Product safety Australia guide to bans and mandatory standards
Check Australian product safety bans, mandatory standards and recalls, then match the legal requirements to your goods before offering them for sale.
Product Safety Australia is the official place to look up consumer product safety requirements and bans. Consumer Affairs Victoria directs business owners there, and says they are responsible for ensuring the products they sell comply with Australian product-safety laws. Check mandatory standards, bans and recalls separately, then compare each relevant legal instrument with your exact product.
A search result alone cannot clear goods for sale. The Victorian regulator's product safety checklist asks about hazards as well as standards, bans and recalls. A blank result is not proof the goods are lawful to supply.
Where to start your product safety check
Use the Product Safety Australia standards and bans search to start looking for relevant measures. Consumer Affairs Victoria's banned products and recalls guidance, updated 5 February 2026, covers recalls as a separate check.
Whether your search begins with "ACCC product safety" or a product name, identify the legal measure behind the result. A mandatory safety standard and a permanent ban have different effects. A recall raises another question: whether the particular goods you hold are affected.
Don't stop at a familiar product name. Read the scope of each relevant measure before deciding whether it covers your goods. The Victorian checklist supports these separate checks. The Australian Consumer Law's product-safety provisions set the legal framework. Neither a search nor a completed checklist amounts to legal clearance.
Mandatory safety standards and bans compared
The Australian Consumer Law, or ACL, sets out these powers and prohibitions in sections 104 to 119.
| Measure | What it means for a supplier |
|---|---|
| Mandatory safety standard | Covered goods must meet the applicable requirements. Section 106 prohibits non-compliant supply and offers for supply. |
| Interim ban | A temporary ban under sections 109 to 113. A Commonwealth ban applies nationally. A state or territory ban applies only in that jurisdiction, under section 110. |
| Permanent ban | Made by the Commonwealth Minister under sections 114 to 117. Section 115 applies it in all states and territories. Section 117 allows revocation. |
Under section 104, a safety standard can address design, construction, composition, packaging, testing, markings, warnings and instructions. Those powers do not tell you what an individual product must satisfy. For that, read the applicable mandatory instrument. The ACL text provides the legal framework, not a single specification for every consumer product.
An interim ban does not automatically last 120 days. Section 111 provides an initial 60-day period and extensions of up to 30 days twice. The further extension involves the Commonwealth, and the Act includes a deemed-extension rule. Check the actual ban and any extensions rather than calculating an assumed expiry date. A permanent ban does not expire because 60 days have passed, and it does not have to follow an interim ban. These rules appear in ACL sections 111 and 114 to 117.
These statutory ban-making powers belong to Ministers. Searching for ACCC product safety does not mean the ACCC itself makes these bans.
How to check a product before supply
Identify the exact goods
Start with the product you intend to supply, not just its catalogue heading. Record its model, intended use, users and physical features. Use that description when comparing it with the wording of a standard or ban.
The need for this comparison is concrete. Section 106 prohibits non-compliant supply, and offers for supply, of goods covered by a mandatory safety standard. Sections 118 and 119 address compliance with a ban. A broad sales label cannot resolve that scope question. Keep the legal description beside the product specification while you check. Record which features match and which need further review before reaching a decision.
Check standards, bans and recalls separately
Follow the separate checks in the Victorian market checklist: look for a mandatory safety standard, a permanent or interim ban, and a recall. Its scope includes specified new and used products. Selling a specified product second-hand does not remove those questions. Check the territory covered by an interim ban before drawing a national conclusion.
Keep the questions separate in your own review notes. Finding a relevant safety standard does not answer whether a ban or recall also affects the goods. The same checklist asks about hazards, including choking, entrapment, burns and falls. Do not drop that assessment because the register search returns nothing.
Read the applicable legal instrument
To apply the ACL framework, open each relevant instrument. Read its product description and commencement provisions. Check for exceptions or transition periods, where provided. Review amendments and status information before relying on an old copy. Keep a note of the version reviewed, the product model and any scope questions still unresolved.
For an interim ban, check its jurisdiction and timing. For a permanent ban, check whether it remains in force. For a mandatory standard, identify the requirements that apply to your goods rather than relying on the title alone.
A compilation date also needs care. The ACL text linked above is Compilation 167, dated 16 September 2026, with a compilation period ending 26 October 2026. The amendment commencing on 27 October 2026 changes CCA paragraph 151BC(2)(c), not the product-safety provisions used here. That check does not establish the currency of every separate product instrument. Use the Register's versions information to distinguish a compilation from later changes, and check the relevant product instrument separately.
Match testing evidence to the requirements
For product safety testing in Australia, start with the mandatory instrument's requirements. Section 104 allows standards to address testing, but it does not create one test programme for every product. Sections 108 and 108A also address alternative compliance pathways and regulator requests for compliance information or documents.
As a practical recordkeeping step, retain evidence tied to the actual model and the compliance pathway used. Compare the report's coverage with the applicable requirements. Note any requirements the report does not address, so they remain open questions in your review. A laboratory report, overseas certificate or reference to an Australian Standard does not replace that comparison. Check what the particular instrument requires instead of assuming one product safety certification scheme covers every product.
Why the exact ban description matters
The permanent ban in Consumer Protection Notice No. 18 of 2010 shows the problem with relying on names alone. The Federal Register identifies the instrument as in force, and explains that it continues from 1 January 2011 as if made under ACL section 114.
Its operative text covers a "No Holes Tongue Stud" and similar products. It describes a small bead with an opening on one side only, creating a vacuum, intended as tongue jewellery without piercing.
That description does not amount to a ban on every tongue stud or all non-piercing jewellery. A supplier checking similar goods needs to compare the physical design and intended use with the notice. Neither a different sales name nor a broad jewellery category settles the question.
A missing result is not a clearance
The ACL's acceptable-quality provision, section 54, includes safety, subject to its scope and qualifications. The Victorian checklist separately asks whether goods pose hazards. Do not treat an absent register entry as legal clearance.
This guide does not provide a complete current bans list or establish compliance for a particular product. Check the instrument applicable to your goods and consider any specialised regime relevant to them. RegAffairs AI has a public answer on checking whether a product is banned in Australia, with limited consumer-product coverage, and that answer does not replace the official register.