Save the date LIDC e-conference
Save the date: 13 February 2025
Merger Control Law in Australia and New Zealand
We are excited to announce that the inaugural e-conference of the Australia-New Zealand chapter of the International League of Competition Law (LIDC) has been confirmed for 13 February 2025.
Created in 1930, the LIDC is a long-standing international association that focuses on the study of competition law, intellectual property law and unfair competition law. The LIDC is constituted by 19 National Groups, now including Australia and New Zealand.
The e-conference will examine recent developments in Merger Control Law in Australia and New Zealand.
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Mergers and Acquisitions Reform) Bill 2024 was tabled in Australian Parliament on 10 October 2024. If the Bill is passed, the new law will bring about the biggest change in Australian merger control law for 30 years, with the introduction of mandatory pre-merger clearance and a modified substantive test. Notification under the new regime will be possible from 1 July 2025 and required after 1 January 2026.
Developments in Australian merger control law will be watched closely in New Zealand. While legislative reform is not on the horizon, the New Zealand Commerce Commission formally declined to grant clearance to two mergers in the space of 3 months in 2024, the first such declines since 2017.
Speakers and commentators include:
Marcus Bezzi (Chief Advisor, Competition Taskforce, The Treasury, Australian Government)
Jacqueline Downes (Partner, Practice Group Leader, Competition, Consumer & Regulatory, Allens)
Dr Mark Berry (Barrister, Former Chair of the New Zealand Commerce Commission)
Professor Julie Clarke (Associate Dean, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne)
Professor Chris Noonan (University of Auckland, Faculty of Law)
The e-conference, hosted in cooperation with the Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law (CPICL) at the University of Queensland TC Beirne School of Law, will take place online from 1-4 pm (Sydney time) on Thursday 13 February 2024. We encourage you to save the date now!
More information to come and registration will open in 2025.
If you have any questions regarding the e-conference please contact:
Dr Barbora Jedlickova | President, LIDC Australia-New Zealand
E: b.jedlickova@law.uq.edu.au
W: International and Comparative Competition Law and Policy Program - Law School - University of Queensland (uq.edu.au)
