AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Scott Colvin, Warren Scott and Lachlan Speirs, Archer Scott Lawyers
and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partner - ship, which provide preferential or zero rates for quali - fying goods. Anti-dumping and countervailing measures provide targeted protection for some domestic manufactur - ing, such as steel, aluminium and certain chemicals. Tariffs are not a significant protectionist instrument in Australia; the more material current sensitivities arise from global trade tensions and from supply chain and critical-minerals policy rather than from tariff barriers. A new mandatory and suspensory merger con - trol regime commenced on 1 January 2026 under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), as amended by the Treasury Laws Amendment (Mergers and Acquisitions Reform) Act 2024 (Cth). The ACCC is the sole first-instance decision-maker, replacing the former voluntary and informal clearance model and the separate authorisation process. This is the most significant change to Australian merger control in five decades. An acquisition of shares or assets that has a connec - tion to Australia must be notified, and must not be completed if it meets a monetary threshold or falls within a designated class. The principal thresholds, measured by Australian revenue, are as follows. • Large merged firm: the combined Australian rev - enue of the merger parties is at least AUD200 mil - lion, and either the target’s Australian revenue is at least AUD50 million or the global transaction value is at least AUD250 million. 6. Competition Law 6.1 Merger Control Notification • Very large acquirer: the acquirer group’s Australian revenue is at least AUD500 million and the target’s Australian revenue is at least AUD10 million. • Serial or creeping acquisitions: separate cumula - tive thresholds aggregate Australian revenue from acquisitions of the same or substitutable goods or services over the previous three years. Very small acquisitions, broadly those with target Australian revenue below AUD2 million, are excluded.
• From 1 April 2026, further thresholds capture cer - tain asset acquisitions and acquisitions that cross voting power levels of 20% or 50%, even without a change of control. The regime covers acquisitions of shares, units and interests in managed investment schemes and acqui - sitions of assets, and brings joint ventures and cer - tain land and development acquisitions within scope, subject to exemptions, while small acquisitions are excluded. Because the thresholds are objective and financial, many transactions that previously raised no competition concern now require notification, so deal timetables and conditions must build in clearance, and the competition assessment that was once con - sidered within the foreign investment process is now conducted separately by the regulator. 6.2 Merger Control Procedure An acquisition is notified through the regulator’s acqui - sitions portal. Pre-notification engagement is encour - aged but not mandatory, and a filing fee applies, from which small businesses are exempt. The regulator publishes notified acquisitions on a public register and publishes its reasons for decisions, which over time will give the market greater visibility of its approach. For suitable acquisitions that plainly raise no competi - tion concern, a party may instead apply for a notifica - tion waiver, which, if granted, removes the obligation to notify. Where no waiver is sought or available, the notified acquisition proceeds through the regulator’s phased review. A first phase, with a statutory time - table, is expected to resolve the substantial majority of matters by clearance, while transactions that raise concerns proceed to a more detailed second phase, with a longer timetable and the ability to consider rem - edies and undertakings; a public benefit pathway also exists, and decisions are subject to limited review by the Australian Competition Tribunal. The substantive question is whether the acquisi - tion would have the effect, or be likely to have the effect, of substantially lessening competition, which now expressly includes creating, strengthening or entrenching a substantial degree of market power. Completing a notifiable acquisition without approval, a waiver or an applicable exemption can have serious
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