✦ Plain-English Summary

Competition and Consumer Amendment (Australian Consumer Law—Country of Origin Representations) 2020

What it does

This law changes the rules about when products can be labelled as "Made in Australia" or claim an Australian country of origin. Previously, goods only qualified if they were wholly made or produced in Australia. Now, products can also claim Australian origin if they went through one or more manufacturing processes here—even if they weren't made from scratch in Australia.

Why it matters

This makes it easier for companies to slap an "Australian made" label on products that are only partially processed here, which could confuse shoppers trying to support local manufacturers. On the flip side, it may help Australian businesses remain competitive when they add value to imported materials or components.

Key details

• What changed: The law now lets goods claim Australian origin if they underwent prescribed manufacturing processes in Australia—the government gets to decide which processes count via regulations
• When it kicked in: October 1, 2020 (the bill passed in 2020)
• Who's affected: Any business making or selling goods in Australia, plus consumers relying on country-of-origin labels to make purchasing decisions

Official Description

Amends the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 to enable regulations to prescribe processes which will be deemed to satisfy the definition of 'substantially transformed' for the purposes of the country of origin provisions.

No formal division recorded

This bill passed by voice vote — parliament agreed without calling a formal count. A division is only recorded when a member explicitly requests one.

No votes yet.

No votes were recorded for this bill.