Competition Policy

Summary

Commonwealth, state and territory governments agreed to refreshed National Competition Policy (NCP) Principles. These principles will shape a 10-year reform program.

The principles update and build on the 1995 National Competition Policy agreement. The agreement lifted Australia’s gross domestic product by 2.5 per cent (about $20 billion in 2003-04 dollars).

The Government is putting the NCP Principles into effect, through the passage of the Competition Legislation Amendment Bill 2026, introduction of Competition Impact Assessment Guidelines and refreshing its approach to competitive neutrality.

Together, these reforms support the consistent consideration of competition impacts and competitive neutrality principles across government decision-making, helping to promote competition, improve productivity, and deliver better outcomes for the Canberra community.

We also agreed to implement a range of NCP reforms. These reforms promote competition and remove barriers in planning and zoning processes and the building and construction sector. Our approach to implementing those reforms is set out in the ACT’s Jurisdiction Specific Reform Plan [PDF 171 KB].

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Competition Impact Assessment Guidelines

This guide helps ACT public servants understand when and how they should prepare a Competition Impact Assessment. It is for ACT public servants developing policies, laws, regulations or programs that may have a material impact on competition. The guide explains what to assess and provides a framework to capture which option achieves the best outcomes for the community.

Competitive Neutrality Policy

The policy explains how the Government seeks to ensure fair competition between government and private businesses, outlines what is expected when government activities compete in a market, and describes how members of the public can raise concerns if they believe the policy has not been followed.