ACCC service of documents, exposure draft amendment

Treasury has released an exposure draft of legislation that would change how the ACCC may serve documents on persons in Australia and overseas, published for consultation as c2026-801498 with submissions due by 30 September 2026. The ACCC can issue compulsory notices requiring the production of information, documents or evidence, and the draft amendment is intended to give the ACCC more flexibility in how such notices and other documents are served while giving recipients greater certainty about when service has been properly effected.

The consultation paper and draft legislative text set out proposed changes to the service provisions that currently govern ACCC notices, without altering the ACCC's substantive investigative powers or the obligations that attach to a validly served notice. As an exposure draft, the amendment is at the proposal stage and has not been introduced into Parliament or enacted, and its final form, together with any commencement date, will depend on the outcome of the consultation process and subsequent government decision-making.

Businesses and their advisers who deal with ACCC compulsory notices, particularly those with operations or representatives located outside Australia, are the most directly affected, since clearer or more flexible service rules could change how and when a notice is treated as validly received. The draft does not appear to alter timeframes for responding to a notice once served, but affected parties may wish to track the amendment through to its final form given its procedural effect on compliance timelines.