Agency and Competition Law in Australia Following ACCC v Flight Centre Travel Group

Abstract

On 14 December 2016, the High Court of Australia delivered its judgement in Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Flight Centre Travel Group Limited (‘Flight Centre’).1 By a 4-1 majority, the High Court found that a travel agent, Flight Centre, had attempted to engage in price-fixing with three international airlines in relation to ticket prices for international air travel. ... This article outlines the ACCC's case against Flight Centre, the outcome of these proceedings, and how Australian law on this issue now compares with the European Union and the USA. For European practitioners, this case shows that other jurisdictions still approach the relationship between agency and competition law differently to the EU. While the law in Australia is now aligned more closely to the EU, the European Commission's Guidelines on Vertical Restraints suggest that the Commission is still more willing to find that an agent and principal compete with each other than courts in the USA and Australia.