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ACT Government Economic Development Directorate

ACT Government Economic Development Directorate

Supermarket Competition

New Supermarkets

A review for the ACT Government by Mr John Martin, a former Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) commissioner, found grounds for some intervention by the Government to correct distortions in the supermarket sector in the ACT and encourage greater competition.
The Martin Review (PDF2.3MB), which was accepted by the Government and released in September 2009, recommended factoring competition and flexibility into planning, zoning and land release processes. In January 2010 the Government released the Supermarket Competition Implementation Plan (PDF349KB) (SCPIP) to pursue the recommendations of the review. Key issues identified within the Martin Review and SCPIP include the need for greater competition between full-line supermarkets at group centres, allowing for the potential expansion of local centre supermarkets to make such supermarkets more competitive (where this can be achieved without undue amenity impacts), and greater competition within the grocery wholesaling market.


Supermarket ImageIn May 2010, the Government announced a package of supermarket site releases as part of the renewal of the Dickson and Kingston group centres, and in new greenfield group centre developments at Casey and Amaroo. These releases will provide opportunities for independent operators to secure sites for full-line stores and competitive tension against incumbent operators. In July 2011, the direct sale of a site at the Chisholm group centre to Aldi was announced. A number of proposals to expand local centre supermarkets are also being considered. Additionally, supermarket competition issues will be considered in the future master-planning of other group centres and the review of planning policies for the Territory Plan’s commercial zones.

Any comments or queries in relation to the ACT Government’s Supermarket Competition Policy can be emailed to supermarket@act.gov.au.

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Land Development Agency Canberra 100 ACT Government