$500 idea · Pattern-breaking · Australia · Edition 004
A$1,000 bought ten years of immunity to bargain against AGL, Origin and Coca-Cola.
Delivery Angel Pty Ltd lodged collective bargaining notification CB10000489 with the ACCC on 8 July 2024, on behalf of itself, its sixty members and any future member. It named fourteen targets — Origin, AGL, OVO Energy, Next Business Energy, Momentum, Alinta, Shell, BlueNRG, CovaU, PFD, Bidvest, Countrywide, Coca-Cola and Schweppes. Protection began on 22 July 2024 and runs to 7 July 2034. The ACCC’s published fee for that notification is A$1,000, and A$0 for each further notice lodged within fourteen days.
The instrument is section 93AB of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. The fee sits in Schedule 1B of the Competition and Consumer Regulations 2010, with regulation 28(6)(b) making the concession turn on one condition: the additional notice must be lodged “within 14 days of the date of lodgment of the first”. The fee is charged per lodgement event, not per counterparty. Nobody has to grant you anything — protection starts fourteen days after a valid lodgement unless the ACCC objects.
There is also a free version, and the gap between them is the whole story. The Competition and Consumer (Class Exemption—Collective Bargaining) Determination 2020 costs nothing, protects immediately, and runs to 30 June 2030 for any group whose members turn over under A$10 million — with no turnover limit at all for franchisees and fuel retailers bargaining with their franchisor or wholesaler. But section 8 withholds the one thing that makes a negotiation a negotiation: the exemption does not apply to collectively refusing to contract with the target. The free form buys the meeting. The A$1,000 form buys the walk-out.
Almost nobody buys either. The ACCC’s class exemptions register lists 133 notices between 23 November 2021 and 25 September 2026 — twelve of them this year. The ABS counted 2,729,648 actively trading Australian businesses at 30 June 2025, 91.5% of them turning over under A$2 million. That is one bargaining group per 20,524 businesses, under a regime written for all of them.
Read the register and the scarce role is obvious. The names on it are not small businesses. They are agents: Delivery Angel, Transport Contractor Consultants Pty Ltd, Nexus Point Advisory, TasFarmers, the NSW Poultry Group. The statute is free. The person who files it is not.
The evidence
10 findingsDelivery Angel Pty Ltd: fourteen targets, protection to 7 July 2034
Lodged 8 July 2024 by Delivery Angel Pty Ltd on behalf of itself, its 60 current members and future members — independent hospitality and retail businesses. Targets carry their own sub-numbers, all lodged the same day: Origin (-1), AGL (-2), OVO Energy (-3), Next Business Energy (-4), Momentum (-5), Alinta (-6), Shell (-7), BlueNRG (-8), CovaU (-9), PFD (-10), Bidvest (-11), Countrywide (-12), Coca-Cola (-13), Schweppes (-14). Protection commenced 22 July 2024; the notified conduct has an initial term of ten years and excludes collective boycotts. ACCC register, Delivery Angel Pty Ltd
The price list: A$1,000, and A$0 for the next one
“$1000 for resale price maintenance, collective bargaining and collective boycott notifications ($0 concessional).” Exclusive dealing is A$2,500 (A$500 concessional). Concessional fees apply to closely related notifications lodged within 14 days of the first. Protection on a collective bargaining notification begins 14 days after valid lodgement, or 60 days where a collective boycott is included — the ACCC grants nothing; it may only object. ACCC, Notification
The concession turns on 14 days, not on the target
Regulation 28(6) provides that “a concessional fee is payable to the Commission for an additional application or an additional notice if” the conditions are met, and reg 28(6)(b) states the additional notice must be “lodged with the Commission within 14 days of the date of lodgment of the first application or the first notice”. Regulation 28(5)(b) sends the amount to column 4 of the item in Schedule 1B. Regulation 28(6A) expressly covers additional notices under subsection 93AB(1) or (1A). Competition and Consumer Regulations 2010
The transaction ceiling runs to A$20 million per member
