Australia to ban supermarket price gouging in sweeping competition reforms

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The ban forms part of a broader effort to strengthen competition and transparency in the supermarket industry.

PHOTO: REUTERS

SYDNEY – Australia will ban supermarket price gouging from July 1, 2026, under a new law the government says would protect shoppers from excessive grocery prices charged by major retailers.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Assistant Minister for Competition Andrew Leigh said the changes would make it illegal for “very large” grocery chains to charge prices deemed “excessive” relative to their cost of supply plus a reasonable margin.

“This is all about getting a fairer go for families in their weekly shop,” they said in a statement released late on Dec 13.

Penalties would be steep: as much as A$10 million (S$8.60 million) per violation, or three times the value of any benefit gained, or 10 per cent of annual turnover if that figure cannot be determined.

The ban forms part of a broader effort to strengthen competition and transparency in the supermarket industry, which has faced sustained criticism amid persistent cost-of-living pressures.

The reforms follow a long-running investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which found the grocery sector is among the most concentrated in the world, dominated by Coles Group and Woolworths Group in an effective oligopoly.

The watchdog reported in March that the major chains, along with ALDI, increased their average product margins over the previous five years, particularly on branded packaged food and household goods.

It also said that Australia’s largest supermarket groups rank