Competition Law Risk in Commercial Practice

Competition law compliance is increasingly shaped by enforcement activity and litigation outcomes, where regulators and courts test how businesses structure pricing, collaboration, and distribution arrangements in practice. Many breaches arise not from deliberate anti-competitive intent, but from commercial behaviours that evolve into problematic conduct under regulatory interpretation and judicial review.

This session focuses on how competition law is applied in real enforcement contexts, using recent cases and regulatory actions to illustrate how legal risk emerges in commercial operations. It examines how courts and regulators assess pricing conduct, information sharing, market power, and collaboration arrangements, and how these decisions translate into practical compliance expectations for legal and commercial advisers.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Recent ACCC enforcement actions and judicial findings shaping competition risk
• Pricing coordination and information sharing cases in Australian markets
• Abuse of market power findings in recent litigation and regulatory decisions
• Distribution and exclusivity arrangements challenged in enforcement proceedings
• Joint venture and collaboration structures examined in competition cases
• Vertical and horizontal restraint disputes in recent case law
• Mergers and acquisitions reviewed through regulatory intervention outcomes
• Market definition disputes in recent Federal Court and ACCC matters
• Lessons from penalties and undertakings in competition law enforcement
• Practical compliance failures identified in real enforcement investigations
• Interaction between commercial contracting and competition law breaches
• Translating case law outcomes into internal risk controls and governance