Crimi
alisi
gCartelsASlowCo
versio
Caro
Beato
Wells
Paperpreparedforthe5thA
ualUNISATradePracticesWorkshop1921October2007
AbouttheAuthor
DrCaro
Beato
WellsisDirectorofStudiesforcompetitio
lawattheMelbour
eLawSchoolU
iversityofMelbour
ewheresheteachesa
dresearchesi
theareaofcompetitio
lawSheiswellpublishedo
competitio
lawissuesi
cludi
gProofofA
titrustMarketsFederatio
Press2003From2008DrBeato
Wellswilloverseeasig
ifica
tlyexpa
dedcompetitio
lawgraduateprogramattheMelbour
eLawSchoolofferi
gawidera
geofsubjectstaughtbyleadi
glawyersa
deco
omistsaswellastheopportu
itytoobtai
aspecialistqualificatio
i
competitio
lawafirsti
AustraliaShehasbee
amemberoftheVictoria
Barsi
ce1997a
disamemberoftheTradePracticesCommitteeBusi
essLawSectio
oftheLawCou
cilofAustralia
Abstract
Co
siste
twithaglobalmoveme
ttowardstoughersa
ctio
sforbusi
esscartelactivitytheAustralia
gover
me
ti
te
dstoi
troducelegislatio
thatwillmakesuchactivityacrimi
aloffe
cewithcorrespo
di
gpe
altiesi
cludi
gimpriso
me
tattachedThisreprese
tsasig
ifica
tcha
gei
thewayi
whichcartelco
ductisvieweda
dregulatedi
thiscou
tryThispaperexami
estheexte
ttowhichcrimi
alisatio
hasthesupportofeachofthekeystakeholdersi
volvedi
oraffectedbycartelregulatio
i
AustraliaItco
cludesthatoverallthereisalowlevelofsupporti
Australiafortreati
gseriouscartelco
ductasacrimeThefi
di
gsreportedi
thepaperprovidei
sighti
totheimpetusfora
dprocessofthecrimi
alisatio
i
itiativeTheyalsohaveimporta
tpracticalco
seque
cesforthelikelyeffective
essofthe
ewregimei
ultimatelycha
gi
gbusi
essbehavioursoastoreducesubsta
tiallythei
cide
ceofcartelactivityi
thiscou
try
fii
Executivesummary
Thispaperexami
esthebreadtha
ddepthofsupporti
Australiaforthecrimi
alisatio
ofseriouscartelco
ductItfi
dthatoverallsupportislowa
dco
cludesthatthishaspote
tiallysig
ifica
timplicatio
sfortheeffective
essoftheproposedcrimi
alregimei
deterri
ga
dpu
ishi
gcartelactivityi
thiscou
tryI
flue
cedheavilybyi
ter
atio
aldevelopme
tsledbytheU
itedStatesthecampaig
forcrimi
alisatio
hasbee
drive
bytheACCCHowevertheevide
cesetouti
thepaperderivedasfaraspossiblefromprimaryorempiricalsourcessuggeststhattheregulatorisyettoco
vertkeystakeholdersa
daudie
cestotheideathatcrimi
alsa
ctio
sforcartelco
ductareboth
ecessarya
ddesirableGover
me
tsupportforthe
ewregimewillbecriticaltoitssuccessHowevertherearerealquestio
ssurrou
di
gthelevelofthegover
me
t’scommitme
ttocrimi
alisatio
Todatethegover
me
t’sapproachhasbee
markedbydelaya
dobfuscatio
Therehasbee
afailuretoco
sultAsper