Bilingual product safety radio campaign for remote Indigenous communities

Following action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory will benefit from an innovative bilingual consumer radio education program that provides tips about keeping babies safe.

“Broadcasts have been transmitted via Indigenous radio into remote communities of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory providing information in Yolngu Matha and English to parents of young children,” ACCC Northern Territory Regional Director Derek Farrell said.

“Delivering consumer education in an Indigenous language signals that the ACCC is working hard to ensure that Indigenous consumers enjoy their rights under the Australian Consumer Law.”

The broadcasts were funded by G & R Wills Holdings Pty Ltd as part of an undertaking it provided to the ACCC for breaching mandatory product safety standards in relation to baby walkers and strollers supplied into Indigenous communities.

G & R Wills admitted that more than 1,300 baby walkers it supplied from 2009 to 2012 did not have a braking mechanism and did not have required warning labels. The strollers also did not contain general warning labels, and safety harnesses displayed the incorrect warning label.

The majority of the products were supplied in Arnhem Land where Yolgnu Matha is widely spoken.

“Businesses that supply products in remote Indigenous communities should know that the ACCC has a proactive surveillance program and will take enforcement action to protect consumers,” Mr Farrell said.

There are around 8,000 speakers of Yolngu Matha in the Northern Territory, and for those speakers English is likely to be spoken as a second or third language. The broadcasts provide practical information and tips to parents about prams and baby strollers.

As well as the undertaking, G & R Wills also paid three infringement notices, issued by the ACCC, with a combined penalty of $19,800.

The broadcasts are available at http://www.accc.gov.au/media/video-audio

More information about product safety is on this website, or you can call the ACCC Infocentre on 1300 302 502 or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ACCCProdSafety