What’s next?

Treasury, on behalf of the Government, is considering the recommendations from the report. It has indicated it will consult publicly with stakeholders during the process of implementing new regulations to ensure Australia will be a 'leading digital economy', however no timeframe has been provided at this stage. In the meantime, there are a number of other recommendations and observations the ACCC has made about the implementation of its proposed reforms:

• Sector-specific regimes: the ACCC has recommended implementing specific consumer protections directed at Designated Digital Platforms. The ACCC identified the process of declaring a service under the telecommunications access regime as an example of a process of implementing a sector-specific regime, which includes conducting a public inquiry and providing a reasonable opportunity for public submissions. A similar approach is likely to be adopted for digital platforms reforms if the recommendations are adopted and such designations are made. Industry participants likely to be affected by that designation should prepare to participate in this process.
  
  
• National Anti-Scams Centre: apart from the recommendations in DPSI Report #5, the Government has committed to establishing a National Anti-Scam Centre through the ACCC. While details of the actual powers of the Centre have not yet been revealed, its purpose will be to provide a 'coordinated and rapid response to scams that are moving their way through the economy.'
  
  
• Information-gathering and monitoring powers: the ACCC considers that additional powers are required to allow the relevant regulator to obtain information from digital platforms—including from parent companies and related bodies corporate in overseas jurisdictions—to ensure the enforcement of new regulatory arrangements. The industry should prepare to respond to new information requests and seek advice on their obligations if these powers are introduced.
  
  
• Cross-regulator consultation: the ACCC has indicated that any future regulatory arrangements should be developed through close consultation with relevant Australian Government departments and agencies, given the overlapping aspects of digital platforms which may be considered by multiple branches of government.
  
  
• Guidance materials: the ACCC has indicated that clarifying guidance materials should be published by regulators implementing new laws based on the recommendations of the Report (likely the ACCC itself, as well as the proposed external ombuds mechanism if it is implemented) to assist with compliance and give additional clarity to the industry on any new regulatory arrangements implemented. Such guidance may be in the same vein as the ACCC's Merger Guidelines, to understand how the new legislation framework will operate in practice.
  
  
• Penalties: the ACCC has indicated that, owing to the size and economic resources of many digital platforms, and a historically weak culture of compliance at digital platforms, new regulatory arrangements should attract significant penalties for contraventions. The ACCC considers that the new regulatory regime should impose penalties equivalent to the largest penalties currently applicable under the CCA, as recently increased by the Treasury Laws Amendment (More Competition, Better Prices) Act 2022 (Act No. 54 of 2022) (which received Royal Assent on 9 November 2022).