A collective bargaining notification is available where each member expects under A$3 million of transactions with the target over twelve months, and the regulations lift that for named trades: A$5,000,000 for a collective bargain of primary producers (reg 71D), A$10,000,000 for the purchase of farm machinery for retail sale (reg 71C), A$15,000,000 for motor vehicle fuel for retail sale (reg 71A), and A$20,000,000 for the purchase of new motor vehicles for retail sale (reg 71B). A car dealer group is doing twenty-million-dollar bargaining on a A$1,000 form. Competition and Consumer Regulations 2010
The free instrument, and the one thing it will not do
“There is no fee for providing a Collective bargaining class exemption notice form to the ACCC.” Protection starts immediately on notice and runs until 30 June 2030. Members self-assess a reasonable belief of aggregated turnover under A$10 million in the preceding financial year; franchisees and fuel retailers bargaining with their franchisor or fuel wholesaler face no turnover limit. Section 8: the exemption does not apply to collectively refusing to contract with the target. Section 9: notice to the Commission within 14 days. Section 10: a copy to each target on first approach. ACCC class exemption guidelines · Determination 2020
133 notices in five years, twelve of them this year
The register runs from the Kia Dealer Association’s notice for Kia franchisees on 23 November 2021 to The Stax Group on 25 September 2026. The 2026 entries: trade services and construction companies Australia-wide (17 Feb), independent veterinary practices (26 Feb), four urologists at Goulburn Valley Health (17 Mar), Australian GP Alliance Ltd (8 May), anaesthetists (21 and 25 May), Australian Newsagents Federation members (1 Jun), golf clubs (12 Jun), Douglas Shire primary producers (1 Jul), clinic owners (28 Jul), TerryWhite Chemmart franchisees (29 Jul), The Stax Group (25 Sep). ACCC class exemptions register
Boaz Shiponi files for 13 ocean carriers at once
Nexus Point Advisory (ABN 65 328 562 064), primary contact Boaz Shiponi, Managing Director, runs the International Trade Buying Group: SME Australian importers bargaining with ocean carriers for full-container imports. Annex D names ANL & CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, GSL, Hapag Lloyd, HMM, Maersk, MSC, ONE-Line, OOCL, PIL, Yang Ming and ZIM. Each member–carrier contract is capped at A$2,700,000 over twelve months as a buffer against the A$3,000,000 statutory ceiling. First-year target: 10,000–20,000 TEU in aggregate. Members pay an “engagement fee”; the amount is not disclosed. Nexus Point notification, 23 Oct 2025
The A$7,500 door, for comparison
The ACCC granted authorisation to Countrywide Australasia Limited on 15 April 2026, letting its member independent foodservice distributors “collectively negotiate trade terms, including price, with suppliers” until 7 May 2031. Authorisation costs A$7,500, which the ACCC may waive in whole or part if unduly onerous, has no monetary thresholds, permits collective boycotts, and — unlike a notification — requires the ACCC to actually decide. ACCC, Countrywide Australasia authorisation
The denominator: 2,729,648 businesses
“At 30 June 2025 there were 2,729,648 actively trading businesses in the Australian economy.” 91.5% turn over under A$2 million and 24.0% under A$50,000 — so effectively the entire population sits under the class exemption’s A$10 million ceiling. The fastest-growing turnover band was A$5 million to under A$10 million, up 4.7%. ABS, Counts of Australian Businesses
A$7,200 a month from 60 members
A$1 = US$0.6975 (RBA, 19 Oct 2026). US$500 = A$716.85; US$5,000/month = A$7,168.46. The capital is 716.85 ÷ 1,000 = 71.69% of the only statutory fee on this route; three members at A$120/month add A$360, so 716.85 + 360 − 1,000 = A$76.85 left after lodging. Per-counterparty cost at Delivery Angel’s fourteen: 1,000 ÷ 14 = A$71.43, against 7,500 ÷ 14 = A$535.71 by authorisation. Income at Delivery Angel’s own group size: 60 × A$120 = A$7,200/month = US$5,022.00, A$31.54 above target. Register density: 2,729,648 ÷ 133 = one group per 20,524 businesses. Diagram points are A$1,000 ÷ n for n = 1 to 14. The A$120 monthly fee is the assumption here; 60 is from the register. RBA exchange rates
The ladder
From $500 to $5,000 a month · A$719 → A$7,185The register tells you where the pressure is: concrete cartage, poultry growing, anaesthesia, car dealing, newsagency, pharmacy. The common feature is many small sellers and one large buyer. You need no licence and no qualification to represent them — a representative need not meet the eligibility criteria unless it is itself a member.
