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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission wants to make sure new players can compete against you.

Speaking at a conference in Melbourne, ACCC chairman Rod Sims said the organisation will clamp down on the retail sector to protect new entrants.

"Going forward, our main competition role in retail will be to ensure new entrants are not prevented from competing on their merits," he said.

"While this is our key challenge across all sectors, the rise of online retail makes this particularly important in this sector."

Sims said the organisation will be alert to the consequences of large firms acquiring promising start-ups and closely monitor access to data issues.

"We see this in mergers and acquisitions. Businesses buy other businesses to gain operational synergies and to reduce the number of competitors," he said.

Sims said mergers and acquisitions are acceptable if they do not result in a substantial lessening of competition.

"I am pleased to say that there are many positive signs for competition in retail. In particular, competition is benefitting from online sales challenging the established bricks and mortar stores."

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