Children’s Week celebrates the right of children to enjoy childhood. The theme for Children’s Week 2023 is Children have the right to relax, play and take part in activities they enjoy (based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child). Children’s Week is a national celebration that recognises the talents, skills, achievements, and rights of children. During Children’s Week, local councils, not-for-profit organisations, schools, and early childhood services organise open days, displays, special events, virtual spaces, and online-based activities. Find out more about Children’s Week and celebrations near you here.
Every year in Australia, an estimated 2,500 children under three years old present to hospital emergency departments because of injuries from unsuitable or dangerous toys. The ACCC will enforce the new toy safety standard which will make it mandatory for all toys marketed at children under three to adhere to strict design and testing requirements ensuring toys do not contain small parts. The standard also seeks to better protect Australian children from the risks of batteries by child?proofing toys that contain batteries. This goes to ensuring, in particular, that button batteries cannot easily be taken out of toys and swallowed. Button batteries are commonly found in children’s toys and, if ingested, cause catastrophic injury or even death.
Consumers Federation of Australia (CFA) engages with these issues by supporting CFA representatives to participate on Standards Australia technical committees such as CS-018 Safety of children’s toys, CS-118 button batteries, CS-310 Child care articles and CS-085 child restraints for use in motor vehicles; developing standards i.e. documents established by consensus that provide rules, guidelines or characteristics for products, services and systems that we use every day. CFA representatives ensure the impact on consumers is always a central part of committee considerations. You can view a standard free of charge in the Standards Australia Reader Room which provides limited access i.e. ability to view three (3) unique standards in one calendar year for a 24 hr period, find out how to access here.
Find out more about the CFA Standards Project and how you can get involved and make a difference.