On 19 February 2026, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), announced the ACCC's 2026-27 Compliance and Enforcement Priorities. The ACCC reaffirmed its enduring priorities to target cartel conduct, anti-competitive conduct, and product safety and scams enforcement. New and continuing priorities include pricing transparency in supermarket, retail, electricity and gas sectors, manipulative conduct in digital markets, and improved industry compliance with consumer guarantee rights.
Enduring priorities remain, with cost of living pressures in particular focus
The ACCC remains focused on combating cartel and anti-competitive conduct, addressing product safety concerns, protecting vulnerable and First Nations consumers as well as small business and agriculture and combatting scams. This year, the ACCC will also prioritise cost of living issues by targeting misleading pricing in supermarkets, retail, energy, and telecommunications. Additional priorities include competition in the aviation sector, strengthening compliance with consumer guarantees, and promoting competition in digital markets.
New and targeted annual priorities for 2026-2027
To address cost of living concerns and emerging regulatory risks, the ACCC has announced the following annual priorities:
| Supermarket and Retail Sectors |
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|---|---|
| Essential Services |
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| Aviation Sector |
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| Digital Markets |
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| Environmental claims |
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| Unfair contract terms |
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| Motor vehicles |
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| Product safety for young children |
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Australia's new merger regime
While not a specific compliance and enforcement priority, ensuring compliance with the Australia's new mandatory new merger regime is a key focus for the ACCC. Following a six month transition, the regime came into full effect on 1 January 2026.
Under the new regime:
- Since 1 July 2025, the ACCC received 31 merger notifications, of which 15 were approved and 16 are under assessment.
- Since 1 January 2026, the ACCC has approved 23 and denied 3 applications for notification waivers.
- Approximately 80% of notification and waiver applications have been determined by the ACCC within 20 business days.
The ACCC acknowledged that as the demands on the ACCC's resources increase and regime stretches the regulator, the regime could impact enforcement of non-merger matters. As the ACCC noted when introducing the merger regime last year, the regime operates most effectively where the merger parties approach the ACCC early and co-operatively.
Conclusion
The ACCC's compliance and enforcement priorities for 2026-27 demonstrate its broad legislative mandate of protecting and promoting competition across the Australian economy, with a particular focus on addressing cost of living pressures and emerging digital economy risks.
For businesses and their advisers, the announcement provides clear guidance on regulatory risk areas and the sectors facing heightened scrutiny. The announcement highlighted that enduring priorities are still central to the ACCC's enforcement focus and that proactive compliance reviews and strengthening of compliance culture will be essential to mitigate enforcement risk in a heightened regulatory environment. Businesses operating in priority sectors should treat the ACCC's priorities as a roadmap for immediate compliance action.
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