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• Are you aware if mandatory standards apply to your product and what they are?
• Are you aware of your obligations to report serious injuries, illnesses and deaths to us?
• Do you know how to find out if a product is banned or recalled?

If your small business is selling products or product-related services, you should be aware of the basic rights consumers have when buying a good or service.

These basic rights are called consumer guarantees.

One of these consumer guarantees is that products are of .

Understanding product safety rules

Product safety laws help make sure products are of acceptable quality and safe. Under the law, mandatory safety standards are applied to certain products to minimise safety risks to consumers. Products identified with safety risks can also be banned or recalled.

Product liability laws apply to manufacturers of all products, not only those subject to a mandatory standard. Manufacturers can be found liable and may be required to pay compensation, if their product has a safety defect and a person suffers injuries because of the defect. A safety defect means it doesn’t meet the level of safety the public is entitled to expect. It doesn't matter whether the manufacturer was aware of the defect.

Determining when a product is unsafe

Products you supply should be of an acceptable quality, which includes being safe. Products can be unsafe even though they are not defective. Several factors are taken into consideration when determining whether a product is safe. These include the expected uses of the product, age of the product, price and features of the product, and instructions and warnings accompanying the product.

Mandatory standards and how to comply

detail the safety or information features that are required for certain products to be legally supplied in the Australian market. These features can relate to performance, composition, design, construction, packaging, labelling and more.

People often think that all products sold in Australia must meet safety standards.

This isn’t correct. Mandatory standards and are only made when evidence shows a high risk of serious injury, serious illness or death related to a product.

All products that have mandatory standards must comply before being supplied in Australia.

Check our .

How to comply with mandatory standards

If the product you supply does have a mandatory standard you need to read it and make sure you understand and comply with the requirements.

There are actions your business can take to help you comply with product safety mandatory standards. Find out how to:

• .

Product bans and how to comply

can be placed on products or product-related services if there’s a risk of serious injury, serious illness or death.

There are 2 types of bans: interim or permanent. An interim ban lasts for 60 days and can be extended by an additional 60 days. It can be ordered at the state/territory level or nationally by the Commonwealth Minister. A permanent ban can only be ordered by the Commonwealth Minister.

How to comply with bans

If any of your products or product-related services are banned, you must not sell or supply them. This includes if you are importing or selling products from overseas. Make sure you .

It is also against the law to manufacture, possess or have control of a banned product. If you’re aware of any banned or unsafe products being supplied in Australia, you can .

If you become aware that you are supplying a banned or unsafe product, you must:

1. immediately stop supplying the product
2. and let consumers know
3. within 2 days of taking recall action.

Product recalls and how to comply

If a product is dangerous, unsafe or harms people, suppliers are expected to undertake a voluntary recall. 

A responsible Minister can also initiate a compulsory recall. If the Minister initiates a compulsory recall, it is an offence for businesses to sell the product that is subject to the recall (including any existing stock).

How to comply with recalls

If you become aware of an unsafe product you need to act. Your business is responsible for quickly removing the risk to public safety when a product is unsafe. You will need to remove the product from sale, contact consumers, and publicly offer to repair, replace or refund the product.

You must tell us about your recall for a product you have supplied that will or may impact people’s safety within 2 days of taking a recall action.

We provide . These can help you:

• determine if a recall is needed
• how to initiate a voluntary recall
• prepare and plan for the recall.

Online and second-hand products

Make sure you online including new and second-hand products or through a marketplace store. You are still required to follow Australian product safety laws as an online small business or when selling second-hand products. This includes checking the product complies with product safety requirements.

Mandatory reporting of serious injuries or death

If your business becomes aware of any product-related death, serious injury or serious illness involving a product it has supplied, you must . A mandatory report must be made within 2 days of the supplier becoming aware of a reportable incident, even if the business is not certain that their product caused the incident. A mandatory report of an incident is not an admission of liability by your business.

When you don’t comply

If you fail to comply with the mandatory standards, bans, product recall or incident reporting requirements you may face enforcement action that attracts under the Australian Consumer Law.

Learn more about .