ACCC Product Safety

Key facts

Scope and who must comply

The ACL's product safety provisions apply to consumer goods: goods intended or likely to be used for personal, domestic or household purposes. Suppliers include manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers. Importers are in the front line for overseas-made goods, and online sellers (including overseas sellers supplying Australian consumers) are within scope.

The framework has several interlocking parts:

• Mandatory safety standards: the Commonwealth minister can impose mandatory standards prescribing requirements for particular goods (around 40 exist, covering products such as toys, children's nightwear, cots, prams, exercise cycles, portable pools, gas appliances and more). Supplying goods that do not comply with an applicable mandatory standard is prohibited.
• Interim and permanent bans: goods can be banned where they are or may become unsafe. Interim bans (up to 18 months, extendable) address emerging risks quickly; permanent bans follow full assessment.
• Recalls: suppliers can conduct voluntary recalls, and the minister can order compulsory recalls. Recall notices follow prescribed requirements and are published on the Product Safety Australia website.
• Consumer guarantees: goods must be of acceptable quality, fit for purpose and safe, with remedies (repair, replacement, refund) for major failures. These guarantees apply regardless of any warranty the business offers.

Key obligations

Comply with mandatory standards. Before supplying goods, check whether a mandatory standard applies to the product type. Standards prescribe design, construction, performance, testing and labelling requirements. Compliance must be verified through testing to the referenced standards; supplier assertions alone are not sufficient.

Mandatory incident reporting (sections 131-132). If you are a supplier (manufacturer, importer, distributor or retailer) and you become aware that a consumer good you supplied was associated with the death or serious injury or illness of any person, you must notify the ACCC within 2 days. This is one of the strictest reporting duties in the world: the trigger is association, not proven causation, and the clock is very short. Businesses need standing procedures to identify and escalate such events.

Conduct recalls properly. Where goods are unsafe, suppliers should conduct voluntary recalls in accordance with ACCC guidance: notify the ACCC, publish the recall notice, identify affected batches, offer an appropriate remedy and report on recall effectiveness. Compulsory recalls can be ordered where voluntary action is inadequate.

Honour consumer guarantees. The guarantee of acceptable quality includes safety: goods must be safe for their normal use. Consumers are entitled to remedies for major failures, and businesses cannot contract out of the guarantees or mislead consumers about their rights.

Information standards. The minister can also set information standards requiring prescribed information (labelling, warnings) for goods, which operate alongside safety standards.

Conformity process

1. Classify: confirm the goods are consumer goods under the ACL and identify any mandatory standard, ban or information standard applying to the type.
2. Test: verify compliance with the mandatory standard through testing to the referenced Australian (or adopted) standards, before supply begins and on an ongoing basis.
3. Label: apply required warnings, age gradings and information disclosures.
4. Set up incident reporting: establish the 2-day ACCC notification procedure with named responsible persons and clear escalation from customer service, warranty and legal teams.
5. Maintain [traceability](/glossary/traceability): keep records of suppliers, batches and customers sufficient to support a recall.
6. Monitor: track complaints, incidents, ACCC priorities and recalls in your category.

Documentation and labelling

• Test reports demonstrating compliance with applicable mandatory standards.
• Supplier declarations and quality agreements.
• Incident reports filed with the ACCC (2-day notifications).
• Recall records: notices, customer communications, remedy records and effectiveness reports.
• Traceability records (batches, distribution).
• Consumer guarantee compliance procedures and staff training records.

Enforcement and penalties

• Civil penalties: since November 2022, the maximum penalty for contraventions of the ACL's product safety and consumer protection provisions is the greater of $50 million, three times the benefit obtained, or 30% of adjusted turnover during the breach period (for corporations); individuals face up to $2.5 million per contravention.
• Compulsory recalls and public warning notices.
• Infringement notices for certain contraventions.
• Criminal offences for the most serious conduct, including for breach of certain safety provisions.
• State and territory regulators enforce alongside the ACCC, conducting inspections and taking local action.

The ACCC publishes annual compliance and enforcement priorities; product safety (including specific categories such as children's products and emerging risks like lithium-ion batteries in e-micromobility devices) regularly features.

Mandatory standards: how they work in practice

A mandatory standard typically does several things at once:

• References a voluntary standard: most mandatory standards adopt an Australian (or joint Australian/New Zealand) standard, sometimes with variations. Compliance means meeting the referenced standard as varied.
• Sets labelling and warnings: age gradings, warnings and instructions are commonly prescribed.
• Defines testing: the standard specifies test methods; businesses must test to those methods, not to approximations.

Practical compliance follows a pattern: identify the standard, obtain the current referenced version (standards are updated, and the mandatory instrument specifies which edition applies), test production-representative samples through a competent laboratory, and re-test on design or material changes. Because standards evolve, subscribe to update notices from Standards Australia and the ACCC for your categories.

Consumer guarantees in practice. The guarantee regime deserves emphasis because it generates more disputes than the safety provisions. Key points:

• Guarantees apply to goods under a threshold value (currently $100,000) bought for personal, domestic or household use, and cannot be excluded by contract.
• For a major failure (including safety defects), the consumer chooses between refund, replacement or compensation; the supplier cannot insist on repair.
• Businesses must not mislead consumers about guarantee rights ("no refunds" signs, for example, are unlawful where guarantees apply).
• Manufacturers as well as suppliers owe guarantees, so importers and brand owners face direct consumer claims.

Staying current

1. Check the Product Safety Australia website for mandatory standards and bans before launching any consumer good; new standards and bans are added periodically.
2. Maintain the 2-day incident reporting procedure as a living process with current ACCC contact details.
3. Monitor ACCC enforcement priorities and recalls in your category to anticipate scrutiny.
4. Review consumer guarantee compliance in marketing, terms and customer service scripts; misleading consumers about guarantee rights is itself a contravention.
5. Build product safety into procurement: require suppliers to warrant compliance with applicable mandatory standards and to notify you of safety issues promptly, since your reporting and recall duties do not wait for supplier cooperation. Document everything thoroughly; enforcement rewards businesses with complete, organised and readily retrievable records at all times.

Frequently asked questions

What triggers the 2-day mandatory report? Becoming aware that consumer goods you supplied were associated with a death, serious injury or serious illness. Association, not proven causation, is the trigger, and the report goes to the ACCC within 2 days.

How many mandatory standards are there? Around 40 mandatory safety standards are in force, covering product types from toys and nursery products to gas appliances and portable pools. The list changes, so check Product Safety Australia for the current set.

What is the difference between a ban and a recall? A ban prohibits supply of the goods (interim bans address emerging risks quickly; permanent bans follow assessment). A recall addresses goods already supplied, requiring consumers to return or remediate them. Both can apply to the same product.

Do the rules apply to overseas online sellers? Yes, where they supply consumer goods to Australian consumers. The ACCC has increasingly focused on online marketplaces, including through a voluntary product safety pledge with major platforms.

What are the penalties for non-compliance? Civil penalties of up to $50 million per contravention for corporations (or three times the benefit, or 30% of turnover), and up to $2.5 million for individuals, alongside recall orders, infringement notices and criminal sanctions for serious conduct. Penalties apply per contravention, so systemic issues multiply exposure quickly.

Sources

• ACCC Product Safety Australia (official hub): https://www.productsafety.gov.au/
• Australian Competition and Consumer Commission: https://www.accc.gov.au/