Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Act 2026

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Act 2026 is an amending Act. It does not operate as a separate code that businesses comply with on its own. Instead, it changes parts of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

The legislation states that its purpose is to amend the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, and for related purposes. In practical terms, the main change is that it doubles certain listed penalty amounts from $50,000,000 to $100,000,000. It also changes amounts in section 151BX from $50 million to $100 million and from $71 million to $121 million, and adds a provision saying section 4AB of the Crimes Act 1914 does not apply to section 151BX.

For business owners, the key point is simple. If your business already operates in an area where the ACCC or a court could rely on one of the amended provisions, the maximum penalty settings are now higher. The Act does not mean every breach will attract those figures, but it does mean the top-end exposure has increased where the listed provisions apply.

The Act identifies the amended provisions specifically. In Schedule 1 Part 1, item 1 substitutes $50,000,000 with $100,000,000 in paragraph 45AF(3)(a). Item 2 does the same for paragraph 45AG(3)(a). Item 3 does the same for paragraph 76(1B)(a).

The Act also amends section 151BX. It changes subparagraph 151BX(3)(a)(i) from $50 million to $100 million and subparagraph 151BX(3)(a)(ii) from $71 million to $121 million. It then adds subsection 151BX(7), which says section 4AB of the Crimes Act 1914 does not apply to that section.

Beyond the main body of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, the Act also amends listed provisions in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2. In Schedule 1, it changes paragraph 45AF(3)(a) and paragraph 45AG(3)(a) from $50,000,000 to $100,000,000. In Schedule 2, it changes the same amount in a long list of provisions, including paragraphs 151(5)(a), 152(2A)(a), 153(3)(a), 154(5A)(a), 155(3)(a), 156(3)(a), 157(3A)(a), 158(10A)(a), 159(4)(a), 161(7)(a), 162(6)(a), 163(5A)(a), 164(4)(a), 166(8)(a), 167(3)(a), 168(2A)(a), 194(8)(a), 195(4)(a), 197(8)(a), 198(4)(a), 199(4)(a), 203(9)(a), 204(4)(a) and 224(3A)(a).

The practical reading point is that this page cannot tell you, by itself, whether your business has exposure under each of those provisions. You still need to check the underlying Competition and Consumer Act 2010 rule that applies to your conduct. What this Act does is raise the penalty ceiling where those listed provisions are engaged.

This Act matters most to businesses that already sit in ACCC enforcement risk areas. That includes businesses dealing directly with consumers, businesses making public claims to drive sales, and businesses whose commercial conduct could be examined under competition law settings in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

In day-to-day terms, that can include online retailers, subscription businesses, service providers, franchisors, distributors, app businesses, and companies using aggressive or fast-moving marketing campaigns. It can also include businesses with supplier, reseller or competitor dealings that need careful legal oversight. The Act also specifically touches section 151BX and a range of Schedule 2 provisions, so businesses operating in areas covered by those provisions should not assume this is only a general consumer marketing issue.

It is not only a large-corporate issue. Smaller businesses often create legal risk through ordinary operational decisions such as website wording, discount campaigns, customer support scripts, standard form terms, or informal communications about pricing and market conduct. If your business grows quickly or relies on agencies, contractors, franchisees or channel partners, the risk can increase because legal review is more likely to be inconsistent.

Because this Act increases penalties rather than creating a new licence, registration or reporting regime, the real trigger points are found in the underlying conduct rules of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. The legislation here does not restate those rules in full. That means businesses should focus on the parts of their operations where ACCC risk usually arises and then check the relevant underlying provisions.

For many businesses, the first trigger point is customer-facing conduct. That includes advertising claims, price representations, discount statements, product descriptions, subscription renewals, cancellation pathways, refund messaging and warranty language. If those materials are inaccurate, incomplete or poorly controlled, the higher penalty settings may matter more than they did before.

Another trigger point is internal and commercial conduct. That can include communications with competitors, instructions to distributors or resellers, pricing discussions, and internal decisions that shape how products are marketed or sold. The Act does not say that every issue in these areas will attract the amended penalties, but it does mean businesses should treat these areas as higher-stakes compliance zones where the listed provisions may be relevant.

