law, including product safety.”

Ms Cass-Gottlieb said the ACCC would again focus on the energy and telecommunication sectors in its work addressing consumer and competition issues in essential services and noted the ACCC had secured significant outcomes in this area during the past year.

“Misleading sales representations in relation to the price, features or benefits of essential services prevent consumers making informed purchasing decisions,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.

“It’s particularly important that consumers and businesses can make informed decisions about what services are right for them in relation to price and the quality of the services when they are struggling with shrinking household budgets.”

Ms Cass-Gottlieb said the ACCC’s work in the energy sector would account for a substantial share of the agency’s compliance and enforcement efforts in the year ahead.

Manipulative and deceptive practices in connection with digital services would continue to be a key priority for the ACCC, Ms Cass-Gottlieb said, noting that the results of a recent sweep of social media influencers not disclosing commercial relationships including paid promotions would inform the ACCC’s ongoing compliance and education initiatives and enforcement investigations.

The introduction of new laws prohibiting unfair contract terms that include a new penalty regime later this year would be an important change for consumers and small business and would also play an important role in the ACCC’s enforcement priorities, Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.

“Businesses need to understand their responsibilities under these new laws, or they could find themselves subject to severe penalties,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.

“We will be working to ensure that consumers and small businesses, including franchisees, enjoy the full benefit of these strengthened laws.”

Ms Cass-Gottlieb said that scams continued to wreak tremendous personal and financial damage on consumers and the Australian economy.

“Our Scamwatch service will continue to support government agencies and industry participants in the disruption of scams,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.

“We are also lending our expertise and support to prepare the establishment of the Government’s National Anti-Scams Centre.”

Ensuring we all get the benefit of competition in the financial services sector will remain a priority for the ACCC in the coming year.

“We have already commenced our inquiry into retail deposit markets, looking at how banks set interest rates for deposit products,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.

Ms Cass-Gottlieb confirmed the ACCC would maintain its enduring compliance and enforcement priorities, which target conduct so detrimental to consumer welfare and the competitive process that the ACCC would always regard them as a priority.

They included conduct impacting First Nations consumers, cartel conduct and anti-competitive conduct more broadly.

“Our focus on issues impacting First Nations consumers has now become integral to the larger remit of the ACCC’s work as we identify the disproportionate impact of conduct such as scams and misleading advertising and sales practices on their communities,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.

“Our inquiries into the insurance sector, childcare and mobile regional infrastructure allow us to look at the challenges faced by First Nations people in accessing and acquiring key services.”

The ACCC will announce its annual product safety priorities at the National Consumer Congress later in the year.

More information including the full list of the ACCC’s 2023-24 enforcement priorities is available at Compliance and enforcement policy and priorities. 

A transcript of the speech is available at www.accc.gov.au/media/speeches

Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development

Sydney waste companies, Aussie Skips Recycling and Aussie Skips Bin Services (together Aussie Skips), along with its chief executive Emmanuel Roussakis have today each pleaded guilty in the Federal Court to a criminal cartel offence following charges laid by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) last December.

The charges relate to allegations that in mid-2019, Aussie Skips and Bingo Industries agreed to increase and fix prices for the supply of skip bins and processing services for building and demolition waste in Sydney. The case was investigated by the ACCC and then referred to the CDPP, which laid criminal charges.

Bingo and its former Managing Director and CEO, Mr Daniel Tartak have previously entered guilty pleas in relation to the same cartel.

“Cartels are illegal because they can cause serious economic damage to the economy. This is also the reason why the ACCC takes investigations into cartel conduct seriously and will continue to refer matters to the CDPP when appropriate,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.

The matter will now proceed to a sentencing hearing for Aussie Skips and Mr Roussakis in the Federal Court on 22 to 23 May 2023.

As these are criminal matters currently before the Court, the ACCC will not provide further comment at this time.

Background

Aussie Skips Bin Services and Aussie Skips Recycling are Sydney-based waste management businesses that supply skip bins and waste processing services for building and demolition waste respectively.

Bingo is a waste management company providing landfill, waste processing and skip bins services throughout New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

Note to editors

The ACCC investigates cartel conduct, manages the immunity process and, in respect of civil cartel contraventions, takes proceedings in the Federal Court.

The ACCC works to detect cartels including through education programs, proactive intelligence gathering and data assessment and working with overseas counterparts to identify cartels that operate on a global level.

The ACCC also manages an immunity program that enables past or present cartel members to confess their actions and cooperate with investigations in exchange for immunity from ACCC-initiated civil and (through the CDPP) criminal proceedings.

