NO.052

ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR ACCC

The Government has provided the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

(ACCC) with additional funding of $20 million over the next four years to implement

and administer trade practices amendments recommended by the Dawson Committee’s

Review of the Competition Provisions of the Trade Practices

Act 1974 and proposed in the Trade Practices Legislation Amendment Bill

(No. 1) 2005 (Dawson Bill).

The Review of the Competition Provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974

was a 2001 election commitment and the most comprehensive review of the competition

provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (the Act) for a decade.

The Dawson review recommended changes to the Act aimed at improving the administration,

timeliness and accountability of competition regulation. The amendments proposed

in the Dawson Bill endorse this recommendation, and this funding will allow

the ACCC to ensure that consumers and other market participants are well-informed

and have access to competitive, fair and efficient markets.

CANBERRA

10 May 2005