The Government has released draft legislation providing criminal sanctions for serious cartel conduct. The Government intends to introduce the Trade Practices Amendment (Cartel Conduct and Other Measures) Bill 2008 into Parliament before the end of the year.

UPDATE: Bill introduced into Parliament on 3 December 2008 here.

The bill makes it an offence for a corporation to make or give effect to a contract, arrangement or understanding between competitors that contains a provision to fix prices, restrict outputs, divide or share markets, or rig bids.

The maximum penalties for the offences are:

• for an individual – a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and/or a maximum fine of $220,000; and
• for a corporation – a fine that is the greater of $10 million or three times the value of the benefit from the cartel, or where the value cannot be determined, 10 per cent of annual turnover.