The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has launched a new tool that will enable stakeholders in the agriculture sector to anonymously report concerns about competition or fair-trading issues.
The tool, which will be unveiled today by ACCC commissioner Mick Keogh, will inform potential ACCC investigations.
The online form works in three steps, where complainants are first asked to provide details about the company being reported, before being given the opportunity to upload any evidence to the ACCC’s database.
The system is hosted under an IP address scrubbing service to help ensure that the watchdog can’t trace complaints back to the source.
“Farmers in the horticulture and viticulture industries have expressed concerns about potential retribution from others in the supply chain if they contact the ACCC,” Keogh said.
“This easy-to-use, secure and anonymous channel allows farmers to report potential breaches of laws the ACCC enforces. This could include, for example, suspected breaches of the new Horticulture Code of Conduct.”
“People can now contract our agriculture team from any web-enabled device such as a PC, smart phone, laptop or tablet. The tool encrypts the information and removes the person’s IP address so their identity is kept anonymous. The ACCC won’t know who is contacting us,” Keogh said.
