Submission to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee

Australian Industry Group welcomed the opportunity to submit to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee on the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026.

We support the Government's objective of addressing genuinely harmful trading practices. Protecting consumers from deceptive conduct is a legitimate and important
regulatory goal, and industry broadly endorses that purpose.

As we noted in our submission to Treasury's Exposure Draft consultation in March 2026, support for the policy goal does not extend to support for every aspect of the current drafting. The Bill, as introduced, contains provisions that risk imposing compliance burdens disproportionate to the consumer harms they seek to remedy, and that create legal uncertainty for businesses acting in good faith. Three specific issues – two carried over from concerns raised in our earlier submission, and one arising from a significant change between the Exposure Draft and the Bill as introduced – require targeted amendment before the Bill proceeds.

The practical consequences are already becoming apparent. As the Bill has progressed through Parliament, some of our members have already commenced the work of reviewing and adapting their customer communications, sales processes, and staff training. Early evidence from that work is concerning. Members are encountering many grey areas when attempting to interpret and apply the Bill's provisions. Faced with that uncertainty alongside the prospect of substantial penalties, businesses are defaulting to the most conservative interpretation available. The result of this would be a chilling effect on legitimate commercial activity that serves neither consumers nor competition.

Australia's productivity challenge has been the subject of sustained national focus in recent years – from the Productivity Commission's five-pillar inquiry, to the Treasurer's Economic Reform Roundtable in August 2025, to the 2026-27 Budget's commitment to delivering practical reforms that will boost productivity growth. Australian Industry Group strongly supports that agenda. In that spirit, the concerns raised in this submission should be read alongside it: a Bill that creates broad, undefined obligations backed by penalties of up to $100 million risks becoming a drag on the investment and innovation that productivity reform is designed to encourage. Getting the drafting
right serves everyone – consumers benefit from a regime that is clear and enforceable while businesses benefit from a regime they can actually comply with.