Payment Terms and Vineyard Registrar for the Australian Wine Sector

Senator Barbara Pocock questioned Mick Keogh from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission about reducing payment time frames to 30-60 days, and its relation to South Australian law. However, the South Australian Government chose not to amend their legislation, citing complexities with a mandatory code. The conversation also covered the national vineyard registrar, which is being developed to address market information gaps affecting growers. Despite recent funding, the project's progress is ongoing, with a consultation paper released in November. The next steps and completion date are unclear. The discussion touched on a potential mandatory code of conduct for the wine sector, possibly limited to a specific Australian region. The challenge is balancing regulatory burden with the benefits of improved information collection.