Information standards regulate the type and amount of information provided to consumers about goods and services.

The Commonwealth minister responsible for administering the Australian Consumer Law can:

• make new information standards
• declare an existing state or territory standard as a national information standard.

An information standard for goods or services can:

• require particular information to be provided, or not
• set the form or manner of this information
• give a certain meaning to information.

The Australian Consumer Law recognises the following mandatory information standards:

• fibre content labelling of textile products - labels must state the various percentages of different fibres, such wool or cotton, in the textile
• care labelling for clothing and textile products - labels should include appropriate instructions to help consumers care for the item
• ingredient labelling of cosmetics and toiletries - labels must state the ingredients to help consumers compare products, identify ingredients and avoid adverse reactions.

Australian governments can also regulate consumer goods or product-related services by imposing mandatory safety standards. For more information, see our product safety section.

Business responsibilities

A business must:

• ensure goods and services it supplies complies with relevant information standards, if sold within Australia
• be familiar with information standards relevant to those goods and services.

For example - complying with mandatory information standards. A retailer sold imported dresses not properly labelled with instructions for washing, dry-cleaning and ironing. The retailer was fined because the labels did not contain all instructions required by the information standard.