The Act itself does not tell businesses to file a form, register with a regulator or issue a notice. Its practical effect is different. It changes the penalty environment for existing obligations under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. That means the main business obligation is to identify whether your conduct falls within the amended provisions and to manage that risk properly from 28 March 2026 onward.

Businesses should first identify where relevant conduct occurs. That usually means mapping the customer journey from advertisement to sale to complaint handling, and separately mapping any competitor, supplier or channel conduct that could raise competition law issues. Once those risk points are identified, the next step is to check whether the underlying legal provisions used in those areas are among the amended provisions or interact with them.

Businesses should also keep clear records of timing. The application provisions are date-sensitive. If conduct, acts, omissions or offences occurred on or after commencement, the higher settings may apply depending on the item. If conduct spans both sides of commencement, the timing analysis becomes more important.

Finally, businesses should make sure their internal systems match the higher-risk environment. That includes approval workflows, legal escalation rules, staff training, complaint handling, and recordkeeping. When maximum penalties increase, weak governance becomes more expensive.

The Act received Royal Assent on 27 March 2026. Under section 2, the whole Act commenced the day after Royal Assent, which was 28 March 2026.

The commencement date matters because the application rules in Schedule 1 Part 2 determine when the higher penalty settings apply. Item 7 says the amendments made by items 1 to 4 apply in relation to offences committed, or contraventions, or acts or omissions, that occurred on or after commencement. Item 8 inserts an application rule for item 5 stating that those amendments apply in relation to offences committed on or after commencement. Item 9 inserts an application rule for item 6 stating that those amendments apply in relation to offences committed, or acts or omissions that occurred, on or after commencement.

For businesses, that means the date of the relevant conduct is not a side issue. It is part of the legal analysis. If a campaign, contract rollout, pricing practice or other conduct started before 28 March 2026 and continued after that date, the timing should be checked carefully against the relevant amended provision.

A practical response to this Act is to review the documents and conduct that create the most exposure. Start with public-facing material. That includes website copy, product pages, landing pages, discount banners, comparison claims, FAQs, checkout wording, subscription notices, cancellation messaging, refund statements and customer emails.

Then review internal material and workflows. Look at who approves campaigns, how legal issues are escalated, what staff are told to say, how complaints are handled, and whether records are kept of approvals and changes. If your business uses agencies, contractors or channel partners, check whether responsibility for legal review is clear and documented.

For businesses with more complex operations, also review distributor and reseller instructions, franchise manuals, pricing guidance, and any internal communications touching on competitor conduct or market behaviour. The point is not only to avoid a breach. It is also to be able to show that the business had a functioning compliance process in a higher-penalty environment.

The safest way to read this Act is as a signal that existing Competition and Consumer Act 2010 compliance should be treated more seriously, not as a reason to panic about a new stand-alone regime. The law has not created a fresh set of everyday operational rules here. It has increased the financial stakes where listed provisions already apply.

For a startup or SME, that means focusing on the highest-risk parts of the business first. Review the claims that drive sales, the terms that shape customer rights, and the staff behaviour that could create repeated issues. For larger businesses, it means checking whether compliance systems are current, practical and actually used in the business rather than sitting in a policy folder.

If you are unsure whether your business falls within one of the amended provisions, the next step is to check the current consolidated Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and get advice on the parts of your model that create ACCC exposure. This page is a practical guide to the amending Act, but it is not a substitute for analysing the underlying provisions that apply to your conduct.

Businesses often ask whether this Act means the ACCC has new powers over ordinary trading activity. The better way to understand it is that the underlying competition and consumer law rules remain the starting point. What has changed is the maximum penalty exposure in the listed provisions.

Another common question is whether the timing rules are simple. They are simple at a high level, because the Act commenced on 28 March 2026, but the application wording differs across items. Some amendments apply to offences committed on or after commencement, while others also refer to contraventions, or acts or omissions, occurring on or after commencement. If your conduct is ongoing or straddles the commencement date, that detail matters.

Businesses also ask whether they need to overhaul everything at once. The practical answer is usually no. Start with the areas most likely to create exposure under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, then work outward. Public claims, pricing, customer terms, complaint handling, competitor contact and channel partner instructions are usually sensible first review points.