The Competitive Edge

Dr Andrew Leigh, Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury joins us to talk about AI, the revitalised National Competition Policy, non-competes and unfair trading practices, and competition on the field and in the economy. Plus, marathons and ultramarathons, the ParaSkyWarBroDisco merger, the 'Australia Plus' UK social media ban, and the ACCC takes Grill'd to court f...

Professor Julian Wright from the National University of Singapore joins us to talk about competition and regulation up and down the AI stack -- from the chips to the chatbots and everything in between. Is it winner-takes-all or winner-takes most? Will the digital platforms displace the new labs? And do we need more regulation or less? Plus a competition conference is compliantly considered, Ampol/...

Dr Lilla Csorgo, lay member of the High Court of New Zealand, joins us to talk about being Chief Economist in three different countries, approaches to ex ante regulation and merger control, being approximately correct vs precisely wrong, and whether fiction and economics have anything in common. Plus, the ACCC wins against Coles in its “was/now/had been” pricing cas...

ACCC Commissioner Luke Woodward delivered this year's Bannerman Competition Lecture (jointly hosted by the Business Law Section of the LCA and the ACCC), tracking the development of trade practices and competition law in Australia, the enduring influence of its first Commissioner and Chair and the challenges that lie ahead. Plus Woolworths and was/now pricing, Apple and app sto...

G+T Partner Geoff Petersen unpacks the regulatory response to the fuel shocks that are raising prices and causing shortages around the world, including security of energy supply and infrastructure, new demand from electric vehicles and data centres, and questions about fuel price gouging and domestic gas reservation.. Plus, the first quarter of the new merger regime and another round for...

Legend emeritus Peter Waters and Partner Andrew Low take us through the rise and the risks of agentic AI in commerce and beyond: how AI agents can organise our holidays and even our lives, why we might or might not want them to, and how they interface with contract, competition and consumer protection law. Plus, Australia's highest individual competition law penalty in the Qteq case...

Xmas in February: Partner Louise Klamka takes us behind the scenes of the ACCC's compliance and enforcement priorities and what we can expect in the coming year -- a wake-up call for business and advisers, changes to the law and the three-body problem of competition law, consumer protection and  ex ante  regulation. Plus Phase 2 mergers join the school of hard NOCCs, Fortnite fans emote...

Partner Liana Witt and lawyer David Holmes take us through the Australian government's plan to prohibit unfair trading practices -- with all the low-down on subscription traps and drip pricing, the tests and the penalties, and how businesses can prepare for the new rules. Plus, the ACCC's compliance and enforcement priorities for 2026-27, what's going down down down a...

Special Counsel Amelia McKellar joins us to explore merger control and microchips, industry policy and involution in the world's second-largest economy. Plus, all the news on the new and now mandatory Australian merger framework, G+T's new tool to navigate all those thresholds and forms, the proposed prohibition on unfair trading practices planned for 2027, and a whistlebl...

How to Host a Merger: In our special Antipodean summer edition, head of Competition Elizabeth Avery and co-head of Corporate Advisory and M&A, Costas Condoleon, share their experiences with Australia’s new merger regime so far, with a focus on multijurisdictional mergers, foreign investment, and global counsel. Notification thresholds, forms and fees, engaging with the competition and fo...

Partners Simon Muys and Tanya Macdonald join us to ring in Australia’s new merger clearance regime – what's settled, what's still up in the air and how our clients are navigating the new world in the third but not necessarily final instalment of our webinar series. This episode may qualify for 1 CPD point depending on your jurisdiction. Plus Skarsgårds&nb...

ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb delivers a keynote at our recent forum on the new merger framework that's just around the riverbend: why the change, how to engage with the ACCC, and what's still up in the air. Plus the Chatham chat on fees, thresholds and first-instance decision-making, an agreement on unfair trading practices, the FTC loses its case against Meta, and former chair Lina Khan's new gi...

DPSI 10 Your Seatbelts: Kate Reader, head of the ACCC's Digital Markets Branch and G+T alum, returns to unpack the landmark Digital Platform Services Inquiry, developments in Australia and overseas and greatly exaggerated rumours about the ACCC's digital team. Plus the newest conference on the competition mafia or knitting circle's calendar, the new acquisitions register hits its stride,...

