On 25 March 2015, the Selection of Bills Committee referred the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Deregulatory and Other Measures) Bill 2015 to the Economics Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 13 May 2015.

Submissions closed on 21 April 2015.

The Competition and Consumer Amendment (Deregulatory and Other Measures) Bill 2015 implements a number of measures intended to streamline the administration of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CC Act) in order to reduce compliance burdens for businesses, individuals and within Government. It does so, while preserving the protections available under the CC Act. In brief, the Bill would:

• remove the requirement for businesses to report serious injuries, illnesses or deaths associated with food products under the ACL’s product safety law; and
• permit private parties to take action for extra-territorial breaches of the CC Act without seeking Ministerial consent under section 5 of the CC Act.

The proposed legislation also includes a number of other measures to amend the CC Act (in particular the ACL) in order to improve its administration and correct minor drafting errors.