Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Labor actually welcomes the government's change of mind on the amendments moved in relation to schedule 3. These go to recommendations that were made by the ACCC, when the parliamentary joint committee reviewed the operation of the penalty provisions within the franchising code and related instruments. It's worth retelling the submission of the ACCC to that inquiry. It made the point that its ability to seek civil pecuniary penalties and issue infringement notices was fundamental to the ACCC's enforcement toolkit. The lack of consequences for breaching the franchising codes was undermining the ACCC's ability to ensure code compliance. Where penalties were insufficient, the franchisors were likely to factor that into their egregious behaviour and just build that into the cost of doing business, or doing business unfairly, in respect of their franchisees. Where penalties were unavailable, there's no incentive for a franchisor to comply with the codes. The ACCC noted that the penalties currently available under franchising code were small in comparison to those that were available under the Australian Consumer Law.

The amendment that the minister brings before the House goes some way to addressing that anomaly, and we support it. Indeed we made it well-known at the second reading stage of this bill that, if the government didn't do this, we would be moving amendments here and in the other place to that effect. Labor will be supporting this amendment.

Question agreed to.

Bill, as amended, agreed to.

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