The Albanese Government is committed to supporting a competitive and sustainable food and grocery sector that works for Australian families and farmers which is why we are releasing an exposure draft of the new mandatory Food and Grocery Code and an exposure draft of amendments to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 for consultation.
The new Code will see Aldi, Coles, Woolworths and Metcash subject to multi-million-dollar penalties for serious breaches. The Code increases protections for suppliers by introducing strengthened dispute resolution arrangements, and new obligations to protect suppliers from retribution, which will be complemented by the creation of an anonymous supplier and whistle-blower complaints pathway through the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
The new Code implements the recommendations of Dr Craig Emerson’s independent review of the code in full and would commence on 1 April 2025.
The amendments to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 will introduce higher maximum penalties for breaches of the Code, as well as higher infringement notice penalties for alleged breaches of the Food and Grocery Code and other industry codes. Legislation will be introduced into the Parliament later this year.
The Government’s economic plan is all about easing the cost of living for Australians. The new Code will help to ensure our supermarkets are as competitive as they can be so Australians get the best prices possible.
Strengthening the Food and Grocery Code is only one part of the Government’s broad competition reform agenda, which includes an ACCC supermarket inquiry, progress on the most significant merger reforms in Australia in almost 50 years, consultation on reforming non-compete clauses, funding for CHOICE to conduct quarterly price monitoring and working with the states and territories to revitalise National Competition Policy.
Submissions on the exposure draft of the mandatory Food and Grocery Code are open until 18 October 2024.
Submissions on the exposure draft of amendments to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 are open until 4 October 2024.
The Albanese Government accepted the recommendations of the Emerson Review, including the need to consult on a mandatory food and grocery code of conduct, in June this year.
Comments attributable to Libby Coker MP:
“The ACCC has alleged that Woolworths and Coles temporarily increased the prices of 266 Woolworths’ products and 245 Coles products for short periods of time before placing them on ‘prices dropped’ and ‘down down’ promotions.
“These are serious allegations that the ACCC is bringing before the court and if this is found to be true, it's completely unacceptable given the cost-of-living pressures so many people are feeling across our region.
“Our government takes the announcement by the ACCC very seriously, however, as the matter is now before the courts it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
