Consultation on the ACCC Media Code of Conduct

Closed 10 Aug 2016

Opened 11 Jul 2016

Contact

Rayne de Gruchy

(Chief Operating Officer)

rayne.degruchy@accc.gov.au

Overview

One of the recommendations of the Final Report of the Competition Policy Review (Harper Review) was that the ACCC should adopt a Media Code of Conduct.

Recommendation 52 stated:

The ACCC should establish, publish and report against a Code of Conduct for its dealings with the media with the aim of strengthening the perception of its impartiality in enforcing the law. The Code of Conduct should be developed with reference to the principles outlined in the 2003 Review of the Competition Provisions of the Trade Practices Act.

Why your views matter

In developing our draft ACCC Media Code of Conduct, we have been mindful of the important balance that we need to meet in our public comment – between fairness to individuals and businesses on the one hand and, on the other hand, the public interest in promoting confidence in our market economy, ensuring transparency in our enforcement activities and in educating consumers and businesses about their rights and obligations under the Competition and Consumer Act (2010) and the Australian Consumer Law.

We believe we have struck the right balance in our draft Code. Before finalising the Code, it is important that we seek the views of a broad cross-section of the community as we have a diverse group of stakeholders with a keen interest in our effectiveness as the competition regulator and as a co-consumer regulator along with our counterpart Australian Consumer Law regulators.

We welcome your feedback or the views of your organisation on the draft Code. Consultation will remain open until Wednesday 10 August 2016.

Audiences

  • Consumer groups
  • Small business

Interests

  • Media