The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is implementing a cultural overhaul aimed at accelerating the approval of corporate mergers, as the Albanese government’s mandatory merger notification regime takes effect.
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb told reporters that staff are being trained to prioritise timelines and expedite transactions that do not raise significant competition concerns.
She has set a personal key performance indicator of clearing 80% of merger applications within 20 business days.
"It's an absolute change in the process and in the cultural approach of our people," Cass-Gottlieb said, adding that the shift balances preventing anticompetitive deals while allowing the vast majority of transactions to proceed promptly.
The new rules, the most significant overhaul in 50 years, replace the voluntary notification system with mandatory clearance for mergers meeting defined monetary thresholds, aiming to curb excessive industry concentration and protect competition.