‘I have faced men shouting’: New ACCC chief brings empathy after facing down bullies

During the earlier years of her career, when Ms Cass-Gottlieb was often the only woman in meetings full of men, she decided “it was essential that in every meeting I demonstrated the value that I brought [to the] table”.

“It was beneficial for me because it pushed me,” she said. It also gave her empathy for junior colleagues and others in a minority.

While she acknowledges some women pull up the career ladder behind them after they reach the top, she found senior women in business and the law “went out of their way to give me support to help me develop”.

Before joining the ACCC, Ms Cass-Gottlieb was a founding partner of law firm Gilbert and Tobin’s competition and regulation team. She has also served on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Payments System Board.

Leading the ACCC will involve continuing the work her predecessor started in shining a spotlight on activity including so-called “greenwashing” – when a business makes false claims about a product’s environmental credentials.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on global and domestic supply chains has meant the ACCC is focused on testing the truth of claims around the availability and accessibility of services. The authority has also played a role in authorising some businesses to work together to secure essential supplies when supermarket shelves were empty.

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“The commission is very conscious of the pressures that Australian families are facing at this time in staples, groceries, in petrol,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said. While the commission has no power to control price rises, it is monitoring those for petrol and can crack down on any misleading or deceptive reasons given for increases and the availability of products.

“All marketing claims including about price need to be truthful,” she said.

“So, suppliers can’t shelter behind or represent that an increase is because of the supply chain effect if it is beyond that.”

The ACCC won a case in the Federal Court on Friday when Peters Ice Cream, which owns brands including Connoisseur, Drumstick, Maxibon and Frosty Fruits, was ordered to pay a $12 million penalty for anti-competitive conduct in relation to the distribution of ice creams sold in petrol stations and convenience stores. Peters Ice Cream admitted that, from November 2014 to December 2019, it acquired distribution services from PFD Food Services on condition that it would not sell or distribute competitors’ single-serve ice cream products in various areas throughout Australia without the written consent of Peters Ice Cream.

The new media bargaining code which has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in payments from Google and Facebook to media outlets had been successful. But Ms Cass-Gottlieb said more needs to be done to regulate digital platforms. The ACCC is seeking feedback on proposals for new rules to regulate digital platforms and last week launched legal action the Federal Court against Facebook for its publication of advertisements for cryptocurrency scams.

“There is a lot to be done,” she said.

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