Anyone who thinks they may be involved in cartel conduct is urged to call the ACCC Cartel Immunity Hotline on (02) 9230 3894. More information about the immunity process is available on the ACCC website at Cartels.

You can also report cartel conduct by using the anonymous cartel portal. The CDPP is responsible for prosecuting criminal cartel offences in accordance with the Prosecution Policy of the Commonwealth. The ACCC refers serious cartel conduct to the CDPP for consideration of prosecution in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding between the CDPP and the ACCC regarding Serious Cartel Conduct.

An individual convicted of a criminal cartel offence may be sentenced to up to 10 years’ imprisonment or fined up to $444,000, or both.

For corporations, the maximum fine for each criminal cartel offence before 9 November 2022 is the greater of:

• $10 million
• three times the total benefit that has been obtained and which is reasonably attributable to the commission of the offence, or
• if the value of the benefit obtained cannot be determined, 10 per cent of the corporation’s annual turnover connected with Australia.

These maximum fines are applicable to the charges against Aussie Skips.  

For offences that occur after 9 November 2022, substantially higher maximum fines apply.

Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development

The ACCC will be investigating a number of businesses for potential ‘greenwashing’, following an internet sweep which found more than half of the businesses reviewed made concerning claims about their environmental or sustainability practices.

Of the 247 businesses reviewed during the sweep, 57 per cent were identified as having made concerning claims about their environmental credentials. The cosmetic, clothing and footwear and food and drink sectors were found to have the highest proportion of concerning claims among the industries targeted in the operation. Other sectors examined also had a significant proportion of concerning claims.

“Our sweep indicates a significant proportion of businesses are making vague or unclear environmental claims. This warrants further scrutiny,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.

“Consumers are now, more than ever, making purchasing decisions on environmental grounds. Unfortunately, it appears that rather than making legitimate changes to their practices and procedures, some businesses are relying on false or misleading claims. This conduct harms not only consumers, but also those businesses taking genuine steps to implement more sustainable practices.”

“Businesses using broad claims like ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘green’, or ‘sustainable’ are obliged to back up these claims through reliable scientific reports, transparent supply chain information, reputable third-party certification or other forms of evidence.”

“Where we have concerns, we will be asking businesses to substantiate their claims,” Ms Lowe said.

“Already, we have several active investigations underway across the packaging, consumer goods, food manufacturing and medical devices sectors for alleged misleading environmental claims and these may grow, as we continue to conduct more targeted assessments into businesses and claims identified through the sweep. We will take enforcement action where it is appropriate to do so as it is critical that consumer trust in green claims is not undermined.”

The ACCC will also conduct a range of education activities with businesses, including updating economy-wide guidance material, in addition to targeted guidance for specific sectors.

“The sweep has helped inform our forthcoming guidance about what steps businesses need to take to improve the integrity of their environmental claims,” Ms Lowe said.

“We want to see businesses taking steps to ensure that environmental claims are accurate as well as meaningful for consumers. Our sweep has shown that claims are most useful where they are relevant, clear, reliable and transparent.”

“We will engage directly with businesses and industry associations to improve compliance with the Australian Consumer Law.”

“Importantly, we encourage businesses to come forward if they become aware they have made false or misleading marketing claims. Businesses who cooperate and advise of any issues with their operations, will be considered more favourably than those who wait for the ACCC to unearth these problems,” Lowe said.

The ACCC encourages consumers and businesses to contact the ACCC to report any potentially misleading environmental or sustainability claims. Report a consumer issue.

Background

The ACCC conducted an internet sweep to identify misleading environmental and sustainability marketing claims in October/November 2022.

Sweepers reviewed 247 company websites across a range of targeted sectors including energy, vehicles, household products and appliances, food and drink packaging, cosmetics, clothing and footwear.

Each year, the ACCC announces a list of compliance and enforcement priorities. These priorities outline the areas of focus for the ACCC’s compliance and enforcement activities for the following year.

As part of the 2022-23 Compliance and Enforcement Priorities, the ACCC is prioritising consumer and fair-trading issues in relation to environmental and sustainability claims.

Under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, the ACCC can use powers under s155 of the Act to obtain information, documents and evidence in relation to matters which may constitute a contravention of the Act. The ACCC can also issue substantiation notices requiring a person or business to give information and/or produce documents that could be capable of substantiating or supporting a claim or representation made by the person or business.

Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development

The ACCC will examine the expanding ecosystems of digital platform service providers in Australia as part of its’ five-year Digital Platform Services Inquiry.

