The Business Council of Australia represents and advocates for its members, comprising more than 130 of Australia's largest and best-known employers. We are a member-led organisation, and our submissions reflect engagement with those members and the expertise and practical experience they bring.

With the passing of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Mergers and Acquisition Reform) Act 2024, Australian businesses have been preparing for the significant changes in how the ACCC will assess mergers that affect the Australian economy and its consumers from 1 July 2025.

The BCA welcomes the release of the draft guidelines, which not only reflect the most recent legislative changes but also replace guidance released in 2008 and 2018. The intent of the guidance to explain the ACCC's approach to analysing the potential effects of mergers on competition, and to provide predictability to businesses, advisers, and the community will be helpful as stakeholders interpret and prepare for the changes. We believe it would also be helpful for the ACCC to revisit these guidelines following the 12-month review of the thresholds.

Within the submission we have made observations for the ACCC's consideration as they finalise the draft guidelines.

We additionally note the ACCC has publicly stated that in addition to the merger assessment guidelines, merger parties may be assisted by review of previous public competition assessments. We consider that the ACCC should commit to the publication of outstanding public competition assessments prior to 1 July 2025. The ACCC's register states in relation to several mergers that "a Public Competition Assessment will be published in due course". In a small number of instances, this statement has remained on the ACCC's website for more than a year and a half after the ACCC announced its opposition to the proposed acquisition. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss these comments further and remain available to engage as the ACCC finalises its guidance.

Read the full submission here.