Australia’s competition watchdog has called for urgent regulatory reforms to address the growing harms caused by dominant digital platforms, concluding its five-year investigation into the sector with a warning that existing laws are insufficient to protect consumers and support fair competition.
In its tenth and final report from the Digital Platform Services Inquiry, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says that while digital platforms have delivered productivity gains and convenience, they have also fostered unfair practices and anti-competitive conduct that current legislation cannot effectively regulate.
“Digital platform services are critically important to Australian consumers and businesses,” ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said. “While these services have brought many benefits, they have also created harms that our current competition and consumer laws cannot adequately address.”
ACCC Calls for a New Digital Competition Regime
The ACCC is urging the government to move ahead with a dedicated digital competition regime. The proposed framework would include mandatory codes of conduct for major platforms, a prohibition on unfair trading practices, and a new external dispute resolution body for digital platform users.
These measures, the report argues, are essential to curbing tactics such as self-preferencing, tying, manipulative user interface designs, and exclusionary agreements, all of which have been documented over the course of the inquiry.
“There is broad international recognition that anti-competitive conduct in digital markets needs to be addressed,” Cass-Gottlieb noted, pointing to similar reforms already underway in the EU, UK, Germany, and Japan. “It is timely to progress a new digital competition regime in Australia.”
Widespread Harms Documented
The final report found that 72% of consumers surveyed had encountered potentially unfair online trading practices, such as accidental subscriptions, hidden fees, or confusing purchase flows designed to steer them toward higher-cost options.
In addition, 82% of survey respondents supported the creation of an independent dispute resolution body. This would serve as a recourse for consumers and small businesses affected by decisions of major platforms—such as fake reviews, account suspensions, or unjustified delistings.
“An external dispute resolution body would give small businesses the ability to escalate complaints that would otherwise be ignored or deprioritised by dominant platforms,” Cass-Gottlieb said.
Cloud Computing and AI Also in the Spotlight
The ACCC warns that emerging technologies—such as cloud computing and generative AI—are likely to intensify existing risks to competition. It highlighted concerns that major cloud providers Amazon, Microsoft and Google, which dominate Australia’s cloud infrastructure, may leverage their vertical integration to disadvantage rivals.
“These firms may anti-competitively bundle their own services across different layers of the cloud stack,” the report said. It also raised alarms about self-preferencing in generative AI markets, where access to cloud infrastructure is essential for training and deploying large models.
“Harms to competition in the generative AI sector could hamper innovation, result in lower quality products and services, and force Australian businesses and consumers to pay more,” said Cass-Gottlieb.
Government Consultation Underway
The Australian Government has previously endorsed the ACCC’s findings and in December 2024 launched consultations on implementing a new regulatory regime. While progress has been made, the final report underscores the urgency of legislative action in a rapidly evolving digital economy.
“This is about ensuring a fairer, more competitive digital landscape for all Australians,” Cass-Gottlieb concluded. “The time to act is now.”
Background:
The ACCC’s Digital Platform Services Inquiry was launched in 2020 at the direction of the Treasurer. It examined a wide array of services, including search engines, online marketplaces, social media, data firms, and app stores, across ten detailed reports. This final publication closes the inquiry but recommends ongoing regulatory oversight and flexibility to respond to future market developments.
