What is the difference between Australian standards and mandatory standards?

There are two key differences between voluntary standards (including Australian and international) and mandatory standards:

1. It is legal to supply products in Australia that do not meet voluntary Australian standards, while mandatory standards are law and there are penalties and consequences for supplying products that do not comply with them.
2. While Australian voluntary standards may address a range of issues that are not safety related, mandatory safety standards should only address essential safety features.

Often, but not always, the requirements of a mandatory standard are based on an existing voluntary standard.

It is illegal to claim that a product meets either voluntary or mandatory standards when it does not.

For more information, see the page on mandatory standards.