ON THE last sitting day of parliament this year, Treasurer Scott Morrison introduced the Misuse of Market Power Bill, news Queensland dairy farmers have waited five years to hear.

The bill, if passed, will introduce the s46 'effects test' legislation, something Queensland Dairy Farmers Organisation president Brian Tessman said would aid farmers in their plight of getting a fairer price for their milk.

"The addition of the effects test provision to s46 of the Competition and Consumer Act has been designed to help address the current unequal distribution of market power between different market players,” Mr Tessman said.

"This market power correction will directly assist the milk and dairy markets, which are currently suffering from such imbalances.

"By restricting overtly dominate and anti-competitive actions by powerful players such as large supermarkets, the 'effects test' will encourage more transparent market actions mutually benefiting producers, processors, consumers and retailers.”

Simply put, under the current law, the onus is on small businesses to prove that a large firm intended to reduce competition through its actions.

An effects test would mean the regulator only needed to show that the result of a firm's actions was reduced competition.

Big business, including the Retail Council lobby group representing Coles and Woolworths, has previously warned that introducing an effects test could force them to raise prices and stifle innovation.

Economists have even said that if the effects test were in play years earlier, neither Coles nor Woolworths would have been able to sell $1 milk.

"We have strongly advocated for these changes since 2011,” Mr Tessman said.

"We see the 'effects test' as one of the measures urgently needed in preventing the ongoing predatory pricing practices that have severely impacted our industry.

"You would be remiss to confuse the 'effects test' support as simply a farmer support mechanism, rather, the reforms will benefit consumers and other market sectors by moving towards an objective measure to assess the impact of anti-competitive behaviour.

"It has been a long hard road to get this legislation to where we are now, however it is far from a done deal.

"Both sides of politics and the crossbench need to support this vital change that will bring Australia into line with most other developed economies.”

While the bill is set to have have a damaging effect for big businesses like Coles and Woolworths, and has not been backed by Labor, it has seen significant support from the Nationals, Nick Xenophon and the Greens.