Today the Federal Court has fined Qteq Pty Ltd and its executive chairman, Simon Ashton, $5 million and $1 million respectively for attempted cartel conduct, in a case brought by the ACCC.
The penalty awarded against Mr Ashton is the highest penalty awarded for a competition law breach by an individual in Australia.
In April 2025, the Federal Court found that, on five occasions between 2017 and 2019, Mr Ashton and Qteq attempted to induce suppliers in the oil and gas services industry to enter into contracts, arrangements, or understandings containing one or more cartel provisions.
"These attempted cartel contracts, arrangements or understandings included provisions not to supply services to large oil and gas companies, to rig a multi-million-dollar tender, and to market share," ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.
"Cartels represent a significant threat to competition in the Australian economy, especially in such an important and sizeable industry, and enforcing cartel laws remains an enduring priority for the ACCC."
"Each of Qteq's attempts to secure these illegal arrangements was unsuccessful only because the other parties rejected Qteq's offers," Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.
"As this case demonstrates, if you try to make cartel agreements with competitors, you will be met with strong enforcement action by the ACCC - even if your attempts do not succeed."
"We invite other businesses who have information about potential cartel conduct or attempted cartel conduct to contact the ACCC anonymously, so we can investigate their concerns," Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.
In addition to ordering Mr Ashton to pay a penalty of $1 million, the Court also imposed a non-indemnification order which will prevent Mr Ashton from making any insurance claim relating to the pecuniary penalty.
In imposing the non-indemnification order on Mr Ashton, Justice Bromwich said: "The penalties imposed on Mr Ashton would have no real deterrent effect if he did not have to pay them himself."
"The objective of deterrence is especially important in relation to Mr Ashton given that he was, on the available evidence, the driving force for most of the conduct by Qteq, and stood to benefit from that conduct," Justice Bromwich said.
"Individuals involved in cartel conduct face serious consequences, which can include imprisonment and substantial fines or penalties," Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.
"We are focused to ensure that senior executives are also held accountable for the conduct of a business, especially for serious misconduct or where there appears to be a poor compliance culture, and welcome the orders made by the Court in this matter."
Background
Qteq is a Queensland-based company which at the relevant time provided mining equipment and technology services to support the upstream oil and gas industry.
Qteq's primary business was the sale, installation, and servicing of downhole pressure gauges to coal seam gas producers, which is known as 'gauge works'. At the relevant time, Qteq was the market leader in providing gauge work services.
Gauge works are a form of monitoring and measurement where a downhole gauge system is inserted into a well to monitor the water level so that the rate at which water is pumped out of the coal seam can be controlled.
The ACCC filed civil cartel proceedings against Qteq and Mr Ashton in December 2022.
In April 2025, the Federal Court found Qteq and Mr Ashton attempted to induce cartel arrangements on three occasions with competitor Pro-Test Pty Ltd and twice with Easternwell Service No 2, a procurement entity for Eastern Well Group Operations, which provides rig and drilling services to oil and gas operators.
The ACCC has a number of other cartel cases before the courts. These cases involve civil cartel proceedings against four mobile crane hire companies and four senior executives, action against four companies supplying fresh vegetables to ALDI and three of their executives, as well as proceedings against two companies and four senior executives over alleged price fixing for maintenance services at Defence bases. In August 2025 the Full Federal Court upheld a record penalty of $57.5 million in the ACCC's cartel case against BlueScope.
Note
A cartel exists when businesses agree to act together instead of competing with each other. Cartel conduct can include price fixing, sharing markets, rigging bids and controlling the output or limiting the amount of goods and services.
Anyone who thinks they may be involved in alleged cartel conduct is urged to call the ACCC Cartel Immunity Hotline on (02) 9230 3894. More information about the immunity process is available on the ACCC website at Cartels. They can also report alleged cartel conduct by using the anonymous cartel portal.
The ACCC investigates cartel conduct and can take civil cartel proceedings in the Federal Court or refer serious cartel conduct to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
For corporations, the maximum penalty for a civil or criminal cartel breach (including an attempt) before 9 November 2022 is the greater of:
- $10 million,
- three times the total benefits that have been obtained and are reasonably attributable to the commission of the breach, or
- if the total value of the benefits cannot be determined,10 per cent of the corporation's annual turnover connected with Australia.
An individual found to have been involved in civil cartel conduct before 9 November 2022 is subject to a maximum penalty of $500,000 for each act or omission.
The maximum penalties for cartel conduct by corporations and individuals were substantially increased with effect from 9 November 2022.
