Australia’s new mandatory and suspensory merger control regime, under Part IVA of the
Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA), commenced on 1 January 2026. A key design principle behind the new merger system is that it be ‘risk-based’ – focusing the efforts of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission towards preventing genuinely anti-competitive acquisitions while enabling low-risk ones to progress efficiently.
The Government signalled in October 2025 that it would be making practical changes to the operation of the new merger regime to address further stakeholder feedback. On 24 April, Treasury released exposure draft legislation and an explanatory memorandum proposing the following two critical primary law changes to the merger regime:
- making non-notified acquisitions ‘voidable’ rather than automatically ‘void’ (as is the case now); and
- ensuring the concept of joint control / associates is better targeted so that acquisitions that do not result in meaningful control are not required to be notified.
The ASF will attend a stakeholder group meeting with Treasury on 1 May to walk through the details of the proposed changes and then the ASF working group will discuss formulating a response as part of the current targeted consultation process. Submissions are to be made by COB Friday 8 May.
If you have any comments, please
e-mail the ASF.