When a mandatory report is required
A death, serious injury or serious illness was caused
You must submit a mandatory report if you or any other person believes that the consumer good or product related service you supplied caused a death, serious injury or serious illness. This may be the affected person.
Serious injury or illness means:
- the physical injury or illness is acute (it arose suddenly as opposed to gradually developing over time) and is brief and severe. An acute injury or illness is not chronic or an aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- the physical injury or illness requires medical or surgical treatment
- that treatment was provided under the supervision of a medical practitioner or a nurse.
Report even when the good was misused
You must submit a report even if the consumer good was not used in the intended way (misused) if the misuse was foreseeable.
For example, a consumer who purchases a chair and stands on the seat to change a light bulb. This would be a foreseeable misuse because even though this is not the intended use of the chair, it is not unforeseeable that a consumer might use the chair in this way.
Related ACCC action
ACCC v Woolworths Ltd
In February 2016, Woolworths Ltd (Woolworths) was fined $3.057 million for knowingly selling unsafe goods. A portion of this fine ($57,000) was in relation to its failure to lodge 8 mandatory reports on time.
The court declared that Woolworths contravened the Australian Consumer Law in various ways, including by failing to report serious injuries on 8 occasions, within 2 days of becoming aware that serious injuries may have been caused by their products.
The defects in Woolworths’ products caused several serious injuries. For example:
- when the handle of a deep fryer broke during use it caused burns from hot oil
- when a drain cleaner had a defective cap on the bottle, it caused chemical burns, including to a young child.
Deadline to complete the report
You must submit a report within 2 days of becoming aware that a consumer good or product related service you supply caused or may have caused a death, serious injury, or serious illness.
You can ‘become aware’ of the death, serious injury or serious illness in many ways. This includes from a consumer, media, social media, a repairer or insurer, an expert report or a government agency.
Regardless of how you become aware, you must submit a mandatory report within 2 days.
If the day the report is due falls on a weekend or public holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.
| Day you become aware | Deadline to report (by 11:59 pm) |
|---|---|
| Monday | Wednesday |
| Tuesday | Thursday |
| Wednesday | Friday |
| Thursday | Monday |
| Friday | Monday |
| Saturday | Monday |
| Sunday | Tuesday |
Related ACCC action
ACCC v Thermomix In Australia Pty Ltd
In April 2018, Thermomix In Australia Pty Ltd (Thermomix) was fined a total of $4.6 million by the Federal Court for various contraventions of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) in relation to its Thermomix kitchen appliances.
A portion of this fine ($108,500) was in relation to a failure to lodge 14 mandatory reports within 2 days of becoming aware of the serious injuries caused by Thermomix kitchen appliances.
Some of the mandatory reports were submitted a few days late and, in one case, a mandatory report was 3 years overdue. In each of the 14 incidents Thermomix users suffered severe burn injuries requiring some form of medical treatment.
The Federal Court also found that Thermomix breached the Australian Consumer Law in other ways, including by making false or misleading representations to certain consumers through its silence about a safety issue affecting its TM31 appliance, which Thermomix knew about.
Thermomix was aware that there was a potential risk of injury to users from the TM31 appliance’s lid lifting, which could result in hot food or liquid coming out from the mixing bowl and causing severe injuries to the user. Thermomix did not disclose this risk until several months later.
Assess if you need to submit a report
A mandatory report must be submitted if there was a death, serious injury or serious illness.
What makes an injury or illness serious
Injury or illness is acute
This means that it arose suddenly and is brief and severe. It didn't develop gradually over time.
An acute injury or illness is not chronic or an aggravation of a pre-existing condition.
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Injury or illness requires treatment
Injury or illness requires medical or surgical treatment.
+
Treatment received by nurse or medical practitioner
Treatment was provided by or under the supervision of a medical practitioner or nurse.
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Mandatory report required within 2 days
If all these conditions are met, you must make a mandatory report within 2 days.
Tools to help suppliers assess if an incident needs reporting
This flowchart can help suppliers to assess whether an incident requires a mandatory report.
Questions suppliers can ask of the person reporting an incident. They can help the supplier to assess if the incident requires a mandatory report.
You can voluntarily report an incident
Even if you assess you are not legally required to submit mandatory report, the ACCC strongly encourages you to adopt the best practice approach of voluntary reporting. This includes reporting incidents that could have caused a death, serious injury or serious illness but did not in that instance.
Find out more about submitting voluntary reports.