In the ACCC;’s second submission to the Australian Government’s Competition Review, the ACCC is calling for urgent reforms to Australia’s current laws governing mergers and acquisitions to ensure they are effective in preventing anti-competitive transactions and acquisitions which have the effect of harming consumers and competition.
Read moreOn 17 January 2024, the Australian Government released its Interim Response to consultations held on Safe and Responsible AI in Australia. The Interim Response shows that the Government will be targeting the use of AI in ‘high-risk settings’ with ‘mandatory guardrails’ for the safe AI design, development and deployment in high risk settings being considered in close consultation with industry and the community.
Read moreDecember 2023 – The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has launched an inquiry into whether TikTok’s use of marketing pixels, which track people’s online habits, breaches Australia’s privacy laws. The inquiry follows TikTok’s recent fines in Europe and the UK – including a fine of €345m (AU$560m) for breaking the European Union (EU) data laws about children’s accounts.
Read moreThis update provides an overview of the new AANA Children’s Advertising Code (which comes into effect on 1 December, 2023), as well as the AANA Code of Ethics for marketing and advertising and the Broadcasting Services (Australian Content and Children’s Television) Standards 2020 which regulates advertising content directed to children.
Read moreRecognising the impact of current rising cost of living on Australian consumers, areas of ACCC scrutiny for 2023/24 include competition/anti-competitive conduct, fair trading and consumer protection issues in the digital economy, the energy, telecommunications and gas markets, environmental and sustainability claims, unfair contract terms and the financial services sector.
Read more