Large digital platform service providers, like Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook) and Microsoft, continue to invest heavily across different sectors and technologies, creating a web of interconnected products and services.

“Australian consumers and businesses are increasingly reliant on the products and services offered by digital platforms so it’s crucial we examine how these companies are expanding their reach,” ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.

Selection of the different sectors and technologies Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft have expanded into in Australia over the past decade.

An issues paper, published today, poses questions and seeks submissions from consumers, businesses and interested stakeholders about the investment decisions made by digital platforms, the interconnectedness of expanded products and services within each ecosystem and the potential impacts on competition and consumers.

The interim report will examine products and services offered by digital platform service providers across a variety of sectors and will use examples like the expansion into consumer cloud storage and smart home devices to analyse the relationships between digital platform services and various services offered in their digital platform ecosystems.

“We’re eager to hear from consumers and business about their experiences with digital platform services within these ecosystems, and how they also use other related consumer cloud storage services and smart home devices within a digital platform ecosystem,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.

“Large digital platforms have become an integral part of our daily lives, they have access to enormous user data bases and personal information across their ecosystems.”

“This report will assess how that data can leveraged across products and services within an ecosystem that may prevent businesses from entering and competing,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.

The interim report will also examine the expansion strategies used by digital platform service providers and how this has affected interoperability of products and services across ecosystems and if it has increased consumer lock-in behaviours or other conduct like bundling, tying or self-preferencing to inhibit competition.

Excessive collection and potentially problematic use of personal data or other behaviours such as dark patterns to confuse or manipulate consumers will also be considered.

“Interconnected products, like smart home devices and cloud storage solutions, can provide consumers with a seamless experience that simplifies everyday tasks, but it’s important that competition and consumers are not harmed as digital platforms invest across different sectors and technologies and expand their reach,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.

Submissions are due by 5 April 2023 and can be made by emailing digitalmonitoring@accc.gov.au.

Background

The ACCC’s Digital Platforms Branch is conducting a five-year inquiry into markets for the supply of digital platform services in Australia and their impacts on competition and consumers, following a direction from the Treasurer in 2020. The inquiry reports to the Treasurer every six months and examines different forms of digital platform services, their advertising services as well as data brokers.

This issues paper will inform the ACCC’s seventh report due to be submitted to the Treasurer by 30 September 2023. The ACCC’s sixth report on competition and consumer issues relating to social media services in Australia is due to the Treasurer by 31 March 2023.

Previous reports are published at Digital platforms services inquiry 2020-25.

Notes to the editor

‘Bundling’ refers to where a supplier only offers two products or services as a package, or for a lower price if the two products or services are purchased together.

‘Dark patterns’ refers to the design of user interfaces intended to confuse users, make it difficult for users to express their actual preferences, or manipulate users into taking certain actions.

‘Self-preferencing’ refers to where a platform gives preferential treatment to its own products and services when they compete with products and services provided by third parties using their service.

‘Tying’ in this context refers to when a digital platform makes access to a service conditional on using another service.

Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development

The Federal Court has today ordered Booktopia Pty Ltd (Booktopia) pay $6 million in penalties for making false or misleading representations on its website, and in dealings with consumers, about consumer guarantee rights.

Booktopia admitted that from at least 10 January 2020 to 2 November 2021, Booktopia made misleading statements in its online Terms of Business that consumers were only entitled to a refund, repair or replacement if they notified Booktopia within 2 business days of receiving a product that was faulty or not what they ordered.

Booktopia also admitted that its Terms of Business contained misleading representations, by stating that consumers were not entitled to a refund for digital products such as eBooks for any reason, including if the product was faulty.

Booktopia also admitted that it made misleading statements to 19 individual consumers in customer service calls by advising the consumers that it did not have an obligation to provide a refund or replacement if the consumer had not notified Booktopia within 2 business days of delivery, even if the product was faulty.

“Booktopia made misleading statements to consumers, telling them they were only entitled to a refund if they contacted them about a problem with their purchase within 2 business days of delivery,” ACCC Commissioner, Liza Carver said. 

“Consumers are entitled to return faulty products within a reasonable time and receive a refund, repair, or replacement, depending on the nature of the fault.”

“We do not know how many consumers may have been deterred from seeking a refund or replacement by Booktopia’s misleading representations on its website,” Ms Carver said.

In addition to ordering a $6m penalty, the Court ordered Booktopia to publish a notice on its website within 21 days correcting the false or misleading claims, and to establish a consumer law compliance program.

