It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Trade Practices Commission (TPC) and the Prices

Surveillance Authorityy to administer the Trade Practice Act 1974 (TPA).

is an independent authority of the Australia government.

Its mandate is to protect consumer rights, business rights and obligations, perform industry regulation and price monitoring and prevent illegal anticompetitive behaviour.

Australian competition and consumer commission (ACCC)

1. ROLES
The ACCC administers the Trade Practices Act, and has standing to take action in the Federal Court of Australia to enforce its provision. The Trade Practices Act contains a broad range of provisions, such us:
1. provisions on [price fixing] cartels 2. misuse of market power 3. misleading misleading or deceptive conduct 4. also reviews mergers

The ACCC, under the Act,

The ACCC also has an educative role and seeks to educate both consumers and businesses as to their rights and responsibilities under the act.

also regulates certain industries by providing access to national infrastructure.

2. Restrictive trade practices

In most cases the spirit of the act, and thus the actions of the ACCC, favours neither consumer nor supplier, but strives to achieve a competitive market without artificial restrictions. For example, refusal of supply a producer refusing to supply a potential retailer or customer with a product is not itself illegal unless the action would have an anti-competitive effect on the market as a whole.

3. Penalties
The ACCC is committed in bringing court actions against companies that breach the Trade Practices Act. Penalties for non-compliance of the TPA (Trade Practices Act ) can be quite severe. Companies that do not comply with the restrictive trade practices provisions of the Trade Practices Act may be fined by the Federal Court. There are three ways the maximum fine can be calculated : The maximum possible fine is the larger of A$10,000,000 Or three times the value of the illegal benefit Or (if the value of the benefit cannot be ascertained) 10% of turnover for the preceding 12 months. Individuals may be fined up to $500,000

Companies that do not comply with the consumer protection provisions of the Trade Practices Act may be fined by the Federal Court, up to $1.1 M for companies and $220,000 for individuals.

3. Product safety and recalls

The ACCC maintains a website listing all Australian product recalls and the following organisations are commissioned to assist with thesurveillance and monitoring of product safety in relevant areas.

Food products Food Standards Australia New Zealand Motor vehicles Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government (Australia) Therapeutic goods Therapeutic Goods Administration Agricultural and veterinary products Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority Electrical goods Australian Electrical Equipment Safety Regulators Gas and appliance Gas Technical Regulators Committee Australia New Zealand The ACCC, in conjunction with state and territory offices of fair trading, is responsible for developing and enforcing mandatory consumer product safety standards except where the product falls into the jurisdiction of one of the specialist regulators mentioned above.

4. Chairpersons
1.

Allan Fels 1 July 1995 30 June 2003

2.

Graeme Samuel 1 July 2003 31 July 2011

3.

Rod Sims 1 August 2011

Australian Taxation Office

is an Australian Government statutory agency and the principal revenue collection body for the Australian Government.

The ATO has responsibility for :

1. administering the Australian federal taxation system and superannuation legislation. 2. ATO collects income tax, Goods & Services Tax (GST) and other federal taxes for the government. 3. ATO also has responsibility for managing the Australian Business Register, delivering the Higher Education Loan Programme, delivering many Australian Government payments and administering key components of Australia's superannuation system.

1. Organisational structure
The Commissioner of Taxation is responsible for the general administration of the tax system and the ATO. The Commissioner of Taxation and three Second Commissioners of Taxation are each appointed for a term of seven years. The Commissioner and Second Commissioners are eligible for re-appointment after each term. The current Commissioner is Michael D'Ascenzo (appointed in January 2006), the previous Commissioner was Michael Carmody The ATO's operations are managed through sub-plans which are used to allocate resources. The sub-plans are: 1. Compliance 2. Corporate Services & Law 3. Enterprise Solutions and Technology 4. Operations Sub-plans are further divided into Business and Service Lines (BSLs) which are responsible for the delivery of sub-plan priorities. Individual BSLs may focus on a particular market segment and revenue product.

2. Performance
The Commissioner of Taxation is required to prepare and release an Annual Report each financial year. The Annual Report outlines the ATO's performance and achievements for each financial year.
Some of the highlights outlined in the 2008-09 Annual Report include: 1. Net cash collections were $264.5 billion. (1.2% above the 2009 Budget forecast for 2008 09); 2. About $41.2 billion collected in GST for state and territory governments; 3. Some 86% of individuals and 90% of businesses agree that the ATO is doing a good job, and 86% of tax agents feel that ATO systems and processes are being improved to make it easy for them to deal with Australias tax system.

4. Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre

1. Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) is an Australian government agency, established in 1989 under the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988 and continued in existence under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act).

2. Operation
"Reporting entities" (a wide range of businesses and institutions - specified in the AML/CTF Act - which deal in cash, bullion and financial transactions) must report transactions to AUSTRAC; such entities include : 1. Banks and similar financial institutions such as building societies. 2. Corporations. 3. Insurance companies and intermediaries. 4. Securities dealers, such as stock brokers. 5. And still many other

3. Identification
Reporting entities must identify their customers. Accounts may only be operated by an identified customer, an unidentified customer is blocked. Generally identification can be transferred from one account to another, so that for instance a person once identified does not need to produce documents again when opening a second account at the same institution. For banks and similar, identification requirements are determined by a risk-based approach, which may differ for each reporting entity. It's an offence to open or operate an account with a reporting entity under a false name, punishable by a fine or up to 2 years imprisonment.

Australian Securities Exchange

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia.

On 1 August 2010, ASX launched a new brand and group structure. ASX Group became the overarching name, replacing Australian Securities Exchange, which remains as the name of the listings and trading arm of the ASX Group.

ASX functions as a market operator, clearing house and payments system facilitator. It oversees compliance with its operating rules, promotes standards of corporate governance among Australias listed companies.

It has a role in the education of retail investors, providing educational materials relating to its products including free online courses.
ASX offers products and services including shares; futures, exchange traded options, warrants, contracts for difference, exchange traded funds, real estate investment trusts, listed investment companies and interest rate securities.

1. Market details
ASX Group can be described as a multi-asset class and vertically integrated exchange group.

Its activities include primary and secondary market services, including the raising, allocation and hedging of capital flows, trading and price discovery (Australian Securities Exchange); central counterparty risk transfer (via subsidiaries of ASX Clearing Corporation); and securities settlement for both the equities and fixed income markets (via subsidiaries of ASX Settlement Corporation).

ASX operates two trading : clearing and settlement platforms

2. Settlement