AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION & CONSUMER COMMISSION (ACCC)

Full Departmental Modelling — Australians Unified Format

 

STEP 1 — WHAT THE ACCC DOES NOW

Portfolio: Treasury Portfolio Agency: Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC)

Current responsibilities:

  • Enforces competition and consumer law

  • Regulates antiā€‘competitive conduct, cartels and market manipulation

  • Protects consumers from unfair, misleading or deceptive conduct

  • Oversees essential services (energy, telecommunications, water, transport)

  • Monitors pricing, market power and unfair contract terms

  • Reviews mergers and acquisitions

  • Investigates scams, digital platform conduct and online harms

  • Works with ASIC, APRA, ATO, AUSTRAC and international regulators

Who the ACCC serves:

  • Consumers and households

  • Small, medium and large businesses

  • Market operators and digital platforms

  • Industry sectors (energy, telco, transport, agriculture)

  • Government and Parliament

 

STEP 2 — GENERAL OPERATIONS (CURRENT)

  • Investigates antiā€‘competitive behaviour and cartel activity

  • Enforces consumer protection laws

  • Reviews mergers and acquisitions

  • Monitors essential service markets

  • Conducts price surveillance and market studies

  • Regulates digital platforms and online marketplaces

  • Coordinates with domestic and international regulators

  • Provides public guidance and education

Operational characteristics:

  • Highā€‘integrity, highā€‘risk regulatory environment

  • Strong legal, economic and investigative capability

  • Heavy reliance on data, intelligence and market analysis

  • High public visibility and accountability

  • Central role in market fairness and consumer trust

 

WHY CHANGE IS NEEDED

Key challenges:

  • Rapid growth of digital platforms and online marketplaces

  • Increasingly complex supply chains and global markets

  • Rising costā€‘ofā€‘living pressures

  • Legacy systems for market surveillance

  • Fragmented data across regulators

  • Growth in scams, deceptive conduct and digital harms

  • Need for realā€‘time market intelligence

If unchanged:

  • Higher risk of antiā€‘competitive behaviour

  • Increased consumer harm and market manipulation

  • Slower enforcement and regulatory response

  • Reduced trust in markets and institutions

  • Weaker protection for small businesses

STRENGTHS

  • Strong national mandate

  • Skilled legal, economic and investigative workforce

  • High public trust in consumer protection

  • Deep market knowledge

  • Strong international regulatory partnerships

WEAKNESSES

  • Legacy surveillance systems

  • Limited realā€‘time market visibility

  • Fragmented data across regulators

  • High complexity in digital markets

  • Workforce shortages in digital and analytics roles

THREATS

  • Cybersecurity risks

  • Rapid growth of digital platforms and scams

  • Global supply chain volatility

  • Market concentration and pricing power

  • Crossā€‘border misconduct

OPPORTUNITIES

  • AIā€‘enabled market surveillance

  • Unified national market intelligence platform

  • Stronger consumer protection and scam prevention

  • Modernised merger and competition frameworks

  • Transparent, realā€‘time market reporting

FUTURE MODEL (AIā€‘ENABLED, FAIR, TRANSPARENT)

A. National Market Intelligence Platform

  • Realā€‘time monitoring of prices, supply chains and market power

  • AIā€‘enabled detection of collusion, cartels and manipulation

  • Integrated data across ACCC, ASIC, APRA, ATO and AUSTRAC

  • Predictive modelling for market risk

B. Digital Platform & Online Marketplace Regulation

  • Oversight of digital platforms, algorithms and advertising

  • Scam detection and takedown capability

  • Transparency standards for online marketplaces

  • Consumer data protections

C. Modernised Consumer Protection System

  • Realā€‘time scam alerts

  • Automated complaint triage

  • Multilingual and accessible consumer tools

  • Stronger protections for vulnerable consumers

D. Competition & Market Fairness Framework

  • Modernised merger review system

  • Stronger penalties for antiā€‘competitive conduct

  • Transparent pricing and market fairness standards

  • Sectorā€‘specific regulation for energy, telco and transport

E. Small Business Support & Fair Trading

  • Simplified dispute resolution

  • Unfair contract term enforcement

  • Market transparency tools for SMEs

  • Industry codes of conduct

F. National Enforcement & Investigations Network

  • AIā€‘supported investigations

  • Integrated case management

  • Crossā€‘agency intelligence sharing

  • Faster, more accurate enforcement outcomes

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COSTING MODEL (PHASED)

BASELINE FUNDING (REDUCED)

$1.10B per year (Reduced from $1.55B — 30% efficiency gain)

PHASE 1 — YEARS 1–2

$0.75B – $1.10B

  • AI surveillance pilots

  • Unified market data architecture

  • Scam prevention upgrades

  • Digital platform regulation pilots

PHASE 2 — YEARS 2–4

$2.20B – $3.00B

  • National Market Intelligence Platform

  • Digital marketplace regulation

  • Workforce capability uplift

  • Enforcement and investigations expansion

PHASE 3 — YEARS 4–6

$1.50B – $2.20B

  • Predictive modelling

  • Public dashboards

  • Small business fairness tools

PHASE 4 — YEARS 6–10

$3.80B – $5.20B

  • Fully integrated national competition and consumer ecosystem

  • Automated reporting

  • Continuous improvement

STRATEGIC ROADMAP

PHASE 1 — FOUNDATION (Years 1–2)

  • Build unified market data architecture

  • Deploy AI surveillance pilots

  • Launch digital platform regulation pilots

  • Strengthen scam prevention

PHASE 2 — ACCELERATION (Years 2–4)

  • National intelligence platform

  • Digital marketplace regulation

  • Workforce capability uplift

  • Enhanced enforcement capability

PHASE 3 — EXPANSION (Years 4–6)

  • Predictive modelling

  • Realā€‘time dashboards

  • Small business fairness tools

PHASE 4 — FUTUREā€‘READY (Years 6–10)

  • Fully integrated regulatory ecosystem

  • Automated reporting

  • Continuous improvement

 

STEP 8 — PORTFOLIO HIGHLIGHTS (PUBLICā€‘FACING)

  • National leadership in competition and consumer protection

  • AIā€‘enabled market surveillance and enforcement

  • Stronger protections against scams and digital harms

  • Modern, transparent pricing and market fairness

  • Realā€‘time market intelligence and public dashboards

  • Fairer markets for small businesses and consumers

  • Integrated national regulatory ecosystem

  • Better outcomes for households, businesses and the economy