The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Woolworths CEO Amanda Bardwell was confronted by shopper Megan Guy during a store visit in the Wollongong area in September 2024. Guy challenged the company over alleged price gouging during the cost-of-living crisis; the encounter captured a public affordability dispute, not a regulatory finding that Woolworths had gouged shoppers.
What happened at the Woolworths store
PerthNow reported that Bardwell was challenged during a store walk-through in Wollongong, New South Wales. The publication quoted Guy asking: “What do you have to say to the fact that your company is profiting off price-gouging during context of the cost-of-living crisis,”
In her first-person account, published on 27 September 2024, Guy said the encounter took place earlier that week at the Warrawong Woolworths, near the fruit section. She described Bardwell’s response as baffling and said she was dissatisfied with it. Those descriptions are Guy’s account of the exchange, rather than an independent assessment.
The coverage appeared in September 2024, but the sources do not establish the precise day or time of the store visit. The encounter was a direct challenge about grocery prices and household budgets—not a formal hearing or an official investigation.
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What the accusation did—and did not—establish
Guy accused Woolworths of profiting from price gouging. That was her allegation, not proof that the company had done so. The contemporaneous ACCC inquiry coverage described scrutiny of supermarket competition and pricing, but reported that the inquiry’s interim report had made no findings or recommendations.
The Nightly reported in September 2024 that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission had yet to find evidence that Australian supermarkets were gouging customers. It said the regulator was examining whether supermarket market power affected retail prices and the terms offered to suppliers. That was the reported position during the inquiry at that time; it should not be read as a statement of the ACCC’s present or final position.
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Why supermarket pricing was under scrutiny
The Nightly reported that Woolworths and Coles together accounted for 67 per cent of Australia’s supermarket sales, and that the ACCC inquiry was assessing competition between the two chains. The publication also reported that the inquiry had received 21,500 responses to a consumer survey and was focusing on a basket of 14 goods.
ACCC deputy chairman Mick Keogh said the regulator would examine whether market power affected prices and supplier terms: “We will examine whether supermarkets are exercising market power to increase retail prices more than is necessary to accommodate increases in the wholesale prices supermarkets pay.” His comment described the inquiry’s intended examination; it was not a finding about the specific accusation Guy raised in the store.
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In the same 2024 coverage, The Nightly reported Keogh’s view that food-price growth over the preceding five years was largely in line with inflation in other goods and services, and that food-price inflation in Australia was lower than in most OECD countries. These were statements reported in the context of the inquiry, not conclusions arising from Guy’s encounter.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What shoppers can take from the encounter
The exchange shows how concerns about grocery affordability became a public issue for supermarket executives as well as regulators. It does not settle whether any particular price was fair, whether supplier terms contributed to retail prices, or whether either major supermarket breached the law. Those questions require evidence and regulatory assessment beyond a shopper’s accusation and a brief store conversation.
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At the time, the political debate was also pointed. The Nightly quoted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying: “Customers don’t deserve to be treated as fools by the supermarkets. They deserve better than that.” That was a political statement about consumer expectations, not a regulatory determination of wrongdoing.
The sources documenting this encounter and the contemporaneous inquiry do not establish what happened in later stages of the ACCC process. The episode is best understood as a public confrontation over perceived grocery costs amid ongoing scrutiny of supermarket competition—not as confirmation that price gouging had been proven.
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