The ACCC and Booktopia made joint submissions in relation to penalty and other relief in this matter. The penalty figure put to the Court took into account Booktopia’s cooperation and financial position.

Background

On 10 December 2021 the ACCC instituted proceedings against Booktopia.

Booktopia is Australia’s largest online bookseller. Through the Booktopia Website, Booktopia supplies physical books, magazines, calendars, maps, stationery, games and puzzles, and also digital content such as eBooks and audio books, to consumers in Australia.

Under Australian Consumer Law, a consumer is entitled to a refund or replacement, or may request a repair, within a reasonable timeframe if something they bought has a major fault.

Businesses cannot place restrictions on consumer rights.  

More information at Consumer rights and guarantees.

Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development

The Full Federal Court today dismissed an ACCC appeal against a Federal Court judgment that Mazda did not engage in unconscionable conduct in its dealings with nine consumers.

The Full Federal Court also dismissed Mazda’s appeal against a Federal Court judgment that Mazda made 49 false representations to consumers about their consumer rights.

This case was about Mazda’s dealings with nine consumers who had requested a refund or replacement vehicle from Mazda after experiencing recurring and serious faults with their new Mazda vehicles within a year or two of purchase. One vehicle had three engine replacements.

The ACCC alleged that Mazda pressured the consumers after repeated failed repairs to accept offers that were below what they were entitled to. For example, Mazda offered to refund only a fraction of the car’s purchase price, or offered a replacement car only at a significant cost to the consumer.

The Full Court dismissed the ACCC’s appeal from the trial judge’s finding that Mazda’s dealings with the consumers was not unconscionable.

“We appealed this case because we believe that it is not acceptable business practice for businesses to give consumers the “run around” and discourage consumers from pursuing their rights for a refund or replacement vehicle,” ACCC Commissioner Liza Carver said.

The ACCC will carefully consider the Full Court’s judgment. 

The case will now be referred back to the trial judge, for a hearing at a later date on the penalties and other orders sought by the ACCC in relation to the false representations made by Mazda.

Background

The ACCC instituted proceedings against Mazda in October 2019. The Federal Court handed down its decision on 30 November 2021. The ACCC filed a Notice of Appeal against the Federal Court’s decision on 14 April 2022.

This case concerns seven vehicles and nine individual consumers. Models include Mazda 2, Mazda 6, Mazda CX-5, Mazda CX-5B, Mazda CX-3 and Mazda BT-50 purchased between 2013 and 2017.

Consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law provide remedies for consumers if their product is not of acceptable quality. Consumers can choose to have a product replaced, repaired or refunded if there is a major failure. There is a major failure if a product is not fit for purpose, cannot be fixed within a reasonable time, or is unsafe.

Since December 2020, multiple minor failures may together amount to a major failure.

The ACCC has previously accepted court-enforceable undertakings from Volkswagen, Holden, Hyundai and Toyota to improve their Australian Consumer Law compliance. In April 2018 the Federal Court found by consent that Ford engaged in unconscionable conduct in the way it dealt with complaints and ordered them to pay $10 million in penalties.

Further information on consumer guarantees is available at Consumer guarantees.

The ACCC encourages consumers to use the complaint letter tool to email or write to a business in relation to their rights to a repair, replacement or refund.  

Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development

The ACCC has granted interim authorisation to enable Qantas Airways Ltd, Emirates and their related entities to continue coordinating their passenger and cargo transport operations while the ACCC assesses their substantive application for authorisation.

Qantas and Emirates have an existing authorisation granted in 2018 that will expire on 31 March 2023. Under the existing authorisation Qantas and Emirates can coordinate their operations across their respective networks, covering routes between Australia and UK/Europe, New Zealand, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. The parties have made a new application for authorisation so they can continue their operational coordination for another five years after the existing authorisation expires.

“The interim authorisation commences immediately and allows the parties to continue coordinating their operations while the ACCC considers and evaluates the merits of the substantive application for authorisation,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.

“The ACCC may review the interim authorisation at any time and its interim authorisation decision should not be taken to be indicative of whether or not final authorisation will be granted.”

Further information and a copy of the interim authorisation decision are available on the ACCC’s public register at Qantas Airways Limited and Emirates.

Notes to editors

ACCC authorisation provides statutory protection from court action for conduct that might otherwise raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2020 (CCA).

Section 91 of the CCA allows the ACCC to grant interim authorisation when it considers it is appropriate. This allows the parties to engage in the proposed conduct while the ACCC is considering the merits of the substantive application.

