New legislation responds to recent conflict in the Middle East
Australia’s government has announced the passage of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026, which doubles penalties for false or misleading conduct and cartel behaviour across the economy to up to $100m for each offence.
“We’re not immune from uncertainty and volatility in the global economy,” said Dr Jim Chalmers, Australia’s treasurer, in a media release.
He explained that the recent conflict in the Middle East has made the world economy more uncertain and made oil and petrol pricing volatile.
Chalmers shared that the new legislation will raise penalties for petrol price misconduct in the fuel sector, including servos and suppliers ripping off Australian motorists. He added that the bill seeks to ensure fairness, protect consumers, and hold petrol suppliers and retailers accountable.
“The conflict overseas shouldn’t be an excuse to profit off Australians,” he said in the media release. “We’re putting petrol companies on notice. We won’t cop big corporates treating Australian consumers like mugs.”
In a prior media release on 25 March 2026, Chalmers announced that the federal government had introduced the new legislation. He urged the Liberals and Nationals to vote for the bill to increase penalties for petrol companies doing “the wrong thing by Australians.”
According to the treasurer, Australia’s government had previously made efforts to:
Chalmers listed other measures to help improve fuel affordability and security. Specifically, the federal government has worked to:
He noted that the Australian government’s priorities in this year’s budget aim to tackle inflation, productivity issues, and global uncertainty, including through its efforts to ensure fairer petrol prices and stronger supply chains.
