Australia should not be afraid of regulating global digital giants like Google and Facebook when acting to protect local publishers and consumers, says ACCC chair Rod Sims.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission recently handed the findings of a landmark inquiry into digital platforms to the federal government, recommending action on journalism funding, media diversity, and more.

“They’re doing business in Australia, there’s no doubt about that, they’re therefore caught by Australian laws, they’re caught by our competition laws, they’re caught by our consumer laws,” Sims told a Melbourne Press Club lunch on 13 August

Sims was confident Australia could successfully take action to control major multinationals.

“We’ve (the ACCC) taken Ford, Heinz, Apple, Visa, a whole range of companies to court, so we’re not concerned about dealing with multinationals,” he said.

“I think what we’ve got in place here can be done, I’m hoping it will be done, and it will affect how they do things, but also I’m confident that other countries are moving as well.

“What happens here will be watched very closely overseas.”