Supply disruption, pricing risk and the ACCC spotlight: 2026 watchouts for consumer goods businesses

Against that backdrop, what are the key competition and consumer law watchouts that in-house counsel of consumer goods businesses need to keep front of mind right now?

1. Crisis pricing can be lawful, but messaging high-risk

Price increases driven by input cost spikes (such as fuel, commodities, packaging) and logistics disruption are generally lawful where permitted by supply terms. The risk lies in how those increases are explained.

Claims about why prices are increasing must be carefully substantiated.

The ACCC is actively monitoring misleading pricing practices that undermine consumer trust. Key pitfalls include:

• overstating cost pass-through (eg. increases not yet incurred)
• vague “global disruption” claims without evidence
• masking margin expansion as cost recovery.

To manage compliance risks, ensure increases linked to current events are supported by documented, auditable costing data, and that internal decision-making aligns with external communications. Treasury has said “conflict overseas shouldn’t be an excuse to profit off Australians” so this is fair warning to businesses operating in Australia to keep themselves in check.

Getting this wrong already brings very high financial and reputational risk for businesses, but if Treasury’s penalty increase proposal gets up, there will be $100 million reasons to get this right.[1]

2. Green, premium and other product claims require continued attention

The ACCC is continuing its focus on environmental and sustainability claims in 2026, but all product claims for everyday items need close scrutiny.

You should continue to:

• test whether claims are truthful, accurate and substantiated
• interrogate underlying data
• challenge potential overreach by marketing teams.

All sorts of big consumer brands have been in the ACCC’s sights over the last couple of years. In February 2026, Mobil was fined $16 million for branding and signage that overstated the benefits of the fuel that was being sold.[2]

For in-house counsel, the takeaway is unchanged: if it can’t be substantiated, it shouldn’t be said.

3. Stress-test your conduct for unconscionability

The ACCC is paying close attention to rapid price escalation, regional supply disparities and perceived opportunism in the context of the supply of everyday goods like fuel. Whilst this conduct isn’t inherently unlawful, risk arises where conduct becomes exploitative or unjustified, particularly where it impacts vulnerable or disadvantaged consumers or small businesses.

Recent cases (including against Optus) show the ACCC will pursue significant penalties for this sort of conduct and senior executive accountability where there is evidence of systemic compliance failings within organisations.

Red flags include:

• leveraging scarcity to justify excessive pricing
• allocating supply in an opaque or discriminatory fashion
• exploiting bargaining imbalances or information asymmetry with counterparties.

The key question is proportionality: is the conduct commercially justified, or exploitative?

4. Review your consumer guarantee and warranty practices

Cost-of-living pressure can see an up-tick in warranty and consumer guarantee claims. The ACCC is continuing its focus on consumer guarantee breaches in 2026, particularly in the motor vehicle sector.

You should:

• review your supply contracts and internal complaint-handling processes
• ensure frontline teams apply consumer guarantee rights correctly and align decision trees with legal requirements.

Penalties for consumer guarantee breaches are set to be introduced later this year so now is the time to get ready.

5. Crisis roundtables with industry players are do-able but require caution

Industry roundtables with competitors can make sense when you’re grappling with industry-wide supply disruptions, but they carry cartel risk as they bring competitors together and discussions can quickly go awry.

Whilst most senior executives know it’s illegal to coordinate with competitors to fix prices, restrict output, allocate customers/territories and rig bids, it’s worth reminding your broader commercial teams to take care when talking with competitors.

Regulatory scrutiny of this sort of conduct is a continuing priority for the ACCC and it is using AI and other screening tools to detect problematic behaviour. The ACCC’s 19 March 2026 investigation into fuel suppliers’ conduct in regional Australia highlights how closely it is policing collusion risks.

The ACCC has shown willingness to grant authorisations in appropriate cases where there are clear public benefits. In March 2026, the ACCC granted urgent relief to fuel industry participants to coordinate supply chain responses linked to the Middle East conflict.

Done properly, collaboration can be both lawful and commercially valuable.[3]

6. Update compliance programs and policies

The ACCC will take swift enforcement action and hold senior executives to account where there is a poor culture of compliance or internal policies incentivise inappropriate conduct.

Now is the time to:

• refresh your competition and consumer law compliance programs
• update internal policies to suit current operations and the law
• test whether incentives or structures create risk.

Effective compliance programs will identify issues early, before they become matters for the ACCC.

Final thoughts

Supply disruption, cost-of-living pressures and regulatory priorities in 2026 are reshaping legal risk for consumer goods businesses in Australia. For in-house counsel, the priority is embedding practical, day-to-day compliance to manage these risks proactively.

Contact the Addisons Competition/Antitrust & Consumer team if we can help you with this.