The new Scams Prevention Framework will kick in next year with codes of conduct and big penalties for failing to take reasonable steps to combat scams. Competition partner Jeremy Jose and Disputes and Investigations partner Antonia Garling take us through the impact on the telecommunications, digital platform and banking sectors and what this will mean for business and consumers. Plus more tweaks...

Moving On Up: Non-compete and no-poach restrictions in employment contracts in the government's sights, and Special Counsels Amelia McKellar and Kaushalya Mataraaratchi explain how long-standing exceptions to the competition law could be put on gardening leave. Plus subscription traps and Amazon's Iliad flow, Taylor Swift and Ticketmaster, Treasury on AI and the ACL, ASIC and ANZ, a...

Kieran Pender  from the Human Rights Law Centre joins us to talk about whistleblowers -- how they're protected, how they engage with regulators, the changes that could be coming, and how businesses can encourage accountability in their own culture and processes. Plus the new merger notification waiver form; firings, re-hirings and re-firings in the US antitrust agencies; Google wins, loses or...

Partner Geoff Petersen joins us fresh from the ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference with the latest on regulating infrastructure, the energy transition, competition and innovation.   Plus the Government's Economic Reform Roundtable; a second leasehold on the ACCC's acquisitions register earns a new frequently asked question; more casualties at the US antitrust agencies; and what even is a noti...

Productivity Commissioner Stephen King joins us to talk about regulation and innovation, data and AI, the lost decade of productivity growth, and the baptist and bootlegger issue. Plus Epic wins the first round against Apple and Google, mavericks and icepeople at the ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference, the first acquisition is notified under the new merger regime, and the long haul to the High Court f...

Jennifer Fish, Economist at Charles River Associates, joins us to talk about the new merger approval process and its sharper focus on data and economic analysis, how lawyers can most effectively engage with economists, the state of hipster and hillbilly antitrust, and the representation of women in the profession. Plus the final filing fees and the near-final ACCC merger guidelines, the Final...

Partners Charles Coorey, Andrew Low and Liana Witt take us deeper into the new merger review process -- the filing fees, the forms and information requirements, and how to engage with the ACCC before and after notifying, with more wrinkles than Winnie the bulldog. Who gets to notify when there's a competitive bidding process? When can you claim confidentiality? How do the ACCC and FIRB work togeth...

Why should you start your legal career in Australia’s leading competition, consumer and market regulation practice? Recent clerks and now team members Amy van Dongen and Elena Khoury, partners Louise Klamka and Andrew Low, and some old friends who have moved on to great things join us in this special episode. Hear what they think about the people, the opportunities and the firm’s focus...

Partner Charles Coorey  and pro bono lawyer  Jessie-Grace Stephenson  read the fine print on consumer protection and product safety -- from quad bikes to button batteries and how businesses can support their vulnerable customers. Plus million-dollar (maybe) fees for complex mergers in the coming merger regime, Hungry Jack's and the existential terror of  Garfield , toxophilites...

Special Counsel Amelia McKellar joins us to talk trends and developments in antitrust, artificial intelligence and digital regulation in Asia -- what's going on in key jurisdictions and what it all means for Australia. Plus our new-look ministry and what's next for competition and regulation, a win for the ACCC in the Qteq qase and new wrinkles in the Spotless and Ventia action, steak sauce in sch...

Australia’s new, formal, mandatory and suspensory merger regime comes into effect on a voluntary basis on 1 July this year and will be mandatory from 1 January 2026. Join G+T partners Elizabeth Avery, Louise Klamka and Jeremy Jose for a webinar first livestreamed in April on the coming notification thresholds and waivers, the timelines, the new framing of the merger test, the long and the sh...

Partners Elizabeth Avery and Liana Witt report back from a very different American Bar Association Spring Meeting in Washington DC, and take us through recent upheavals in US competition and consumer law. What is the new “America First” antitrust, what does it mean for global deals, big tech and AI, and how will it impact Australia and the rest of the world? Plus digital platforms...