In Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission v Admiral Mechanical Services Pty Ltd [2007] FCA 1085 penalties of more than $9.1 million have been imposed on 11
companies and 18 individuals for a series of bid-rigging and price
fixing cartels in commercial air conditioning after Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission Federal Court action.
Justice Nicholson, in the Federal Court, Perth declared that a number of companies in the commercial air conditioning
and mechanical services industry had engaged in illegal bid-rigging and
price-fixing cartels in breach of the Trade Practices Act 1974.
The cartels existed between 1991 and June 2003. It involved
companies tendering for commercial air conditioning and mechanical
services projects in Western Australia agreeing on which would submit
the lowest price for particular jobs and therefore be likely to win the
tender.
