Treasury Laws Amendment (Mergers and Acquisitions Reform) Act 2024 (137 of 2024)

Schedule 2   Other amendments

Part 2   Duties imposed by Competition Code

Competition and Consumer Act 2010

6   After section 150FA

Insert:

150FAA Imposing a duty under State or Territory law

(1) This section:

(a) applies only for the purposes of the application of the provisions of the Competition Code or another law of the Commonwealth (with or without modification) as a law of a participating State or participating Territory by a provision of an application law; and

(b) does not apply for those purposes if the application law otherwise provides.

(2) If the application law purports to impose a duty on a Commonwealth entity to do a particular thing, the duty is taken to be imposed by the application law to the extent to which imposing the duty:

(a) is within the legislative powers of the State or Territory; and

(b) is consistent with the constitutional doctrines restricting the duties that may be imposed on a Commonwealth entity.

(3) To avoid doubt, the application law does not impose the duty on the Commonwealth entity to the extent to which imposing the duty would:

(a) contravene any constitutional doctrine restricting the duties that may be imposed on a Commonwealth entity; or

(b) otherwise exceed the legislative powers of the State or Territory.

(4) If imposing on the Commonwealth entity the duty to do that thing would:

(a) contravene any constitutional doctrine restricting the duties that may be imposed on a Commonwealth entity; or

(b) otherwise exceed the legislative powers of both the State or Territory and the Commonwealth;

the application law is taken instead to confer on the Commonwealth entity a power to do that thing at the discretion of the Commonwealth entity.