Foxtel Management Pty Ltd & Anor v Seven Cable Tele

Foxtel Management Pty Ltd and another party (the applicants) sought judicial review of a decision by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) concerning the acquisition of Seven Cable Tele by Foxtel. The dispute centred on whether the ACCC's decision to not oppose the acquisition was reviewable by the Federal Court.

The primary legal issue before the High Court was whether the ACCC's decision to not oppose the acquisition, made under section 50(2) of the *Trade Practices Act 1974* (Cth), constituted a reviewable administrative decision for the purposes of the *Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977* (Cth). Specifically, the court had to determine if the ACCC's notification of no objection was a "decision to which the ADJR Act applies."

The High Court, in a joint judgment by Gleeson CJ and McHugh J, held that the ACCC's decision was not a reviewable decision under the *ADJR Act*. Their Honours reasoned that the *Trade Practices Act* did not confer on the ACCC a power to make a decision that had legal effect in the sense required by the *ADJR Act*. Instead, the ACCC's notification of no objection was merely an indication that it would not take action under section 50(1) of the *Trade Practices Act* and did not finally determine the rights or obligations of any party. The court distinguished this from decisions that create, modify, or extinguish legal rights or obligations.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.