Support at home & pricing governance: Competition & Consumer Act compliance

As aged care providers prepare for the incoming Support at Home program, pricing will become a visible point of differentiation and commercial pressure. But it is also a legal and governance risk.

The Competition and Consumer Act (CCA)—specifically sections 45 (anti‑competitive agreements) and 46 (misuse of market power)—prohibits coordination or sharing of pricing information between competitors, regardless of intent, in many circumstances. “Coordination” may include informal conversations, communities of practice, and peer benchmarking, even under the banner of sector collaboration.

These obligations are not separate from your governance duties—they are integral to the corporate and clinical governance frameworks required under the Aged Care Quality Standards and reinforced by recent legislative reform. Safeguarding consumer rights includes maintaining robust compliance practices that ensure your service models are not distorted by anti-competitive conduct.

Why this matters for providers now

• Pricing conduct is a compliance issue with consumer consequences. If pricing strategies are shaped by collective discussion rather than genuine competition, older Australians lose access to fair market choice.
  
• Governance frameworks must go beyond clinical care. The expanded duties for Boards and senior executives include oversight of legal and commercial compliance. This includes ensuring CCA risks are identified, mitigated, and embedded into core training.
  
• Middle management and frontline staff are often the ‘point of contact’ for external peers—whether in workshops, forums, or joint ventures. Without training, these roles carry disproportionate risk.

What providers should do

To ensure your organisation’s governance and consumer protections are not undermined during the rollout of Support at Home, we recommend:

1. Integrate CCA obligations into your governance frameworks. This includes formal board-level oversight of CCA training, incident escalation, and workforce understanding.
   
2. Provide targeted training on sections 45 and 46 of the CCA:
   – Focus on pricing confidentiality, competitor interactions, and examples of prohibited conduct
   – Include case studies relevant to aged care forums and collaboration settings
   – Ensure training covers executives, managers, sales, and service delivery roles.
   
3. Track and verify staff competency. Move beyond awareness to demonstrable understanding. Include CCA risk as part of ongoing competence assessments under your clinical governance framework.
   
4. Issue clear internal guidance on pricing-related conversations:
   – What can and cannot be said in cross-provider settings.
   – What to do if another provider raises pricing topics.
   – Who to notify internally if concerns arise.
5. Require reporting from any external engagements where competitive matters (including pricing, margins, or cost structures) may have been discussed.

The bottom line

A strong governance response to Support at Home includes safeguarding your pricing conduct.
The responsibility and the risk of sanction is not only at the corporate level. Individuals involved may also face penalties.

How Lavan can help

If you would like support developing targeted CCA training and/or reviewing governance frameworks in a Support at Home context, please contact Iain Freeman or Amber Crosthwaite.

Disclaimer

The information contained in this publication does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. You should seek legal advice in relation to any particular matter you may have before relying or acting on this information. The Lavan team are here to assist.