The ACCC may review a decision on interim authorisation at any time, including in response to feedback raised following interim authorisation.

Broadly, the ACCC may grant authorisation when it is satisfied that the likely public benefit from the conduct outweighs any likely public detriment

Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development

Domestic airfares have declined from historic highs at the end of 2022; however, they remain above 2019 prices, the ACCC’s latest Airline Competition in Australia report reveals.

The quarterly report, released today, shows that after hitting a 15-year high in December 2022, the price of discount fares decreased by a third in real terms in January 2023.

Average revenue per passenger, which represents average prices across all fare types, declined by 13 per cent in real terms between December 2022 and January 2023. Despite the falls, average revenue per passenger remained 13 per cent higher in real terms (29 per cent in nominal terms) than it was in 2019.

“While it’s positive to see airfares fall from record highs in 2022, passengers are still generally paying more to fly today than they were before the pandemic,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.

“Airfares typically come down after the Christmas travel peak due to a seasonal decrease in demand, however some of this reduction is also explained by the airlines increasing their seat capacity.”  

The industry made 5.9 million seats available for travel in January 2023, the highest in more than six months. Qantas flew at 102 per cent of its pre-pandemic capacity, Virgin at 96 per cent and Jetstar at 84 per cent.

The price of jet fuel has fallen recently after peaking in mid-2022 due to the war in Ukraine. The price was 35 per cent lower in real terms at the end of February 2023 than it was in June 2022.

“The price of jet fuel has been trending down which should enable airlines to reduce airfares further in coming months,” Ms Brakey said.

While airlines increased capacity, this did not result in more passengers flying. In January, 4.4 million passengers flew within Australia, which is 89 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. Higher capacity and a seasonal reduction in demand resulted in more empty seats, leading to a fall in the industry load factor from 83 per cent in October 2022 to 75 per cent in January 2023.

The airlines’ on-time performance improved in January 2023. The industry reported 23.9 per cent of flights arrived late in January. Most airlines have improved their delay and cancellation rates over the last few months. Jetstar’s performance was relatively poorer, reporting the highest rate of delayed (34.6 per cent) and cancelled (7.3 per cent) flights in January.

“The airlines generally managed to increase their levels of flying without significantly compromising their on-time performance,” Ms Brakey said.

“After extensive operational challenges for much of 2022, most airlines appear to be getting closer to their pre-pandemic capability.”

In late January low-cost carrier Bonza became the first high-capacity passenger airline to enter the domestic market in 15 years. Bonza is predominantly operating on previously unserved routes that connect regional centres to holiday destinations, allowing passengers to travel directly rather than via a major city.

Bonza’s network covers 27 routes across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

“Bonza’s entry to the domestic market provides increased route choice which is good news for Australian consumers,” Ms Brakey said.

“The new budget airline will provide travellers on the east coast of Australia with new and direct connections, as well as competition on certain routes.”

Jetstar transported 26.9 per cent of all domestic passengers in January 2023, an increase of nearly four percentage points from the last quarter. The budget carrier typically records an increase at this time of year when people are increasingly flying for leisure rather than business. Qantas’ market share fell to 34.8 per cent and Virgin Australia had a market share of 33.4 per cent. Rex flew 4.9 per cent of all domestic passengers.

The ACCC’s report is the 11th and penultimate report under the direction from the Australian Government to monitor prices, costs and profits in domestic air passenger services. The direction expires in June 2023.

Index of average fare revenue per passenger across all routes – January 2019 to January 2023

Source: ACCC calculations using data from the ABS and data collected by the ACCC from Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin Australia and Rex.

Note: The average revenue per passenger includes both economy and business fare revenue. It excludes ancillaries and Tigerair data. Data has been adjusted for inflation using the latest ABS CPI quarterly data up to December 2022.

Price index of discount economy airfares weighted across 70 busiest domestic routes – February 2020 to February 2023

Source: The Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Economics (BITRE) Domestic Air Fares (Best Discount) index (cheapest available economy airfares).

Note: Grey bars indicate December and Easter holiday periods. Airfares recorded April 2021–February 2022 may be impacted by the government’s half-price ticket program (TANS).

Background

On 19 June 2020, the ACCC was directed by the then Treasurer to monitor the prices, costs and profits of Australia’s domestic airline industry and provide quarterly reports to inform Government policy. The direction expires in June 2023.

Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development

The ACCC proposes to grant authorisation with conditions for 12 months to allow the major supermarkets to continue collaborating on a short-term solution to manage the soft plastics stockpile and to facilitate the resumption of in-store collections for recycling.

