Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) 

Act: Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).¹

Established: 1995 (as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, merging the former Trade Practices Commission and Prices Surveillance Authority); the Act was renamed and the Australian Consumer Law added to it in 2010.

Purpose: The ACCC enforces both competition law (preventing anti-competitive conduct such as cartels and misuse of market power) and the Australian Consumer Law, which applies as a single national law in every state and territory. It is the only body in this factsheet's category that operates as a genuinely national consumer regulator, rather than a state-based one.

The "overall impression" test for misleading conduct

In ACCC v TPG Internet Pty Ltd (2013) 250 CLR 640,² the High Court held that whether advertising is misleading is judged by the dominant or overall impression it creates — a prominent headline price cannot be cured merely by a less prominent disclaimer or fine print elsewhere in the advertisement. This is the leading authority the ACCC itself relies on in enforcement action over misleading pricing and advertising.

Powers conferred under the Act

The ACCC can accept court-enforceable undertakings, issue infringement notices for minor contraventions, and bring civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court for serious contraventions. Like ASIC, it enforces through the courts rather than through its own binding adjudication.

How it relates to the other Commonwealth and state bodies

The ACCC's national consumer-law role sits alongside — and above — the state-based consumer affairs and fair trading regulators, only one of which, South Australia's, has a dedicated commissioner: the Australian Consumer Law applies uniformly, but a state consumer affairs body may still be the practical first port of call for a local complaint. The ACCC's competition-enforcement role is distinct from ASIC's company-regulation role: a cartel between competing firms is the ACCC's territory; a director's breach of duty to their own company is ASIC's.

Self-check

• Have I identified the ACCC's dual competition and national consumer-law functions?
• Have I stated and cited the "overall impression" test from ACCC v TPG Internet rather than asserting it without authority?
• Have I distinguished the ACCC's national role from state-based consumer affairs regulators?