New Competition Policy Review

The Treasurer has announced a new two-year Competition policy review, focusing on the government’s ‘priorities for modernising the Australian economy’.

The Competition Policy Review will provide advice to the government on how to improve competition across the economy.

The Review will look at competition laws, policies and institutions to ensure they remain fit‑for‑purpose for the modern economy, with a focus on reforms that would increase productivity, reduce the cost of living and/or lift wages.

The Competition Policy Review team will not issue a single report but undertake rolling policy projects. The Review team will publicly consult and issue papers on specific reform topics over the next 2 years.

The Treasury has set up a Competition Taskforce to conduct the review and it will be supported by an expert panel, inclduing CEO of the Grattan Institute, Danielle Wood, and former ACCC Chair, Rod Sims

We seem to be on a 10-year schedule (Hilmer in ‘93, Dawson in ‘03 and Harper in ‘13) - of course the previous major reviews were independent.