Parliament has now passed the much anticipated changes to competition and consumer laws which means businesses will now face higher penalties for beach of competition and consumer laws and new penalties for unfair contract terms.

Do you need to pay duty on transactions that were not previously dutiable in NSW? From 20 May 2022, the answer could be yes.

From 20 May 2022, the New South Wales duties net has been considerably widened. While the scope of the changes is not yet fully known, it is clear that duty is now imposed on transactions that were not previously dutiable in New South Wales:

The Australasian Food Group (trading as Peters Ice Cream) (Peters Ice Cream) has been ordered to pay a $12 million penalty after engaging in exclusive dealing practices. The Federal Court has also ordered the ice cream giant to establish a compliance program for a period of three years and pay contribution to the ACCC's legal costs.

Have you ever thought about buying something and then immediately find a raft of online advertisements coming up on your phone for that exact same thing?

The ACCC is now focused on taking enforcement action against businesses participating in "manipulative techniques to exploit or pressure [consumers], and other practices that seek to distort or disregard their consumer choice in the digital economy" says ACCC Chair Rod Sims.

In early January 2022, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) commenced its industry wide investigation of both suppliers and retailers in relation to the pricing of rapid antigen tests as demands for the tests far exceeded available stock within weeks of the of the COVID-19 Omicron outbreak in December 2021.