What the ACCC does

  • We provide resources to help businesses develop competition and consumer law compliance programs that can be tailored to their circumstances.
  • We review a business’s compliance program when it offers us a court-enforceable undertaking as a way of resolving a matter.

What the ACCC can't do

  • We don’t provide legal advice on compliance programs.
  • We don’t review individual compliance programs unless they are part of a court-enforceable undertaking offered to us under section 87B of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 as a way of resolving a matter.

On this page

About compliance programs

A compliance program is a business’s internal system or process designed to:

  • identify and reduce the risk of breaching the Competition and Consumer Act 2010
  • fix any breach that occurs
  • create a culture of competition and consumer law compliance within the business.

The ACCC recommends that every business implement a compliance program as part of good governance. What the compliance program should contain depends on the size, operations, and risk profile of the business.

Developing a compliance program

The ACCC has developed a range of templates that outline what we believe a good compliance program should contain. These templates have been specifically developed to be used as an annexure to a section 87B undertaking, but also provide a helpful framework to develop a compliance program outside of this context. We encourage businesses to consider them in developing their own compliance program.

The templates can be adapted to develop a compliance program that suits your business. There are 4 templates available. Templates have been scaled to suit businesses of varying sizes and risk levels.

You should also consider the specific circumstances of your business. For example, elements from the templates designed for larger businesses may be needed for businesses that are small but face high compliance risks.

For more help with a compliance program, seek legal advice.

Compliance programs as part of an undertaking or enforcement outcome

If a business’ conduct raises concerns under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, it can offer to sign a legal document, called an undertaking, in which it commits to take steps to resolve the issue. The ACCC may accept or refuse the undertaking.

Most enforcement-related undertakings will include a commitment to implement a program to help with future competition and consumer law compliance.

There can be legal penalties if a business doesn’t comply with the terms of an undertaking that the ACCC has accepted from the business as a way of resolving the matter.

All undertakings accepted under section 87B are published in a undertakings register on the ACCC website.

Where we take court proceedings against a business for a potential breach of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, the court may also order the business to implement a compliance program.

More information is available in the Section 87B of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 - Guidelines on the use of enforceable undertakings by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Download a template

Level 1 Compliance Program Template ( PDF 110.87 KB | DOCX 34.08 KB )
Designed for micro-sized or very low risk businesses

Level 2 Compliance Program Template ( PDF 177.48 KB | DOCX 42.89 KB )
Designed for small-sized or low risk businesses

Level 3 Compliance Program Template ( PDF 202.64 KB | DOCX 51.86 KB )
Designed for medium-sized or medium risk businesses

Level 4 Compliance Program Template ( PDF 205.41 KB | DOCX 56.24 KB )
Designed for large-sized or high risk businesses

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