Australia aims for mandatory winegrape purchase code before 1 Jan 2027
Wine Australia maps the path to a mandatory Code of Conduct for Winegrape Purchases, ACCC-administered, after the government’s 22 Dec 2025 commitment. Emerson’s 2025 review pointed at wineries buying over 2,000 t/year (3-year average). Exposure Draft expected Q4 2026.
Voluntary goodwill is exiting the weighbridge. A mandatory code is waiting at the gate.
Wine Australia’s 8 September briefing on legislation and regulation reminds the sector that four separate processes are running — but the headline clock is the mandatory Code of Conduct for Winegrape Purchases. On 22 December 2025 the Australian Government committed to introduce that code by 1 January 2027, with the ACCC as administrator, answering Dr Craig Emerson’s 2025 review and a Senate inquiry into the old voluntary code.
Emerson’s threshold logic still frames the debate: winemakers whose external grape purchases exceed a three-year rolling average of 2,000 tonnes a year. DAFF has a working group on implementation; an Exposure Draft is expected in the fourth quarter of 2026 before the code lands ahead of New Year 2027. Supporting amendments in the Wine and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 were introduced on 1 July and, as of 1 September, remain before the Senate.
Parallel tracks — GI protection under the A–EU FTA and a sunsetting review of the Wine Australia Regulations 2018 — matter too, but growers will feel the purchase code first at contract season.
Mini-concept: a voluntary code is a handshake; a mandatory ACCC code is a rule with a fine. Bargaining power shifts when the big buyer cannot shrug off the paperwork.
Keep: when a winery offers a soft grape price, ask whether it will still sit under a mandatory code after 1 Jan 2027.
Remember: code by 1 Jan 2027; Emerson >2,000 t/year (3-yr avg); Exposure Draft Q4 2026; Bill still in the Senate.
Source: Wine Australia