About us

The ACCC has developed and administers this website on behalf of all Australian consumer product safety regulators:

• Australian Capital Territory Fair Trading
  (Department of Justice and Community Safety, Office of Regulatory Services)
• Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
• Consumer Affairs Victoria
  (Department of Justice)
• New South Wales Fair Trading
• Northern Territory Consumer Affairs
  (Department of Justice) 
• Queensland Fair Trading
• South Australia Office of Consumer and Business Affairs
• Tasmania Fair Trading
  (Department of Justice)
• Western Australia Consumer Protection
  (Department of Commerce)

Many of the images used throughout this website were supplied by Consumer Affairs Victoria.

The website is designed to give consumers, businesses and other interested parties a single entry point to information that helps to minimise risks associated with unsafe products.

We cover information about general consumer products. You will also find links to other agencies responsible for the safety of specific products, such as gas and electrical appliances, food or therapeutic goods.

On this page:

• Product safety in Australia
• Our changing product safety system

Product safety in Australia

Consumers have a right to expect that products they buy work properly without intolerable risk of illness or injury.

Businesses must use quality control measures to ensure that products they supply meet acceptable levels of safety and will not cause harm when used as resonably forseeable, including reasonably forseeable misuse.

Suppliers also have to ensure products meet requirements of relevant mandatory standards and bans.

Consumer product safety regulators monitor the safety of existing and new products on the market. When we find evidence that a consumer product has or could cause serious illness, injury or death we conduct investigations. Depending on the outcome of the investigations, we may issue a mandatory standard or ban designed to reduce risks for consumers.

Most consumer products are safe when used appropriately. That is why relatively few of the many products on the market in Australia are covered by safety regulations.

As a consumer, you can ensure your own safety by:

• only buying products that comply with bans and mandatory standards
• keeping in touch with product recalls through the Recalls Australia website and following instructions for dealing with any recalled products you have
• always following product instructions for assembly and use
• reporting accidents or near misses to us so we can detect any trends with particular products.

Our changing product safety system

The Australian product safety system is currently undergoing great changes.

By January 2011 Australia will have a single law covering product safety. Businesses will appreciate the harmonisation of all state and territory regulations—one set of mandatory standards and permanent bans will apply across the entire country.

State and territory ministers will retain the power to make interim bans in response to emerging local hazards.

These interims bans will only become permanent and national after the ACCC conducts investigations that result in the Commonwealth Minister issuing a permanent ban.

For more information view:

• The product safety system
• Bans, standards & recalls
• Law & conduct
• Safety issues.