Sustainability collaboration is essential in creating the systemic change required to deliver effective sustainability outcomes.

The UN Global Compact Network Australia thanks the ACCC for creating the draft guide “Sustainability collaborations and Australian competition law”, and for providing the opportunity to comment.

This submission is written in light of the United Nations Global Compact’s Ten Principles and the Sustainable Development Goals at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by Australia in 2015.

This submission does not necessarily reflect the views of all UNGCNA participants.

A summary of the main points of our submission:

• that the Draft Guide adopt a more positive and expansive framing of the ACCC’s role in supporting Australia’s international commitments to the sustainable development agenda
• that the ACCC update the text, case studies and examples in the Draft Guide, to apply the relevant principles to other widely recognised areas of sustainability, preferably adopting the Sustainable Development Goals as the relevant definition of “sustainability.”
• that the Draft Guide be amended to provide more clarity and examples for market participants about forms of conduct that are unlikely to breach competition law – without needing to seek expert legal advice or navigate a complex exemption process.
• that Draft Guide place less emphasis on the authorisation process and provides more focus on supporting businesses to identify types of conduct that are unlikely to breach Australian competition law.
• that the ACCC facilitate informal dialogue with parties about proposed sustainability collaborations that potentially fall within the ambit of the competition law.
• that advisory opinion and clearance mechanisms be considered for the Australian context to provide more streamlined guidance for businesses on the legality of proposed sustainability agreements.
• that the ACCC updates the Draft Guide to enhance awareness of the class exemption process and how it might be used by small businesses in the context of sustainability collaborations.
• that the Draft Guide be updated to focus more clearly on types of conduct that are: likely; possible; and unlikely to breach competition laws.
• that the ACCC develop template meeting protocols for use by parties to promote compliance with the Competition and Consumer Act in the context of a potential sustainability collaboration.

Read the full submission.

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