How to submit a mandatory report

  • You must complete the report to the best of your knowledge within 2 days of becoming aware of the incident. You can provide further information later.
  • Mandatory reports are confidential and not an admission of liability. 
  • Some incidents must be reported to a different agency.
Make a mandatory report

Deadline for reporting

Once you become aware of a death, serious injury or serious illness, you have 2 full days to make a report. If the day your 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 11:59PM)
Monday Wednesday 
Tuesday Thursday
Wednesday Friday
Thursday Monday
Friday Monday
Saturday Monday
Sunday Tuesday

Information you will be asked for

  • Your contact details
  • Details of the supplier responsible for the product
  • Product details, including origin, country of manufacture, intended age group, identifying numbers
  • Where and when the goods were supplied
  • Photographs
  • Description of incidents (date, location, when a supplier became aware, and onset of symptoms or illness or injury)
  • Details of the affected person
  • Details of the businesses where the good was sold or consumed
  • What actions a supplier has taken regarding the product or service in question

Remember, you must complete the report to the best of your knowledge within 2 days. You can provide further information later and are not required to verify or substantiate any of the information prior to making a report.

See also: Sample questions to find out about an incident

Submit your report

You can submit your report to the Commonwealth Minister using our online form. It takes about 15 minutes.

If you are unable to submit the online form, please contact the ACCC on 1300 302 502 or email mandatoryreporting@accc.gov.au.

When you need to report to another agency

Some incidents do not require a mandatory report under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) because the incident must be reported to another agency under a law or industry code.

This includes:

  • agricultural and veterinary chemicals
  • biological agents
  • food-borne infectious diseases
  • reporting deaths to a coroner
  • road vehicle accidents on public roads.

List of other agencies

Related ACCC action

ACCC v Woolworths Ltd

In February 2016, Woolworths Ltd (Woolworths) was fined $3,057,000 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 ACL 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, and when a drain cleaner had a defective cap on the bottle, it caused chemical burns, including to a young child.

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