AUSTRALIA | The ACCC will begin monitoring supermarket pricing from the 1st of July when the new excessive pricing prohibition comes into force.
The prohibition applies to very large supermarket retailers with annual revenue exceeding AUD 30 billion, which currently includes only Coles and Woolworths.
New guidelines, published today, outline how the ACCC will monitor compliance with the prohibition to assess whether Coles or Woolworths has engaged in excessive pricing.
Under the prohibition, there is no fixed threshold for what is an excessive price for a grocery product. Instead, the ACCC will monitor supermarket pricing information and consider all relevant circumstances, including the cost of supplying the product to consumers and a reasonable margin for the supermarket, to determine whether a grocery product was excessively priced.
“We know that grocery prices continue to be a key concern for households. The excessive pricing prohibition provides us with another tool within our broader toolkit to protect consumers and promote competition in the supermarket sector,” said ACCC Acting Chair Catriona Lowe.
“Our initial focus for the prohibition will be on monitoring Coles and Woolworths’ pricing information to ensure they comply with their obligations.”
The ACCC will prioritise its monitoring of a select group of products, chosen based on consumer and supplier reports, as well as information from supermarkets, including prices, margins and sales revenue.
“We will focus our attention on products where excessive pricing is likely to cause the most harm to consumers,” she added.
“We encourage consumers and suppliers to make a report to the ACCC if they have concerns that a supermarket may have excessively priced a grocery product. These reports will help us identify products that may warrant further investigation.”
Over the coming months, the ACCC will select and publish the initial focus products that it will examine more closely.
The ACCC will provide regular updates on its compliance monitoring under the prohibition to help strengthen public transparency around supermarket pricing.
“We recognise that there is significant public interest in the ACCC’s ongoing work to ensure supermarkets act in accordance with the law.”
The excessive pricing prohibition complements the existing competition and consumer laws administered by the ACCC. The ACCC will continue to use a range of tools to ensure supermarkets comply with these laws.
In deciding which compliance or enforcement tool to use, Lowe mentioned that the priority was always to achieve the best possible outcome for the community and to manage risk proportionately.
“If we observe non-compliance, then we would consider the most appropriate enforcement tool to address any misconduct.”
On the 14th of December 2025, the Australian Government announced a prohibition on supermarkets' excessive pricing. The prohibition was implemented as an amendment to the Food and Grocery Code.
The prohibition introduces a new purpose to the Food and Grocery Code: to promote workably competitive outcomes in grocery product markets and to protect consumers' welfare by prohibiting excessive pricing for grocery products by very large retailers.
The ACCC is responsible for enforcing compliance with the Food and Grocery Code, including the excessive pricing prohibition.
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