A public consultation process on the draft determination will begin shortly.

The ACCC granted conditional interim authorisation to Coles, Woolworths and ALDI in November 2022, following REDcycle’s announcement it was suspending its return-to-store soft plastics recycling. The supermarkets, via the Soft Plastics Taskforce, released a Roadmap to Restart plan which outlines its work to date and its roadmap over the next 12 months to manage the stockpile and resume collections.

“The REDcycle liquidation has provoked a lot of community concern and this proposed authorisation will allow the supermarkets to develop and implement a solution to potentially address the environmental risk of the existing stockpile of soft plastics and future waste,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.

“We believe the authorisation will lead to public benefits such as the developing of interim solutions to be jointly funded by the supermarkets, the maximising the opportunities to divert soft plastics from landfill and ensuring clear and consistent messaging to consumers on the resumption of in-store collections.”

“Given our proposed authorisation is for 12 months, the supermarkets would need to apply for authorisation for any longer-term solutions,” Mr Keogh said.

The ACCC may grant an authorisation for any conduct that could raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act when it is satisfied that the likely public benefit from the conduct outweighs any likely public detriment.

“We are proposing to grant authorisation with conditions to ensure there is continued transparency on the progress of the roadmap and that the public are kept up to date,” Mr Keogh said.

The interim authorisation remains in place and will continue until it is revoked, the application for authorisation is withdrawn, or the date the ACCC’s final determination comes into effect.

“Separate to this authorisation application, the ACCC continues to engage with industry stakeholders and representative bodies to ensure clarity and transparency in communications so as to minimise the risk of consumers being misled by representations on packaging about the recycling of soft plastics,” Mr Keogh said.

More information is available on the ACCC’s website public registers.

Background

REDcycle was an industry-led program developed and implemented by the RG Programs and Services Pty Ltd, a Melbourne-based consultation and recycling organisation. Since 2011, it had been the only return-to-store, soft plastics recovery program in Australia, facilitating the collection and processing of soft plastics into a variety of durable recycled plastic products. Soft plastics include food packaging, plastic bags, cling wrap and bubble wrap.

Product manufacturers and the major supermarkets partnered with REDcycle to run the program. REDcycle provided some initial processing and then delivered the materials to its partner recycling facilities to process the soft plastics into new recycled plastic products, or otherwise utilise the recovered materials.

The scheme had been running in nearly 2000 supermarket outlets across the country, with collection points in Coles and Woolworths supermarkets, and more recently since July 2022, in ALDI stores.

On 9 November 2022 REDcycle announced that it was suspending its soft plastics collection program as its recycling partners had temporarily stopped accepting and processing soft plastics. The suspension of the REDcycle program removed the only established and widespread recycling pathway for consumers and created significant concerns about existing stockpiles and how consumers can recycle soft plastics.

Following REDcycle’s announcement, Coles and Woolworths each announced that they would be suspending soft plastics collections from their stores until further notice.

On 25 November 2022, the ACCC granted interim authorisation to the supermarkets.

On 27 February 2023, REDcycle was declared insolvent and a liquidator was appointed.

On 7 March 2023, the Soft Plastics Taskforce issued a Roadmap to Restart for the resumption of in-store collection.

The Soft Plastics Taskforce is chaired by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development

Qantas Airways, China Eastern and their related entities can continue coordinating their passenger and cargo transport operations following an interim authorisation from the ACCC.

Under an existing authorisation granted in 2021 Qantas and China Eastern can coordinate their operations across their respective networks, covering routes between Australia and mainland China.

The parties applied for re-authorisation to continue their operational coordination for another year after the existing authorisation expires on 31 March 2023.

“The interim authorisation commences immediately and allows Qantas and China Eastern to continue their operational coordination while the ACCC considers the merits of the substantive application for authorisation,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.

“This interim authorisation decision should not be taken as an indication that the final authorisation will be granted.”

Further information and a copy of the interim authorisation decision are available on the ACCC’s public register at: Qantas Airways Limited and China Eastern.

Notes to editors

ACCC authorisation provides statutory protection from court action for conduct that might otherwise raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2020 (CCA).

Section 91 of the CCA allows the ACCC to grant interim authorisation when it considers it is appropriate. This allows the parties to engage in the proposed conduct while the ACCC is considering the merits of the substantive application.

Broadly, the ACCC may grant authorisation when it is satisfied that the likely public benefit from the conduct outweighs any likely public detriment.