The Australian Trade Practices Act 1974 is a court-centered law of the
American type. After 20 years it has much to its credit - the abandon
ment of cartelization and the achievement of a coherent body of antitr
ust law focused upon market power as the central concept. The law has
some distinctive features: the approach to market definition; the poss
ibility of authorization on grounds of public benefit; the treatment o
f verticals. The challenge now is to expose the exempt sectors to the
Act and to design a compatible regime for the corporatized and privati
zed utilities.