The Albanese Labor Government has made new regulations to ban supermarket price gouging.
We're cracking down on supermarket price gouging to help Australians get a better deal at the checkout.
This is all about getting a fairer go for families in their weekly shop.
The ban will prohibit very large retailers from charging prices that are excessive when compared to the cost of the supply plus a reasonable margin.
The new ban on excessive pricing of groceries for consumers in the Food and Grocery Code is now law and will come into effect on 1 July 2026.
This will fix a key gap in Australia's competition and consumer protection framework and provide a safeguard for consumers.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) found in its Supermarkets inquiry that Coles and Woolworths have limited incentive to compete vigorously with each other on price and that their dominance of the sector seems set to continue.
If Coles and Woolworths breach these new price gouging laws, the maximum penalty per contravention is the greater of: $10 million; three times the value of the benefit derived, or, if that value cannot be determined; 10 per cent of the company's turnover during the preceding 12 months.
The ACCC will be responsible for policing the excessive pricing regime.
This is just one of a number of steps we're taking to boost competition and fairness in the supermarket sector.
Other steps include:
- Making the Food and Grocery Code mandatory from 1 April 2025
- Increasing the ACCC's funding by over $30 million to address harmful or misleading conduct in the supermarket and retail sectors
- Consulting on options to strengthen the Unit Pricing Code, including to tackle shrinkflation
- Implementing the ACCC's recommendations to improve transparency about prices, price trends, promotions and loyalty programs in the sector
- Funding CHOICE to give shoppers more information on supermarket prices
- Investing $50 million to provide access to low‑cost essential products and governance support for remote stores to improve food security in remote First Nations Communities
- Ensuring the ACCC is notified of supermarket sector acquisitions by Coles and Woolworths and can scrutinise land acquisitions under reforms to merger laws
- Making it easier for supermarkets to enter the market and expand with incentives for the states to cut commercial planning and zoning red tape under the revitalised National Competition Policy, backed by our $900 million National Productivity Fund
These changes give the regulator the powers and the penalties it needs to hold supermarkets to account.
Whether it's boosting funding for the regulator, banning price gouging or making the food and grocery code mandatory, we're doing everything we can to ease pressure on Australians.
One of the best ways to ease the cost of living for Australians is to help people get fairer prices at the checkout and that's what this is all about.
