The ACT government has accepted a report recommending more choice of main line supermarkets for new development areas. (Ian Waldie/Getty Images)
The government says it has accepted the recommendations of a report by former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) boss John Martin, which found two giants run 90 per cent of the ACT's supermarkets, higher than the national average of 87 per cent.
Without naming Coles and Woolworths, it says the main "competition deficiency" is in the market for full-line supermarkets.
The report recommended the ACT government "facilitate" the entry of independent full-line supermarket chains in suitable new and redeveloped centres "to achieve a better balance of competitive tension, choice and diversity".
"The approach could involve either limited tender direct sales or appropriate clauses in the lease requirement," the report said.
ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said his government had accepted the report's 15 recommendations.
"Importantly, the government has agreed to allow more supermarkets in group centres and permit supermarkets in local centres to expand," he said in a statement.
"This will ultimately provide more choice for Canberra shoppers."
University of New South Wales competition expert Associate Professor Frank Zumbo said the report's recommendations would help supermarket chains like Supabarn and Franklins challenge the dominance of Coles and Woolworths in the longer term.
"Given the tiny number of non-aligned large full-line supermarkets currently operating in the ACT there is a very long way to go before these non-aligned, large full-line supermarkets reach the critical mass needed to drive down grocery prices at full-line Coles, Woolworths and IGA supermarkets," Associate Professor Zumbo said.
He said the ACCC had previously erred in allowing Woolworths to buy a smaller supermarket chain in the ACT.
The report comes three weeks after Coles and Woolworths agreed to end the practice of conspiring to stop smaller grocery outlets from operating in the same shopping centre as them.
