Trade Practices Act, Competition and Competitive Neutrality

The Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) ("the TPA") is the cornerstone of consumer protection laws in Australia. It regulates the commercial activities of corporations. The equivalent State legislation, the Fair Trading Act 1999 (Vic), extends also to individuals undertaking commercial activities. Insofar as it undertakes commercial activities, Deakin University must comply with the TPA.

The TPA, amongst other things, prohibits:

misleading and deceptive conduct in commercial transactions;
anti-competitive practices such as price fixing, secondary boycotts, third line forcing and exclusive dealing, market share and collusive tendering; and
unfair and unconscionable conduct in commercial transactions.

The legislation imposes heavy fines for breaches of the Act - which may be levied both against the University and against individuals. In addition to any financial penalty, breach of the Act would cause considerable harm to Deakin's reputation.

All commercial activities undertaken by the University must comply with the requirements of the Act.

In addition to adhering to the TPA, the University must also ensure that its business activities meet the Competitive Neutrality requirements imposed by both Federal and State competition policies. In essence, the principles of Competitive Neutrality require publicly funded entities, when acting in a commercial capacity and competing with the private sector, to account for the true cost of service provision and not "under cut" their competitors by taking unfair advantage of public funding.

The University has appointed Bernadine McNamara as its Compliance Officer.

Requests for legal advice should be directed to Andrew Jenkins in the Solicitor's Office.