SenateDivision 4 · 14 May 2026

Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 2026 - Limitation of Debate - Pass the bill

Passed34 aye · 27 no

What this vote was about

The majority voted in favour of a motion to agree with the remaining stages of the bill so it can now pass. In other words, they voted to read it for a third time. This means the bill will now be sent to the House of Representatives for their consideration.

What does this bill do?

According to the bills digest, which is a document prepared by the parliamentary library:

The Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 2026 would amend the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (the CCA) to introduce a new power for the Minister to make exceptional circumstances declarations, and to allow the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to grant an authorisation or declare a class exemption in relation to conduct that might otherwise breach competition law, when this would assist in responding to the exceptional circumstances. The Bill would also increase the maximum penalties that could apply for breaches of the Oil Code of Conduct for the petroleum marketing industry.

The ACCC currently has powers to authorise specified conduct on application, or classes of conduct generally, that might otherwise breach some competition laws, where it is in the public interest to do so. This power includes authorising conduct in response to a declared national emergency under the National Emergency Declaration Act 2020 (NEDA).

the amendments would provide an additional basis for the ACCC to authorise conduct in circumstances which may not meet the NEDA’s national emergency criteria.

Ministerial declarations would be open to disallowance by the Parliament. As a result of a Senate amendment introduced by the Greens, class exemptions would also be subject to disallowance.

Ministerial declarations, and ACCC authorisations and class exemptions may commence retrospectively, but no earlier than 1 April 2026.

The Oil Code of Conduct does not currently contain any civil penalties. The Bill would amend the CCA to increase the maximum penalties that could be applied to breaches of the Oil Code of Conduct, to reflect the higher penalties available for contraventions of the industry codes for franchising and food and grocery industries.

Context written by They Vote For You volunteers (ODbL), reproduced unchanged.

Related bills

Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 2026

By party

Party	Aye	No
Australian Labor Party	23	0
Liberal–National Coalition	0	22
Australian Greens	11	0
Pauline Hanson's One Nation	0	3
Independent	0	1
United Australia Party	0	1

Every vote

AYE (34)

NO (27)

Other divisions this sitting day

What the Senate divided on around this vote, in order.

14 May 2026Business — Consideration of LegislationSenate 31–25
14 May 2026Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 2026 - Second Reading - Refer to CommitteeSenate 27–34
14 May 2026Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 2026 - Limitation of Debate - Sunset + Retrospective applicationSenate 27–34
14 May 2026Committees — Selection of Bills Committee; ReportSenate 15–26
14 May 2026Committees — Selection of Bills Committee; ReportSenate 34–26
14 May 2026Committees — Directions to CommitteesSenate 7–35
14 May 2026Committees — Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation CommitteeSenate 7–36
14 May 2026Budget — Consideration by Estimates CommitteesSenate 26–32
14 May 2026Committees — Economics References Committee; ReferenceSenate 22–31
14 May 2026Committees — Economics References Committee; ReferenceSenate 23–30