Bußgelder wegen Verstoß gegen australische Produktsicherheitsstandards

Definition

Under the Australian Consumer Law, suppliers (including manufacturers and importers) must not supply products that fail to meet any applicable **mandatory safety standards** for their category (e.g. bicycles, helmets, exercise equipment, button‑battery powered devices). Products must meet specific performance, design, construction, packaging and labelling requirements before they can legally be sold in Australia.[5][6][9] Sporting goods are explicitly listed as products that must comply with product safety requirements, and businesses are advised to verify against Product Safety Australia’s listed standards.[3][4] Failure to comply exposes companies to ACL civil penalties, compulsory recalls and compensation actions. Since 1 September 2018, the maximum ACL civil penalty for a body corporate has been the greater of AUD 10 million, three times the value of the benefit, or 10% of annual turnover (where the benefit cannot be determined), meaning even a single systemic safety breach can result in multi‑million‑dollar exposure.[5] Even where regulators impose smaller negotiated penalties, typical SME enforcement actions and rectification undertakings often fall in the tens of thousands of dollars per matter, plus legal and recall costs. For a mid‑size sporting‑goods manufacturer, one significant non‑compliance event every 3–5 years with a conservative combined cost of ~AUD 150,000 (investigation, recall execution, write‑offs and compensation) equates to an expected annualised financial risk of ~AUD 30,000. Logic‑based estimation: assume at least AUD 25,000–50,000 per formal enforcement/recall event for SMEs (penalties, legal and operational costs), with larger players facing much higher amounts due to turnover‑linked penalty caps.

Why This Matters

The Pitch: Sporting goods manufacturers in Australia 🇦🇺 risk penalties in the range of AUD 2,500–50,000+ per infringement and six‑figure recall costs when product safety testing and certification are managed manually. Automation of standards mapping, lab‑test orchestration and documentation control can eliminate most non‑compliance risk and associated penalties.

Affected Stakeholders

Head of Compliance, Quality Assurance Manager, Regulatory Affairs Manager, Head of Product, CFO, General Counsel

Related Business Risks