What the ACCC does

  • We analyse and update mandatory product safety standards.
  • We identify which Australian or overseas standards might be suitable to reference in our mandatory standards.

What the ACCC can't do

  • We don’t resolve individual complaints about unsafe products.
  • We don’t give legal advice, approve or test products for safety or compliance with mandatory standards.

On this page

How mandatory standards are made

Certain products supplied in Australia must meet the requirements of a mandatory standard.

Mandatory standards are made and amended by the Commonwealth Minister. They are a key part of Australia’s product safety framework. The ACCC undertakes reviews of mandatory standards and can recommend changes for the minister’s decision.

Mandatory standards include requirements about:

  • performance
  • composition
  • methods of manufacture or processing
  • design
  • construction
  • packaging
  • labelling.

Mandatory standards often reference voluntary standards, or parts of these voluntary standards, from Australia or overseas. This means that some or all of the requirements of a voluntary standard become part of the mandatory standard.

Updating mandatory standards

In late 2024, the Australian Consumer Law was amended to allow mandatory standards to reference a greater variety of voluntary standards. This includes updates to these voluntary standards that happen from time-to-time, known as ambulatory references.

These reforms will allow mandatory standards to be updated to give businesses more options for how they comply with mandatory standards. This will help reduce businesses compliance costs.

This may lead to lower prices and greater product choice for consumers, without a reduction in safety.

Review of mandatory standards

From July 2025 the ACCC will review some mandatory standards.

These reviews will focus on increasing compliance options and adding ambulatory references where appropriate. These will be expedited reviews.

We are choosing mandatory standards for expedited review based on:

  • whether there are relevant overseas or international standards that could be referenced to maintain or improve consumer safety
  • stakeholder interest
  • how long since the standard was last reviewed
  • the potential compliance cost savings for business.

The first mandatory standards to be reviewed focus on products for infants and young children:

After a review, we can recommend mandatory standard amendments to the minister.

Consulting on proposed changes

We will use our consultation hub so stakeholders can provide their views about proposed changes to each of the mandatory standards we review.

We will consult on:

  • which voluntary standards should be referenced in a mandatory standard
  • how voluntary standards should be referenced.

We will also consult on appropriate transition periods to allow businesses to:

  • sell existing stock
  • make manufacturing and design changes
  • undertake testing to ensure compliance.

Subscribe for product safety news to find out when mandatory standard consultations open.

See also

Mandatory standards

Product safety priorities