Announcement date
22 December 2025
Link to announcement 
Government response to the Review of regulatory options for the wine and grape sector - DAFF
Problem being addressed
The Review of regulatory options for the wine and grape sector found failure in the market for winegrapes, predominantly in the warm inland regions of the Riverland, the Murray Darling and Swan Hill regions and the Riverina. Similar conclusions were reached by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in its 2019 review of the winegrape industry and in its 2021 follow-up review. The situation has not improved materially since 2021 and in some respects is now worse.
The heavy imbalances in bargaining power between large businesses and their small suppliers can result in unfair trading practices that are detrimental to small suppliers and to consumers. This can warrant government intervention through the application of competition and consumer laws and codes of conduct.
Proposal
The Review of regulatory options for the wine and grape sector considers four policy options to address power imbalances in the wine and grape sector:
- Option 1: Maintain the status quo - that is, maintain the current voluntary Code of Conduct for Winegrape Purchases
- Option 2: Maintain the current voluntary Code but enforce compliance of signatories through the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
- Option 3A: Maintain the terms of the voluntary Code but make it mandatory for all winemakers and enforceable by the ACCC.
- Option 3B: Make the voluntary Code mandatory and enforceable by the ACCC for winemakers who purchase more than 2,000 tonnes of grapes annually.
- Option 4: Make the voluntary Code mandatory for winemakers who exceed the threshold, and strengthen the terms of the Code
Option 4 is assessed as having the greatest net benefit of all options, by virtue of large increase in benefits to growers, with modest net costs to winemakers as a whole owing to higher compliance costs for larger winemakers partly offset by small signatories not reaching the 2,000 tonnes threshold for inclusion.
Assessed Impact Analysis outcome
Impact Analysis Equivalent
Assessment comments
The Office of Impact Analysis (OIA) does not assess the quality of reviews and documents used in lieu of an Impact Analysis (IA). Impact Analysis Equivalents (IAE) are assessed by OIA for relevance to the recommended option(s) and for the coverage of the seven Impact Analysis questions conducted. 
For this IAE, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has used the Review of regulatory options for the wine and grape sector conducted by Dr Craig Emerson. The OIA assessed that the options analysed in the IAE are sufficiently relevant to the proposal.