2025-26 Federal Budget: Boosting Australian-made products and cracking down on supermarket pricing practices
4 mins reading time
On Tuesday 25 March 2025, Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivered the 2025–26 Australian Federal Budget (Budget). The Budget has unveiled significant measures aimed at strengthening the Australian economy and supporting consumers.
Key measures include significant investments to promote Australian-made products and ensure fair pricing practices in supermarkets. These efforts highlight the government’s commitment to fostering local businesses and protecting consumer rights, setting the stage for a more resilient and equitable marketplace.
Encouraging Australian-made products
The Budget provides $20 million to support Australian producers through the ‘Buy Australian Campaign’, which is designed to encourage consumers to buy Australian-made goods and effectively revitalise and inspire a more dynamic and productive economy.
Australian-made products often carry positive connotations for consumers, benefiting local businesses through increased demand, pricing, and profitability. For businesses participating in the ‘Buy Australian Campaign,’ this Budget provision will enable more marketing efforts, hopefully boosting consumer enthusiasm to purchase these products.
If you are an Australian business that is not involved as of yet, now is your time to consider joining!
Supermarket crack-down
$38.8 million has been allocated to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to enhance its investigation and enforcement activity for illegal practices in the supermarket sector, especially regarding price increases and misleading and deceptive conduct.
In response to longstanding supplier and consumer sentiment, one of the ACCC’s principal priorities for 2025-26 is to strengthen supermarket surveillance on fair pricing. So, this allocation of additional funding from the Budget is not a surprise.
After recently finding that Australia’s major supermarkets rank among the most profitable globally, the ACCC has published 20 recommendations for reform in the supermarket sector, including:
- Clearer and more transparent pricing practices
- Regular review of loyalty program practices
- Greater transparency and security for produce suppliers, and
- Reforms to planning and zoning laws.
The ACCC considers that, by imposing stricter regulations on supermarkets compared to other businesses, competition in the sector is expected to improve, ultimately relieving consumers from higher price tags.
To this end, the utilisation of the Budget for this purpose gives credence to the ACCC’s positioning and will strengthen the ACCC’s powers to try to alleviate the consumer cost of living crisis.
Contact our trade lawyers about how the Federal Budget will affect you
If you would like to have a confidential chat about the Federal Budget and what the Government’s investment will mean for you or your business, please reach out to our experienced Trade lawyers.
The information contained in this article is general in nature and cannot be relied on as legal advice nor does it create an engagement. Please contact one of our lawyers listed above for advice about your specific situation.
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2025-26 Federal Budget: Boosting Australian-made products and cracking down on supermarket pricing practices
On Tuesday 25 March 2025, Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivered the 2025–26 Australian Federal Budget (Budget). The Budget has unveiled significant measures aimed at strengthening the Australian economy and supporting consumers.
Key measures include significant investments to promote Australian-made products and ensure fair pricing practices in supermarkets. These efforts highlight the government’s commitment to fostering local businesses and protecting consumer rights, setting the stage for a more resilient and equitable marketplace.
Encouraging Australian-made products
The Budget provides $20 million to support Australian producers through the ‘Buy Australian Campaign’, which is designed to encourage consumers to buy Australian-made goods and effectively revitalise and inspire a more dynamic and productive economy.
Australian-made products often carry positive connotations for consumers, benefiting local businesses through increased demand, pricing, and profitability. For businesses participating in the ‘Buy Australian Campaign,’ this Budget provision will enable more marketing efforts, hopefully boosting consumer enthusiasm to purchase these products.
If you are an Australian business that is not involved as of yet, now is your time to consider joining!
Supermarket crack-down
$38.8 million has been allocated to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to enhance its investigation and enforcement activity for illegal practices in the supermarket sector, especially regarding price increases and misleading and deceptive conduct.
In response to longstanding supplier and consumer sentiment, one of the ACCC’s principal priorities for 2025-26 is to strengthen supermarket surveillance on fair pricing. So, this allocation of additional funding from the Budget is not a surprise.
After recently finding that Australia’s major supermarkets rank among the most profitable globally, the ACCC has published 20 recommendations for reform in the supermarket sector, including:
- Clearer and more transparent pricing practices
- Regular review of loyalty program practices
- Greater transparency and security for produce suppliers, and
- Reforms to planning and zoning laws.
The ACCC considers that, by imposing stricter regulations on supermarkets compared to other businesses, competition in the sector is expected to improve, ultimately relieving consumers from higher price tags.
To this end, the utilisation of the Budget for this purpose gives credence to the ACCC’s positioning and will strengthen the ACCC’s powers to try to alleviate the consumer cost of living crisis.
Contact our trade lawyers about how the Federal Budget will affect you
If you would like to have a confidential chat about the Federal Budget and what the Government’s investment will mean for you or your business, please reach out to our experienced Trade lawyers.