Over the past 30 years, the Australian statutory regime regulating competition and restrictive trade practices has been the subject of much, significant reform. The evolution has been driven by the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. In this respect, debates — some familiar, others more novel — continue. These debates are occurring in the profession, the academy, and even in the media and the broader community. After all, the harms which Australian competition law seeks to prevent, and redress, have significant, direct impacts across society, from sophisticated multinationals to the everyday consumer. Meanwhile, the regulator in Australia, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, is notoriously active in promoting and enforcing (including, testing the limits of) the prohibitions on restrictive trade practices.

This volume of the collection, Current Issues in Competition Law, covers various topics of considerable importance and concern. The focus is on the Australian statutory topography and the collection is avowedly concerned with debates and issues of contemporary importance. The volume is divided into three parts. The first considers the historical and theoretical background underpinning Australia’s competition law; the second addresses questions of statutory interpretation common throughout, and specific to, this jurisprudence; and, the third examines the application of this law to new and emerging markets. The chapters provide perspectives from the judiciary, the regulator, the practising profession, and the academy, including a foreword by the Honourable Chief Justice Allsop AO.

This volume, along with the companion volume, are essential reading for those called upon to determine competition matters, lawyers practising in competition law, and those teaching and researching the subject.

This collection was generously supported by the Ross Parsons Centre, The University of Sydney Law School.

“This anthology is an impressive collection of the leading multidisciplinary voices on modern Australian competition law: a current Justice of the Federal Court of Australia and former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia; Chair and Chief Economist of the federal regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission; economists, private legal practitioners, and academics in law, business, and economics … Each paper is a discrete and valuable analysis. Together, they engage in a lively, detailed, and thoughtful debate … This collection is an invaluable and essential tool for practitioners, generalists and specialists, regulators, jurists, students of the law, and members of the public, for whom these laws exist to benefit.”

From the Foreword by The Honourable James Allsop AO

Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia

July 2021