Product Safety Priorities for 2025

Australia’s national product safety regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), is one of the most well-respected and active regulators globally. Its policy and enforcement intentions are observed, and at times adopted, throughout the world. The transparency of the organisation also means that both local and global businesses benefit from actively engaging with the agency and tracking its priorities as an indication of likely regulatory trends in Australia and more widely.

The ACCC recently announced its updated compliance and enforcement priorities for 2025-26. The Commission’s Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb provided a keynote speech at the Committee for Economic Development Australia (CEDA) on 20 February 2025 where she provided her latest insights.

According to Cass-Gottlieb, the ACCC has three core pillars of action this year in relation to product safety: robust enforcement, education to increase compliance, and reform . The agency will also place a significant focus on competition in the coming year.

Key product safety concerns

Enforcement priorities

Australia considers its product safety enforcement practice to be robust. Regulators will not preclude litigation to address concerns in cases where the identified risk warrants that response. This is in contrast to the rest of the world, particularly Europe, which has historically been seen as having a gold standard system whose weak link is enforcement. A strong enforcement practice is a defining feature of the Australian product safety regime, a fact well recognised by practices around the world.

For the ACCC, the policy focus in terms of enforcement remains on complex conduct that presents significant harm and is of critical importance to the community and the economy. This includes areas which impact the cost of living, cost of doing business, and the transition to digitalisation and net zero. This reflects the ACCC’s broader focus on sustainability goals and fair markets and competition.

Environmental and sustainability matters

The ACCC emphasises the need for accuracy of any claims regarding the environmental performance of products. The goal is to allow consumers to make informed decisions. The agency also believes that inaccurate or misleading claims are detrimental to consumer trust and to the competitive process. Consumers can’t use positive environmental performance to differentiate between competitors if not all of the statements made by manufacturers are accurate and truthful.

In December 2024, the agency issued a guide on sustainability collaborations designed to help companies understand how to minimize competition law risks when collaborating to improve sustainability outcomes. The publication also lists exemptions that can be applied to business collaborations.

The 2025 environmental priority is greenwashing. The ACCC has several ongoing investigations targeting misleading green claims in the energy, food, fashion, and homewares sectors. The agency is working to ensure that competition on green merits is driving innovation and the transition to greater sustainability.

Focus on safety of products for young children

In 2025-26, the ACCC’s long-standing focus on the safety of products geared toward young children is set to continue. In particular, the enforcement of button battery standards is proposed. Despite some recognised improvements, ongoing concerns remain regarding significant injury risk in this product category.

ACCC enforcement actions in this area will target systemic non-compliance matters. Australia has introduced four mandatory safety and information standards for button and coin batteries and for products that contain these batteries. The scope of the standards includes how the batteries, products, and packaging of these items must be designed and tested, as well as mandatory warning and safety information.

The agency also plans to raise awareness about new infant sleep and toppling furniture safety standards. The ACCC will continue to work closely with manufacturers to encourage compliance. Australia is a global leader in this space with advanced systems to address the issue. Currently it has two mandatory standards in place for infant sleep products, including inclined non-sleep products. These standards apply to the product design, construction, performance, and testing.

The mandatory information standard requires that infant sleep products carry warnings and safety information. These standards aim to reduce the risk of sudden death and injury from products that babies do or may fall asleep in.

Key competition concerns

Unfair trading practices reform

Ongoing reform of laws prohibiting unfair trading practices is another goal for 2025. The ACCC is looking to close the gap in Australia’s consumer laws. Consumers today are more influenced in their purchase decisions by online and offline commerce practices than ever before.

The ACCC has been tracking activities which do not actually breach current laws but nevertheless cause significant harm to consumers and small businesses and erode trust and confidence across entire sectors. In an effort to eradicate these practices, the ACCC is poised to reform and modernise Australia’s consumer laws and align them with international best practices.

The reform would also enhance the standard for business conduct, improving outcomes for economy, businesses, and consumers alike. Globally, consumer protection laws are currently being amended. Requirements are being tightened to create a more pro-consumer environment. However, given Australia’s particular reliance on consumer protection claims as a major source of litigation, these changes are likely to be particularly significant with far-reaching consequences.

Commentary

The ACCC’s practice of articulating its key enforcement goals and priorities on a regular basis is a unique and helpful aspect of the Australian product regulation regime. This practice is in contrast to some jurisdictions where a wealth of regulation exists with minimal guidance as to enforcement practices. Businesses in those regions tend to be critical, particularly when a large number of new obligations is introduced or when they are unable to calibrate their risk and identify the key compliance obligations.

The agency’s focus on the environment, children and other vulnerable users, and enhancing complementary consumer protection laws is in keeping with global trends. However, Australia’s pre-existing enhanced enforcement and litigation practice suggest that any policy changes will have a significant impact on the risk profile of companies operating in the market.

This article was originally published as part of the Sedgwick brand protection Australian Recall Index