Merger update about refinements to notification requirements

On 18 December 2025, a legislative instrument amending the Competition and Consumer (Notification of Acquisitions) Determination 2025 was registered. These amendments were announced by Assistant Minister Leigh on 15 October and support the new merger control regime by:

• Exempting leases and other land interest acquisitions in ordinary business operations, unless subject to targeted notification requirements
• Clarifying and expanding existing financial market exemptions
• Simplifying the approach to monetary thresholds for asset acquisitions
• Streamlining notification requirements around serial acquisitions
• Setting out details of the notification waiver process and application form
• Determining certain classes of acquisitions that may not result in control or where the person already has control, which are still required to be notified based on voting power

Implementation Timeline

The mandatory merger control regime commences on 1 January 2026. Certain threshold components begin on 1 April 2026 to allow businesses preparation time, specifically:

• New thresholds for acquisitions of assets not representing all or substantially all assets of a business
• New thresholds based on voting power

The ACCC website contains a summary of "thresholds for notifying acquisitions."

Contact Information

For merger reform questions, email MergerReformInfo@accc.gov.au.