Australia: Closed consultation on ACCC’s regulatory reform recommendations

On 15 February 2023, the public consultation closes on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) policy recommendations in its fifth report from the Digital platform services inquiry. The Department of the Treasury gathered information from stakeholders on possible legal reforms and on the recommendations issued by ACCC. In particular, the ACCC, in its fifth report published on 11 November 2022, outlined several proposals to address the competition and consumer issues identified during the inquiry on digital platforms. In particular, the report recommends adopting regulations prohibiting unfair trading practices and contract terms, mandating platforms to implement internal and external dispute resolution mechanisms and establishing flagging systems to prevent and remove scams, harmful apps, and fake reviews. Furthermore, the ACCC proposed designating digital platforms that should follow mandatory codes and prohibiting digital platforms from self-preference their products.