All products must be safe for their intended purpose. Some high-risk products cannot be sold unless they meet certain standards.
It is illegal to sell any product that doesn't meet a safety standard.
Safety standards are about:
- how the product is made or processed
- what it contains
- how it works
- what warnings or instructions must come with it.
The standards make sure products:
- are safe for their intended use
- help prevent injuries from unsafe goods.
Information safety standards
Product information helps people to make choices about what they buy. Information standards set the type and amount of information which is usually found on the product label.
These standards may:
- list what information must be provided
- set the method for the information
- give a meaning to information.
Businesses that sell goods and services in Australia must:
- be aware of standards for goods and services
- act on all safety and information standards.
For a list of safety and information standards visit Product Safety Australia.
Business responsibilities
Suppliers, manufacturers, importers, distributors, hirers and retailers selling goods and services within Australia must:
- ensure goods and services they supply comply with relevant safety and information standards
- be familiar with the standards relevant to those goods and services.
For a full list of existing safety and information standards visit Product Safety Australia
Mandatory standards
Four mandatory standards have been introduced to reduce the risk of death and injury associated with the use of button and coin batteries. The requirements of the mandatory standards are applicable to both button cell and coin cell batteries. For more on the mandatory standards Button & coin batteries | Product Safety Australia
The new standards require that products that contain button batteries must have secure battery compartments to prevent children from gaining access to the batteries. Manufacturers must also undertake compliance testing to demonstrate batteries are secure, supply higher risk batteries in child-resistant packaging, and place additional warnings and emergency advice on packaging and instructions.
The new standards include an 18-month transition period to allow suppliers time to implement any manufacturing and design changes to products and packaging to comply with the new requirements. The standards become mandatory in June 2022.