Changes to the Australian Consumer Laws - Part 8 - Single national product safety regime

Business Law: 23 March 2019

A number of changes have been made to the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (TPA) as Australian Consumer Law (ACL) reforms have been progressively implemented, with the final portion commencing on 1 January 2011. In addition to these changes the TPA has been renamed the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA).This is the 8th a series of blogs summarising the changes and the implications for businesses operating in Australia.

Single national product safety regime

The ACL establishes a national product safety system for Australia. As part of this new framework the Commonwealth alone will have the power to make product safety standards and permanent safety bans (though states and territories will be able to implement short-term interim bans). This power may only be exercised where the relevant minister believes the goods or services in question pose a risk of injury to any person through their normal use or reasonably foreseeable misuse.