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| 1800s | Prior to Federation, all the colonies had company legislation based on the English Companies Act of 1862. Despite the common origins in the English statute, however, variations in the legislation developed around the country and it was not until the late 1950s that a momentum towards a uniform company law began to build. |
| 1886-1889 | Federal Council of Australasia introduces, but fails to pass, 2 uniform companies bills. The Australasian Joint Stock Company (Arrangement) Bill 1897 allowed joint stock companies to make arrangements with creditors in other colonies, while the Australasian Corporations Bill (introduced 3 times in 1886, 1888 and 1889) would have provided for the registration in other colonies of corporations whose activities extended beyond one colony. (Source: FCA. 'Journals and printed papers', & 'Official records of debates') |
| 1887-88 | Dr WE Hearn drafts a Code of Commercial Law for Victoria but it was never adopted. (Source: G. Davidson, The Rise and Fall of Marvellous Melbourne) |
| 1901 | Section 51 (xx) of the Commonwealth Constitution 1901 provides for the federal Parliament to legislate in the area of "foreign corporations, and trading or financial corporations formed within the limits of the Commonwealth". States continued to legislate for the incorporation (establishment) of companies. |
| 1906 | Australian anti-trust laws begin with the Australian Industries Preservation Act 1906 designed to protect a local manufacturer against the International Harvester Company. Part of the legislation was declared invalid by the High Court in its very first challenge in 1909 in Huddart Parker & Co Pty Ltd v Moorehead and was effectively rendered unworkable by a further successful challenge in 1913 in Adelaide Steamship Company Limited and Others v The King and the Attorney-General of the Commonwealth. |
| 1961-62 | A uniform Companies Act based upon the Victorian legislation by the States and the Commonwealth (for the ACT, NT and PNG) was passed. However, in subsequent years the various jurisdictions did not co-ordinate amendments. |
| 1965 | Trade Practices Act creates a Commissioner of Trade Practices and a Trade Practices Tribunal to examine business agreements and practices to determine whether they were contrary to the public interest. |
| 1971 | Because of constitutional difficulties highlighted by the High Court in its decision in Strickland v. Rocla Concrete Pipes Ltd, the Restrictive Trade Practices Act is passed which repeals the Trade Practices Act 1965 and confines itself to trading corporations. |
| 1974 |
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| 1976 | Trade Practices Review Committee (Swanson Committee) report (P.P. no. 228/1976) confirms the Trade Practices Act and makes recommendations re boycotts etc which were implemented by the Trade Practices Amendment Act 1978 and the Trade Practices Amendment Act (No 2) 1978. |
| 1978 | Establishment of a national companies co-operative scheme. Under this scheme the Commonwealth Parliament enacted the Companies Act 1981 applying in the ACT and the States passed legislation giving effect to the Commonwealth law in their jurisdictions. The uniform law was generally known as the Companies Code. The Commonwealth also established the National Companies and Securities Commission (NCSC) to oversee and co-ordinate the scheme. While the scheme delivered uniformity of text, in practice the enforcement and administration of the scheme was not uniform, as this was the function of the 8 state and territory corporate affairs commissions. |
| 1987 | Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs in its report The Role of Parliament in relation to the National Companies Scheme in April 1987 (P.P. no. 113/1987) concluded that the cooperative scheme had outlived its usefulness. It unanimously recommended that the Commonwealth introduce comprehensive legislation to assume responsibility for all areas covered by the existing scheme. The Committee's recommendation was founded on an opinion of Sir Maurice Byers, QC, which asserted that the Commonwealth had the power to enact comprehensive legislation covering company law, takeovers and the securities and futures industries. |
| 1989 | The Commonwealth passes the Corporations Act 1989 to establish a national scheme of companies and securities regulation based upon the corporations power. The Australian Securities Commission Act replaces the NCSC with the Australian Securities Commission. |
| 1990 | High Court declares part of the Corporations Act 1989 invalid. In
New
South Wales v. The Commonwealth (the incorporations case)
the Court held that section 51(xx) relates only to 'formed corporations'
and that as a consequence it was constitutionally invalid for the
Commonwealth to rely on the section to legislate in respect of the
incorporation of companies. In response, the Alice Springs Heads of Agreement was concluded in Alice Springs on 29 June 1990, by representatives of the Commonwealth, the States and the Northern Territory. Pursuant to this agreement, the Commonwealth passed the Corporations Legislation Amendment Act 1990 to apply to the Australian Capital Territory pursuant to s 52(i) of the Commonwealth Constitution, and the States and the Northern territory passed acts applying the Commonwealth Law in their jurisdictions, via State legislation entitled Corporations ([name of particular State]) Act 1990 and the Corporations (Northern Territory) Act 1990, respectively. The uniform law, now known as the Corporations Law, was to be found in section 82 of the Corporations Act. The Commonwealth undertook to compensate the States for loss of income from State regulatory bodies with the ASC taking over sole administrative and regulatory responsibilities for corporate law. |
| 1993 | Hilmer report (National Competition Policy) recommends extending competition policies to more business and government sectors on a nationwide uniform basis. |
| 1995 | Competition Policy Reform Act abolishes the Trade Practices Commission and the Prices Surveillance Authority, and establishes the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (regulatory body) and the National Competition Council (advisory and research body). The Act also amends the Trade Practices Act 1974 to extend the scope of the competition provisions to include Commonwealth, State, and Territory government businesses. The States are also to pass uniform mirror competition legislation. |
| 2001 | To remedy deficiencies in the framework of corporate regulation revealed by the High Court decisions in the cases of Re Wakim; ex parte McNally and The Queen v Hughes, a national Corporations Act is passed. The act substantially re-enacts the existing Corporations Law of the ACT as a Commonwealth Act applying throughout Australia. The Commonwealth was referred the constitutional power to enact this legislation by the Parliaments of each State. |
| 2003 | Review of the competition provisions of the Trade Practices Act (Dawson report) recommends that competition provisions should protect the competitive process, rather than particular competitors, and that competition laws should be distinguished from industry policy. |
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