Quay Law Partners

On 23 August 2023, the Australian Treasurer, Dr Jim Chalmers MP and the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury and Assistant Minister for Employment, Dr Andrew Leigh MP, issued a joint media release in relation to the establishment of a Competition Taskforce (Taskforce) to review Australian competition laws, policies and institutions.  The Taskforce is charged with seeking to ensure these remain fit for purpose, with a focus on reforms that would increase productivity, reduce the cost of living and boost wages.

On the 50th anniversary of the commencement of federal regulation of competition and consumer law in Australia, there is an open question as to whether the Government will miss the opportunity to implement necessary changes to that regulatory regime to address unique issues arising from challenges created in the digital services sector, where a small number of digital platforms are dominant across a wide range of different services.

Introduction This submission is from Quay Law Partners, a specialist Australian regulatory law firm based in Sydney.

On 29 February 2024 Meta announced it would turn off Facebook News on its ubiquitous social media site in Australia and that it would not be renewing deals with Australian media businesses, put in place three years ago, to pay those businesses for their news content.  The Australian Government has reacted strongly to Meta’s announcements.  The core question is:  can Australia’s regulation force Meta to pay for news content?