ACCC report into digital platform services

The Albanese Government welcomes the release of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) latest report into digital platform services.

The inquiry has identified significant consumer and competition issues across a range of digital platform services including search engines, social media, online private messaging, app stores, online retail marketplaces and digital advertising.

The interim report released today makes four recommendations to strengthen consumer and competition laws:

• the introduction of economy-wide consumer measures, including to prohibit unfair trading practices and unfair contract terms;
• digital platform-specific consumer measures to prevent and remove scams, harmful apps and fake reviews, including dispute resolution processes;
• mandatory codes of conduct for designated digital platforms to address competition harms; and
• targeted competition obligations for designated platforms based on legislated principles.

The Government is considering the ACCC’s recommendations and will consult publicly to seek the views of stakeholders as part of its efforts to ensure Australia has the right regulations in place to be a leading digital economy.

The Albanese Government is already strengthening consumer protections, including through recently introduced legislation to prohibit unfair contract terms and increase penalties for anti-competitive behaviour, and has committed to establish a new National Anti-Scam Centre.

The report is the fifth resulting from the ACCC’s inquiry into markets for the supply of digital platform services. The ACCC is providing interim reports every six months until the inquiry concludes, with the final report due to the Treasurer by 31 March 2025.