What role does the ACCC play in product standards in Australia?

The ACCC Small business & the Competition and Consumer Act guide is designed to help small businesses understand their key rights and responsibilities under the Act. It is important that you understand and meet your obligations under the Act so that you do not break the law.

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Product safety priorities
Product Safety Australia website
Australian product safety system
More information

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Product safety regulation in Australia is a shared responsibility between the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the states and territories.

Our role

The ACCC's role is to identify and address the risk of serious injury and death from safety hazards in consumer products.

We use an intelligence-led approach to assess current and emerging safety risks. We review a range of data sources to identify issues that may present a safety concern, including mandatory reports of serious illness, injury or death, recalls that have taken place internationally, and information received from the community.

We assess information received and, where warranted, take action including:

negotiating the recall of goods
educating industry and consumers
negotiating voluntary changes to packaging labelling or product design
working to introduce changes to voluntary or mandatory requirements
introducing and/or working to implement changes to product safety mandatory standards and bans.

We are also developing criteria for accepting international product safety standards and risk assessments. This is in line with the Australian Government’s Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda.

Product safety priorities

The ACCC Product Safety Priorities policy sets out the principles adopted by the ACCC for prioritising and addressing product safety risks.

Product Safety Australia website

The Product Safety Australia website is managed by the ACCC on behalf of Commonwealth, state and territory product safety regulators.

The website provides a single entry point for recalled products, directing consumers to the appropriate regulator. It also provides a range of safety information across various product categories, as well as enabling consumers to report unsafe products.

Businesses can find out about any laws, bans, standards or restrictions that may apply when supplying products in Australia. It also enables businesses to submit product recalls, mandatory injury reports and other information required by law.

Australian product safety system

To ensure products work safely and are compliant with the Australian Consumer Law, the Australian product safety system relies on the cooperation of consumers, suppliers, and government agencies.

See:

Australian product safety system
Who regulates what

More information

About the ACCC
ACCC Compliance & enforcement policy

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is an independent Commonwealth statutory authority. We are Australia’s competition and consumer regulator. We promote competition and fair trading and regulate national infrastructure to make markets work for everyone.

We can:

accept and record your reports of information about business practices and behaviours that are of concern to you. We will respond to your report where we have information that may help you, or you have asked a question about your rights or obligations under the law.
provide you with information about your rights under the law via the ACCC website, ACCC publications or when you contact our Infocentre. Where relevant, written responses are provided within 15 working days.
provide general guidance about the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and refer you to the ACCC’s website and our publications for further information
refer you to another agency if your issue doesn’t fall under the responsibilities of the ACCC
provide information about product safety recalls and mandatory standards
provide information about the ACCC and what enforcement action we've taken
investigate alleged breaches of the Act (where it meets our Compliance and enforcement policy priorities) and take enforcement or compliance action, where appropriate.

We can't:

act on your behalf or provide you with legal advice on your rights and obligations under the law
make formal decisions on whether a person or business had breached the law as only the courts can do this
regulate or set the prices for goods or services such as groceries or fuel
provide dispute resolution services between consumers and businesses.

We do not:

ordinarily comment on the level of complaints about particular businesses or the status of any ongoing investigation. Where we do, this is as a publicly available statement.

Consumers
Service Charter
Compliance and enforcement policy

The ACCC promotes competition and fair trade in markets to benefit consumers, businesses, and the community. We also regulate national infrastructure services.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is an independent Commonwealth statutory authority whose role is to enforce the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and a range of additional legislation, promoting competition, fair trading and regulating national infrastructure for the benefit of all Australians.

The ACCC has a Chair, 2 Deputy Chairs, and 4 Commissioners. Their appointment to the ACCC involves participation by the Commonwealth, and state and territory governments.

The ACCC members are collectively referred to as the Commission and meet regularly to make decisions on matters investigated by the ACCC. The meetings are usually chaired by the Chair and must include at least two of the full-time members.

We need to adhere to relevant legislation and standards, produce an annual report, and report on activities.

The ACCC is an independent statutory authority that enforces the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (previously the Trade Practices Act 1974) and other legislation.

The ACCC is an independent statutory authority with the following organisational structure.

Our Service Charter sets out the role of the ACCC and standard of service you can expect to receive from us.