Productivity Commission gets into its competition law work

Change to competition law needed

The momentum for change to section 36 of the Commerce Act is building with the Productivity Commission recommending that the government review section 36.

The recommendation comes in the Commission's final report on its inquiry into the services industry. It is driven by concern that section 36, or at least the way it is applied, is not effective in preventing all misuses of market power.

The Commission considers that the counterfactual test, developed by the Courts to implement section 36, still allows dominant firms to act in a way that supresses competition and innovation. The Commission is also concerned that in some instances section 36 has the opposite effect, and prevents conduct that is desirable.