Australian Legal Research Guide
For more detailed information on Australian legal research, see our research guides:
Commentary Quick Overview
Major Commentary Sources
Legal Encyclopedias
Legislation - Competition Law
The central piece of legislation for Australian competition law is the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). Note that it was previously named the 'Trade Practices Act 1974'. The name officially changed on 1 January 2011.
Consumer Law
The full text of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) is set out in Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). Laws to apply the ACL as a law of each State and Territory have been enacted in all States and Territories. For transactions that occurred up to 31 December 2010, the previous national, State and Territory consumer laws will continue to apply.
Jurisdiction |
Principal Act |
ACT |
Fair Trading (Australian Consumer Law) Act 1992 - previously called Fair Trading Act 1992 (72 of 1992) |
NSW |
Fair Trading Act 1987 (68 of 1987) |
| Qld | Fair Trading Act 1989 (84 of 1989) |
| NT | Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading Act 1990 (49 of 1990) |
| SA | Fair Trading Act 1987 (42 of 1987) |
| Tas | Australian Consumer Law (Tasmania) Act 2010 (40 of 2010) |
| Vic | Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012 (21 of 2012) |
| WA |
Fair Trading Act 1987 (108 of 1987) Fair Trading Act 2010 (57 of 2010) |
Consumer Credit
Annotated Legislation
Annotated legislation materials are a good starting point for understanding the law. Note, that these resources may not always be current.
Selected Competition Law Cases
Case Citators
Search cases and find subsequent consideration of a particular case. Case citators also list parallel citations, litigation history, legislation and words and phrases judicially considered and cases cited. For Australian cases use:
Law Report Series
Please note that authorised reports should be used when citing cases.
See Authorised Law Report Research Guide for a list of authorised reports in Australia
Major Law Journal Databases
For more information on searching for journal articles see the
Australian Competition Law Journals
Other Competition Law Journals
Library Catalogue Search
Search Library Catalogue for books using Keyword search or Subject search using these terms:
Restraint of trade -- Australia
Competition, Unfair -- Australia
Consumer Protection - Law and Legislation - Australia
You can narrow your results to Online Books only, however, the number of Australian competition law books in ebook format is limited.
eBooks
You also can search across various Ebook platforms allowing you to search the full text of books. Click on the eBooks link on the left-hand side of the page to navigate to the eBook databases.
Selected eBooks on Australian Competition Law
Annotated competition and consumer legislation by 
Australian Cartel Regulation : Law, Policy and Practice in an International Contex by Australian competition law by 
Australian consumer law : commentary and materials by 
Competition Law : Cases and Materials by 
Competition law : The Laws of Australia by 
Competition Law and Policy by Corones' Australian consumer law by 
Duggan & Lanyon's consumer credit law by 
Miller's Australian competition and consumer law annotated by Major Commonwealth Agencies
Major State and Territories Competition Agencies
Major States and Territories Consumer Agencies
Inquiries & Reports
Please note, the references provided are not exhaustive of all the inquiries, reports and guidelines of the competition authorities in Australia.
The Australian Competition Law website provides a list of inquiries and reports from 1976 including links to full text documents.
Merger Guidelines
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) Merger Guidelines were published November 2008 providing clarification on the assessments of acquisition under sections 50 and 50A of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (the Act) formerly the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth).
The Informal Merger Review Process Guidelines 2013 supplement the Merger Guidelines 2008.
The ACCC Media Mergers publication from October 2017 provides guidance on the approach to media mergers.
The ACCC Draft Media Merger Guidelines have been published August 2016, submissions will close 14 October 2016.
Other Guidelines
The Australian Competition Law website provides links to ACCC guidelines, including in relation to:
