Selling safe products and electrical products to consumers

Your responsibilities as a business

Consumers have the right to expect that goods they buy are safe. As a business, all goods you supply or sell must be free from defects that could harm consumers. The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) requires safety standards to be met before certain goods are sold. These standards include:

• the way the good is made
• what it contains
• how it works
• what tests it needs to pass, or
• whether any warnings or instructions need to accompany the good.

Penalties for breaching mandatory safety or information standards

It is illegal to sell products:

• that breach mandatory safety or information standards, or
• permanently banned as illegal.

Penalties for breaching the ACL mandatory standards are up to:

• $2.5 million for individuals can be up to $2.5 million
• $50 million for corporations, or 3 times the value of the received benefit, or 30% of the body corporate’s adjusted turnover during the breach turnover period if the court cannot determine the value of that benefit.
   

Penalties for breaching the ACL information standards are:

• $2.5 million for
• $50 million for a body corporate, or 3 times the value of the received benefit, or 30% of the body corporate’s adjusted turnover during the breach turnover period if the court cannot determine the value of that benefit.

Gas and electrical products must also comply with additional laws to ensure these products are safe to use.

Download the consumer product safety - a guide for businesses and legal practitioners or the product safety guide for business (in 3 languages) for more information.

Things to check for before supplying a product or product-related service

Do not risk supplying or selling unsafe products. This includes everyone in the supply chain. Do your research and ask the following questions.

Check to see if anything you are selling is banned

Review the lists of products that are banned and regulated under mandatory standards at the Product Safety Australia website. Also review the list of products affected by information standards.

Check to see if anything you are selling has been recalled

Visit the recalls section of the Product Safety Australia website for all current recalls. You can also subscribe to receive email updates for the goods you sell.

Contact the peak industry body or association for product safety information

Contacting peak industry or association bodies may provide useful product safety information for your industry. Find your industry association by searching the Directory of government and business associations.

Consider liability insurance for your business

Liability insurance provides cover against claims where the goods you have sold or supplied have caused injury, death or damage. Visit the liability insurance page on the Business website for more information.

Keep accurate business records and identify individual products in your invoices

Your invoices may help provide details of the supplier if a product you have sold:

• does not comply with a mandatory standard, or
• is banned.

Ask the supplier to provide a certificate showing the product has been tested to meet Australian mandatory or voluntary safety standards

You can find listing for mandatory safety standards for general consumer products on Product Safety Australia.

For voluntary Australian standards, you can find listings on:

• Standards Australia
• SAI Global via a purchase form.

You can also ask a supplier for a test report confirming that the product you are buying to on-sell meets applicable Australian standards.

Have a copy of a current approval certificate for the gas appliance or declared electrical article from a supplier

The approval certificate is important because it shows the product meets the current mandatory standard and is approved for sale.

Mandatory reporting

You must report to the Commonwealth Minister within 2 days if you become aware that a good or product-related service you have supplied or sold has caused or may have caused:

• death
• serious injury, or
• illness to any person.

Visit the mandatory injury report page on the Product Safety Australia website for the online Mandatory Reporting Form and the Mandatory Reporting Guidelines.

Product recalls

Products are recalled if they are:

• found to be unsafe, or
• likely to cause injury through reasonably foreseeable use or misuse.

Many suppliers voluntarily initiate their own recalls after becoming aware that one or more of their products presents a safety risk. Voluntary product recalls may also be negotiated by:

• NSW Fair Trading, or
• other regulators.

Under the ACL, suppliers are required to notify the Commonwealth Minister responsible for competition and consumer policy within 2 days of initiating a voluntary recall action.

Notifications about voluntary recalls can be submitted online via the Product Safety Australia website, where suppliers can also get guidance about how to conduct a recall.

Under some circumstances, the Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading of New South Wales can issue a compulsory recall notice to NSW consumers and suppliers, and the Commonwealth Minister responsible for competition and consumer policy can do the same Australia-wide.

For a list of recalls across Australia, and for information about conducting a recall, go to the recalls section of the Product Safety Australia website.

Electrical appliances

Electrical appliances must comply with mandatory safety standards and be designed and manufactured so they will not cause:

• electric shock
• injury
• death, or
• fire damage during normal use.

The Electrical and Gas Approvals Team of Building Commission NSW administers:

• compulsory pre-sale certification for specific types of electrical appliances, and
• voluntary certification for all other electrical products.

Visit certification of electrical articles for more information.

NSW Fair Trading, along with the Building Commission NSW administers a:

• compulsory pre-sale approval process for specific types of electrical articles known as ‘declared articles’, and
• voluntary approval process for all other electrical articles referred to as ‘non-declared articles’.

The Electrical & Gas Unit of NSW Fair Trading Specialist Services also:

• investigates complaints and accidents relating to the failure of equipment or installations, and
• conducts audits and proactive marketplace checks to detect the appearance of unsafe or unapproved electrical appliances or products, including items sold online.

NSW Fair Trading also regularly carries out investigations in the marketplace to check for any unapproved or unsafe electrical products that are on sale.

Gas appliances

All portable gas appliances and appliances connected to a gas supply point must be certified to comply with mandatory safety standards. It is illegal to:

• sell uncertified gas appliances, and
• connect uncertified gas appliances to a gas network.

Go to the gas safety page for more information.

Reporting unsafe products

If you become aware of an unsafe situation or item, whether anyone has been injured, you should alert the supplier about the issue. You can also report it by

• lodging a complaint with us, or
• via the Product Safety Australia website.