ACCC Targets Secondary Boycotts In 2014

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has said that it will target secondary boycotts in 2014 as part of its regulatory mandate. ACCC Chairman Rod Sims described secondary boycotts as "extremely detrimental to businesses, consumers and the competitive process", and said the ACCC will investigate secondary boycotts whenever it becomes aware of them.

The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA) contains a statutory prohibition on secondary boycotts. This makes it illegal for a union to call a "sympathy strike", where a union agrees to help another union in its dispute with an employer by commencing industrial action against the employer's suppliers or customers. The CCA prohibition also extends to organised consumer boycotts of an employer because that employer is engaged in an industrial dispute. Employers at risk of secondary strikes or industrial action-related consumer boycott will welcome the ACCC's statement that secondary boycotts will