The watchdog will also look at how promptly a company delivers online purchases compared with claims on their websites. The ACCC this week commenced legal action against Noni B, Millers and Katies operator Mosaic Brands over claims several hundred thousand products were delivered long after the advertised timeframe, or in some instances not at all. Mosaic Brands has said it will vigorously defend the lawsuit.

“There is a concern that misleading conduct by retailers about delivery timeframes can not only impact consumers’ decisions, but it will also have an impact on those businesses that are accurately representing the true delivery timeframes,” Cass-Gottlieb said.

As part of the ACCC’s focus on cost of living pressures, it will continue to examine the aviation sector for anticompetitive behaviour or unfair business practices. Its most recent monitoring report signalled rates of cancellation and delays remain above long-term averages, with “best discount” economy airfares still above pre-pandemic levels.

The watchdog will also be targeting deceptive influencers marketing and false online reviews, price comparison websites that tend to recommend options the website has a commercial relationship with, and in-app purchases, particularly in the video gaming sector, which Cass-Gottlieb said was causing “real consumer detriment” by using “manipulative nudges” that is leading to Australians being confronted with significant bills and costing $3.4 billion a year.

Ongoing priorities include cartel conduct, product safety, the protection of vulnerable, disadvantaged and First Nations Australians, and small businesses, as well as a crackdown on businesses caught greenwashing their environmental credentials.

Scams will continue to be a core focus for the commission, which has signalled its intention to develop mandatory codes with banks, telco, digital platforms, and online marketplaces to compel them to take down any scam ads within a specific timeframe and to report on how quickly it gets taken down. The codes have not yet been drafted.

“We need to cover end-to-end how the risk comes in to the consumers and then when the money goes out … otherwise you get all these points of weakness, and the scams still come in,” Cass-Gottlieb told reporters at a briefing on Wednesday.

In instances of systemic breaches, Cass-Gottlieb warned that the regulator will be seeking penalties in the millions, which she said has acted as an effective deterrent to big businesses.

“We’re very conscious, and we see it in the way large companies engage with us, that … very notable enforcement action that we take does create the incentives for compliance and also does achieve exactly what it’s meant to achieve, which is specific deterrents and general deterrents from really poor conduct relating to consumers and relating to competition,” she said.

Separately, the ACCC has been urging the government to act on merger law reforms that would make the current voluntary reporting scheme mandatory. At present, about 350 mergers are being reported to the ACCC a year, when more than 1000 mergers are taking place.

Cass-Gottlieb confirmed the regulator would need to seek more funding from the federal government if the merger reforms move ahead and if it had to act as the interim digital ID regulator.

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