Retiring ACCC boss Rod Sims says Australia leads world in consumer protection

The outgoing boss of the ACCC says Australia should have laws making it the world’s ‘gold standard’ in consumer protection within five years.

The outgoing boss of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is very confident that within five years the nation will have laws making it the world’s “gold standard” in consumer protection.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims, who retires next month after 11 years in the job, told The Saturday Telegraph that the ­existing rules “put us ahead of most countries, probably all”.

That was because the maximum penalties for misleading and deceptive conduct were so high, up from a maximum of $1.1 million per offence when he started, to today’s cap of $10 million for each breach or 10 per cent of turnover — whichever is greater.

Rod Sims is retiring from his role as chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission after 11 years in the job. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

But Australia was only two-thirds of the way to where it needed to get to, Mr Sims said.

It was still necessary to make it unlawful to sell unsafe goods, not honour consumer rights, include unfair contract terms, or engage in unfair practices.

These changes would make it easier for the public to get justice, and save lives, Mr Sims, 71, said.

The main reason the changes had not already ­occurred was that the parliament had been consumed with responding to the Covid pandemic, he said.

“I’d be very confident that in five years’ time we will have most, if not all, of my (wish list of) changes there,” Mr Sims said. “Then we would be the gold standard.

“The only thing that I think is trickier is the unfair prac­tices provision.”

The reform was supported by farmers, small businesses and consumers, he added, but opposed by larger companies.

Mr Sims said his proudest achievements were the ­increased penalties for consumer law breaches, along with groundbreaking work identifying digital platforms’ harms.

“That has changed the debate internationally,” he said.

The ACCC also proposed some solutions to the ills caused by Big Tech’s dominance, including the news media bargaining code, which has injected $200 million a year into Australian journalism.

Mr Sims expects to be involved in other countries’ work on digital platforms. including the US, Canada, UK and Indonesia. He would work for free, he said.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg thanked Mr Sims for his dedication and leadership.

“Mr Sims has made an outstanding contribution to competition, consumer and infrastructure policy in his time at the ACCC, helping to advance world-leading reforms, including most recently with respect to the digital platforms,” Mr Frydenberg told The Saturday Telegraph.

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