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Pick a trade where one counterparty sets the price
The register tells you where the pressure is: concrete cartage, poultry growing, anaesthesia, car dealing, newsagency, pharmacy. The common feature is many small sellers and one large buyer. You need no licence and no qualification to represent them — a representative need not meet the eligibility criteria unless it is itself a member.
A$716.85 − A$0 (ABN) = A$716.85 -
Lodge the free notice before you charge anyone
The class exemption notice form costs nothing and protection starts the moment it is given. Section 9 requires it within 14 days of starting to bargain; section 10 requires a copy to each target when you first approach them. Lodge it first anyway: it is the document that makes the next conversation lawful.
A$716.85 − A$0 (class exemption) = A$716.85 -
Know exactly what you have not bought
Section 8 excludes collectively refusing to contract with the target. That is the walk-out, and without it the target can simply decline to meet. Say this to members on day one. The free instrument is a credential and a mailing list, not leverage, and pretending otherwise is how these groups die in month three.
s 8 · exemption ≠ collective boycott -
Recruit against the right ceiling
Class exemption: aggregated turnover under A$10 million, self-assessed on reasonable belief. Franchisees and fuel retailers bargaining with their franchisor or wholesaler have no ceiling at all, which is why the register is thick with dealer and franchisee groups. The notification ceiling is per-member transactions with that target: A$3m, or A$5m, A$10m, A$15m, A$20m by trade.
3 members × A$120 = A$360 → A$1,076.85 -
Buy the boycott, and name everyone in one go
Lodge the section 93AB notification and list every counterparty you could plausibly bargain with, inside the fourteen days. The first costs A$1,000; the rest are concessional at A$0. Delivery Angel named fourteen. The marginal price of adding Coca-Cola to a notification that already names Origin is nothing, and you cannot add it cheaply later.
A$1,076.85 − A$1,000 = A$76.85 · 14 targets -
Price the fee against their spend, not your hours
A member is not buying your time; it is buying a position in a negotiation it cannot lawfully enter alone. Nexus Point charges an undisclosed “engagement fee” against contracts capped at A$2.7m each. Keep the fee a fixed monthly subscription, not a share of savings — a success fee makes you a party to the bargain you are supposed to be running.
A$120/mo against a target of A$7,168.46 -
Run the month
Sixty members is not a guess — it is the group Delivery Angel disclosed on its own notification. At A$120 a month that is A$7,200, and the ten-year term means you are not re-earning the statutory position each year. The constraint is not capital, and it is not the law. It is how many members you can sign before the target agrees to meet.
60 × A$120 = A$7,200 = US$5,022
Sources
11 primary documents- ACCC collective bargaining notifications register — Delivery Angel Pty Ltd, CB10000489 — lodged 8 July 2024, protection 22 July 2024 to 7 July 2034
- ACCC, Notification — fee schedule — A$1,000, A$0 concessional
- Competition and Consumer Regulations 2010 — reg 28(5)–(7), Sch 1B, regs 71A–71D
- Competition and Consumer (Class Exemption—Collective Bargaining) Determination 2020 — ss 7–13
- ACCC, Collective bargaining class exemption guidelines, June 2021
- ACCC class exemptions register — collective bargaining — read 19 October 2026
- Nexus Point Advisory collective bargaining notification — declaration dated 22 October 2025
- ACCC, Countrywide Australasia authorisation — 16 April 2026
- ACCC, collective bargaining by retail, hospitality and accommodation businesses — 31 July 2024
- ABS, Counts of Australian Businesses, July 2021 – June 2025 — 2,729,648 at 30 June 2025
- RBA exchange rates — 19 October 2026