Rod Sims, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair and one of the nation's most high-profile regulators, is hanging up his lanyard in March and has departing words for those that will fill his shoes.
"You are there to advocate. That's something regulators probably need to do more of," he reflects to the Canberra Times after being appointed as an Officer to the Order of Australia (AO) as part of the 2022 Australia Day honours list.
After two terms and 11 years as the competition watchdog's chair, with consistent rumours he would consider a third term given the volume of meaty consumer issues he tackles head on at any moment in time, the former public servant and business advisor is looking forward to having more time to reflect.
The achievements are numerous. His lobbying pushed the upper end of penalties that companies pay for breaching the law from $1.1 million back when he started to now as high as 10 per cent of turnover potentially in the tens of millions seen in recent cases against Telstra ($50 million), Voltswagen ($125 million) and vocational education company AIPE ($153 million). That's lifted respect and adherence to consumer law, Mr Sims notes.
As technology evolved, the complexity of the issues grew. The ACCC under Mr Sims took on Google over its location tracking, and against travel booking company Trivego over misleading recommendations - unpicking the algorithm that favoured whoever gave the biggest commission. Recently he pushed the giants to accept the news media bargaining code.
As the peak regulator dealing with monopolies, Mr Sims convinced the government to take off the ACCC's leash limiting it from going after companies that abuse market power and made government-created monopolies a little bit less appetising.
"It's a seven-day a week job," he says as the ACCC gears up to bring large digital platforms to heel with upfront rules of what they can and can't do that does away with the need for reactive measures.
Mr Sims credits his team for his agency having one of the highest engagement rates in the Australian Public Service at 88 per cent and notes the importance of a culture of warmth, "hopefully a bit of humour", and clear purpose of what they are there to do and for whom.
"Any staff member can stand up and say: 'Rod, I disagree with what you're doing'. In fact, the first thing I said when I arrived is 'Look, I'll push agendas, but you push back if I'm going the wrong way'," he said
"I've had some very junior people stand up in meetings. On one famous occasion, she got very upset, telling me I was wrong. She was right, I was wrong, but that was a wonderful moment and sent good messages."
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Without giving it too much thought yet - he still has two months left in the role - Mr Sims eyes drift to the global arena, where international governance is working overtime to adapt to developments that digitisation is bringing every year.
He is already a vice chair of digital coordination and Asia-Pacific liaison at the International Competition Network, working with competition authorities around the world.
"We have a consumer enforcement regime which is world class. It needs to improve. I think that the rest of the world has a long way to go, and I'll hopefully try and push that around as well when I leave the ACCC."
Gina Cass-Gottlieb has been appointed as Mr Sims successor as ACCC chair and the first woman to hold that office. She takes up the role on March 21 following a legal career and roles with the Reserve Bank of Australia Payment Systems Board and the Financial Regulator Assessment Authority.
