Product safety
Product safety and the Australian Consumer LawFair Trading is in the process of updating its product safety pages on this website with the introduction of the Australian Consumer Law from 1 January 2011. For more information visit the Product safety information disclaimer page. |
Consumers have the right to expect that the goods they purchase from you will be safe to use. As a business, you have a legal obligation to ensure that the goods you supply are free from defects which may cause injury to consumers.
Fair Trading plays an active role in educating businesses and consumers about product safety and has many publications available on safety and standard issues. It also conducts ongoing marketplace surveys to ensure that products continue to meet acceptable standards. It has and will continue to prosecute suppliers who ignore their responsibilities under the Fair Trading Act.
The Fair Trading Act requires that certain goods must comply with safety requirements before they can be sold, and certain information about a product must be supplied with that product when it is sold. You may also need to give further information to consumers on certain types of products such as clothing (for example - care instructions).
Where problems do occur with a product, Fair Trading has powers to remove unsafe goods from sale. This might include recalling dangerous products or a public warning of a particular defect, or even that the product may be dangerous. Fair Trading can also provide advice on recall procedures.
Selling safe products
Safety and product information laws
General products
Electrical articles
Gas appliances
Children's products
Product recalls
Annual product safety survey results 2011
Unsafe products removed from sale
Fair Trading recently conducted the 2011 product safety surveys to ensure the compliance and safety of general products available in NSW over the busy Christmas trading period. A particular focus of the surveys is on children's toys and electrical products.
View the list and photos of dangerous Christmas toys, novelties, and other products that were removed from store shelves in the lead-up to Christmas 2011 in the annual product safety survey results 2011 in PDF format (size: 1.04mb).
View the list and photos of unapproved or unsafe electrical products 2011 in PDF format (size: 358kb)
View the unsafe toys by children's product category
View the unsafe general products by category
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