ACCC Welcomes New Merger Rules In Australia

These new rules will align the country’s merger practices with those of developed economies.

Gina Cass Gottlieb, LinkedIn

Coming into effect on 1 January 2026, these regulations aim to identify and prevent anti-competitive deals. Gina Cass-Gottlieb, the chairperson of ACCC, said:

We welcome the Treasurer’s announcement today that the government will move to strengthen Australia’s merger laws, which will benefit Australian consumers and businesses of all sizes, as well as the wider economy.

She further indicated that weak competition leads to price escalations, choice limits, and hobbled invention and that stricter merger rules are key to preventing “anti-competitive mergers”. Described as the most significant merger law reform in years, this move may effectively regulate damaging business unions.

Despite this enthusiastic reaction from the ACCC, the Australian business community seems ambivalent. These amended regulations make it compulsory to announce intended mergers and empower the ACCC to investigate such transactions.

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The Australian Associated Press reported that Bran Black, the chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, said that the intended changes balance economic and monitoring needs, but care should be taken to avoid “unintended consequences” and unnecessary “red tape”. Black backed this and commented:

For example, the BCA expects to see reasonable and practical thresholds for merger notification.

At present, the ACCC only evaluates a small portion of all mergers. The new regulations will increase the authority’s involvement. Australian treasurer Jim Chalmers reportedly stated that the current system is “hit and miss” and that Australia is one of a handful of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in which merger notifications are not mandatory.