The newly formed Australian Retail Council (ARC) has lodged its first major submission.

This outlines seven targeted reforms to strengthen retail productivity, support investment and ease cost-of-living pressures for Australian households and businesses as part of the pre-Budget process. 

With interest rate uncertainty underscoring the importance and urgency of economic reform, the ARC warns that fragmented regulation, rising compliance costs and unchecked illicit activity are undermining productivity and confidence. 

Seven priorities

The ARC is calling for seven priority Budget reforms: 

1. Deliver productivity growth through national harmonisation. “Fund nationally coordinated reform to remove duplication across jurisdictions, lower compliance costs, make it easier for businesses – particularly small retailers –to operate across state borders, and unlock productivity growth.” 
2. Modernise tax settings to lift investment and competitiveness. “Establish a Tax and Federation Reform Commission to simplify settings, align company tax at 25%, reject new parallel taxes, and prioritise practical reforms that boost competitiveness and investment.” 
3. Reduce regulatory impacts that disproportionately affect small retailers. “Target high-friction compliance and reporting requirements to deliver measurable burden reduction, improve small business viability and ensure regulatory impact analysis genuinely considers business cost and complexity.”
4. Improve worker safety by tackling organised retail crime and illicit tobacco. “Strengthen coordinated action to disrupt organised retail crime and illicit tobacco trade, which drive up prices, insurance costs and place retail workers and customers at risk.”
5. Enforce compliance against ultra-low-cost offshore retailers. “Take stronger action to enforce compliance with Australian Consumer Law, privacy and other regulatory obligations, ensuring offshore retailers compete on a fair and level playing field.” 
6. Modernise workplace relations and invest in retail skills and training. “Invest in practical workplace relations guidance and flexible, industry-led training that supports compliance, skills development and progression into frontline and supervisory roles, while reducing unnecessary disputes.” 
7. Deliver nationally consistent packaging reform through federal leadership. “Provide federal leadership and investment to implement nationally consistent, enforceable packaging reform that reduces duplication, supports a circular economy and avoids unnecessary costs being passed on to businesses and consumers.” 

ARC CEO Chris Rodwell says retail performance is a bellwether for the broader economy.  

“Retailers, like households, are under pressure from rising costs. They’re also dealing with escalating regulatory complexity and increasing safety risks,” he says.

“To add to this, they’re navigating rapid structural change, shifting consumer trends, seismic technological change, heightened geopolitical risk and a deteriorating fiscal and monetary policy environment.

“These challenges underline the need for ambitious economic reform that delivers for retailers and households. Sustainable cost-of-living relief depends on policy reform that reduces unnecessary cost and complexity across the economy.” 

The Budget’s opportunity

Mr Rodwell says the 2026-27 Budget is an opportunity to deliver nationally coordinated reforms that strengthen one of Australia’s most economically and socially significant sectors. 

“Retail employs 1.4 million Australians and in making up almost one fifth of our gross domestic product, it sits at the centre of the economy. Productivity is being dragged down by regulatory fragmentation, rising compliance costs and growing safety risks in stores,” he says.

“At the same time, it’s critical ultra-low-cost offshore retailers are held to the same Australian consumer, privacy and safety laws as local Australian retailers. We’re seeing other economies take action to ensure confidence in the system is not undermined, and competition is not distorted. The federal government and its agencies need to follow suit.” 

Mr Rodwell says the best way to help households is to lift productivity and stop unnecessary costs being baked into prices.  

“A lift in productivity is also critical to underpin real wage growth, rather than fall into the trap of the artificial and unaffordable ‘above inflation’ wage claims promoted by the union movement. History tells us that there is always a deeply uncomfortable reckoning when any economy lives beyond its means for too long. Genuine reform is the antidote to Australia’s economic underperformance,” he says. 

“Retailers are asking for practical reform that removes duplication, improves safety and allows them to invest, grow and compete. It’s time to back the retailers that back Australia.”