Product Safety Archives - Page 6 of 20 - Consumers' Federation of Australia

20 June , 2023

Infant Inclined Product and Sudden Death

Infant incline products may be marketed for sleep, however they are unsafe for babies to sleep in. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) advises reports indicate 151 babies in Australia have died in inclined products such as rockers, bouncers, and on propped items.

13 June , 2023

Button Battery Awareness Day 12th June 2023

Australia’s first International Button Battery Awareness Day aims to spread further awareness about the dangers of button batteries among schools, parents, caregivers and childhood educators through the delivery of an educational program designed for early childhood and primary school aged children. In Australia, around 20 children a week present to an emergency department with a button…

24 February , 2023

Product Safety Pledge removes thousands of dangerous items from online marketplaces

More than 15,000 potentially unsafe products were delisted by online marketplaces signed up to the ACCC’s Australian Product Safety Pledge last financial year, with 98 per cent of regulator-initiated take down requests actioned within 2 days. Pledge signatories also used artificial intelligence, image recognition and automated scanning to prevent hundreds of thousands of unsafe products…

7 December , 2022

Feedback sought on ways to smother fire risks linked to lithium-ion batteries

The ACCC is seeking input on ways to reduce the significant fire and safety risks associated with lithium-ion batteries, which can overheat or explode, particularly when used, charged or stored incorrectly. An issues paper published today, will help the ACCC to better understand the risks posed by lithium-ion batteries and inform recommendations to reduce the…

24 November , 2022

Quad bike safety checks show improved compliance

Ninety-four per cent of new quad bikes assessed by Australia’s consumer law regulators were compliant with the national safety standard that has been in force since October last year, a nationwide surveillance program has found. The ACCC worked with state and territory consumer protection and work health and safety agencies to conduct a second annual…

21 November , 2022

ACCC warns consumers about potentially deadly solar batteries

The ACCC will be directly contacting almost 5,000 households that are likely to have energy solar systems with dangerous LG solar batteries in the coming weeks, to continue efforts to raise awareness about safety recalls. The batteries, which may be branded LG, SolaX, Opal, Redback, Red Earth, Eguana, and VARTA, can overheat and catch fire,…

21 November , 2022

ACCC Product Safety Priorities Survey 2023-24

Each year, the ACCC identifies Product Safety Priorities to minimise and raise awareness of the risks posed by unsafe consumer goods. The priorities are key areas of focus that are set annually in addition to our core functions. This year we are interested in your views on the work we are conducting under our current…

28 September , 2022

Have your say: New online safety industry codes

Six industry associations that represent the online industry in Australia have published new online safety codes for public consultation. This item is from Online Safety. Australia’s Online Safety Act 2021, which came into effect in January 2022, requires the development of codes by industry associations to regulate certain types of harmful online material, known as Class 1A…

22 August , 2022

Red alert for dangerous infant mattresses

The following is a piece by Dr Ron Somers (PhD) former external senior lecturer in public health at the University of Adelaide, former director of epidemiology at SA Health, and a long-time GP practice manager. Ron is also the CFA Standards Representative on two Standards Australia Technical Committees. Australian consumers need to exercise caution over the coming…

12 August , 2022

ACCC seeks to reduce infant sleep product risks to help keep babies safe

The ACCC is seeking feedback on ways to reduce significant safety risks associated with products commonly used to place babies to sleep. A consultation paper published today, outlines a range of proposed regulatory options which aim to prevent infant injuries and deaths caused by inclined and other products when used for sleep. This is a media release from the Australian…

8 August , 2022

Consumer Check-in: Expectations in 2022

ACCAN recently commissioned research asking the Australian public about their top concerns when it comes to their communications services. This is a media release from the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN). It was originally published on 27th July, 2022. We surveyed nearly 1000 (n=998) Australians on a range of topics. We asked people about the affordability and…

8 August , 2022

ACCC launches Your First Steps to help parents keep their baby safe

Parents and carers can get the latest, most reliable information on best practices to keep their baby safe and unsafe products, as part of a new ACCC initiative. Your First Steps, launched today by the ACCC, is a dedicated website, where parents and carers can go for safety advice on how they can protect their…