Section 2D of the Trade Practices Act 1974

Public inquiry

This public inquiry has concluded. The inquiry report was released by the Australian Government on 12 December 2002.

The Assistant Treasurer asked the Productivity Commission to undertake a review of Section 2D of the Trade Practices Act 1974 which exempts the licensing decisions and internal transactions of local government bodies from Part IV of the Act. Part IV regulates restrictive trade practices. In undertaking the review, the Commission was to report on the appropriate arrangements for regulation, if any, taking into account the following:

the objectives of the exemption and the nature and magnitude of the problems that it seeks to address
the extent to which the exemption restricts competition
the benefits, costs and overall effects of the exemption, including impacts on specific industry sectors and communities
any alternatives to the exemption, including non-legislative approaches.