Mandatory reporting

Mandatory reporting was introduced by the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) on 1 January 2011.

Do I need to make a mandatory report?

Suppliers are required to report the death or serious injury or illness of any person:

• that they become aware of and
• that someone believes was caused by the use of a consumer good and
• they supply those goods or provide a related service for those goods.

Am I a supplier?

All participants in the supply chain of a consumer good are required to comply with the reporting requirement. This includes a retailer, dealer, hirer, distributor, installer, repairer, importer, manufacturer and/or exporter of the consumer goods in question.

Similarly, all participants in the supply chain for product related services linked to the goods that are associated with the death, injury or illness are required to report the incident. This could include installers and service technicians.

What does serious injury or illness mean?

Serious illness or injury means an acute physical injury or illness requiring medical or surgical treatment by, or under the supervision of, a qualified doctor or nurse.

How do I make a mandatory report?

A supplier is required to submit a report within two days of becoming aware of a reportable incident.

You can do this using the ACCC's online form, which is available from this page.

If you are unable to submit the online form please contact the ACCC on 1300 302 502.

More information

For more information on mandatory reporting, please read the Mandatory Reporting Guidelines.

The ACCC presented a free breakfast webinar on 12 November 2010 on the product safety provisions of the ACL. Broadcast live, the webinar focussed on mandatory reporting, as well as the new recalls guidelines.