Textile regulations in Australia
15 obligations from 4 published instruments affecting textiles, apparel and footwear sold in Australia, soonest date first, each stating how firm its date actually is.
The instruments (4)
| Instrument | Citation | Made by | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| AU ACL | Act No. 51 of 1974 (Cth), Schedule 2 | Australian Competition and Consumer Commission | In force |
| Australia Bean Bags Safety Standard | F2014L01587 | Australian Competition and Consumer Commission | In force |
| Australia Care Labelling Standard | F2023L01187 | Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services | In force |
| Australia Children’s Nightwear Safety Standard | F2017L00452 | Australian Competition and Consumer Commission | In force |
Already in force 8
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Australia Bean Bags Safety Standard F2014L01587 AU
Every bean bag, bean bag cover and retail package containing bean bag filling must have a warning label fixed securely to it or stamped on it, reading: WARNING. Children can suffocate if bean bag filling is swallowed or inhaled. Do not let children climb inside this bean bag. A bean bag is not a safe sleeping surface for an infant under 12 months of age.
Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
The typography is prescribed, not left to the maker: the word WARNING in upper case red letters at least 5 millimetres high on a white background, the remaining words in upper and lower case as the section sets them out with upper case letters at least 5 millimetres high, the words "not a safe" in bold, and the whole conspicuously displayed. The duty attaches to the cover separately from the bag, so a maker who supplies covers alone is caught. Made under the Australian Consumer Law, which is Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. The instrument sets the content of the standard; what follows from supplying goods that do not meet it sits in that Law and not here.
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Australia Bean Bags Safety Standard F2014L01587 AU
Every bean bag and bean bag cover must have a child-resistant slide-fastener fitted to every opening through which bean bag filling can be inserted or removed, and must not be supplied with any tag, handle or other object which could facilitate the movement of the slide-fastener sliding piece.
Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
Two duties in one section and the second is easy to miss: fitting a compliant fastener is not enough if a pull tab, cord or handle is supplied that makes it easier for a child to work. The requirement is on every filling opening, not on the main opening only. Section 9 was amended by F2015L01146. Made under the Australian Consumer Law, which is Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. The instrument sets the content of the standard; what follows from supplying goods that do not meet it sits in that Law and not here.
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Australia Children’s Nightwear Safety Standard F2017L00452 AU
Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 1249:2014 Children’s nightwear and limited daywear having reduced fire hazard is declared to be a safety standard for children’s nightwear and limited daywear to which that standard applies, other than second-hand articles.
Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
Section 5 fixes the edition of AS/NZS 1249 as the one in force on 15 September 2017. Section 6, which until 1 January 2020 allowed articles to meet either the 2007 Regulations or the Australian Standard, provided for its own repeal on that date and Endnote 4 of the compilation records it as repealed. The instrument is made under sections 104 and 105 of the Australian Consumer Law. The instrument sets the content of the standard. What follows from supplying goods that do not meet it sits in the Australian Consumer Law, which is Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and is not part of this instrument.
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Australia Children’s Nightwear Safety Standard F2017L00452 AU
A paper pattern for children’s nightwear to which the Australian Standard applies must be contained in retail packaging whose outside bears a clearly legible fire warning in the wording set by section 10.
Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
Section 8, the equivalent duty for patterns for nightwear under the superseded 2007 Regulations, provided for its own repeal on 1 January 2020 and Endnote 4 records it as repealed. The instrument sets the content of the standard. What follows from supplying goods that do not meet it sits in the Australian Consumer Law, which is Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and is not part of this instrument.
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Australia Children’s Nightwear Safety Standard F2017L00452 AU
The warning on the packaging of a paper pattern is to read: FIRE WARNING. Regardless of the fabrics recommended on this package as suitable for this garment, for the safety of your children, do not make loose-fitting or nightdress styles from fabrics which burn readily. Avoid chenille, molleton and flannelette fabrics made from 100% cotton, and acrylic fabrics. The lettering must be at least 2 millimetres high, and the words FIRE WARNING must be in bold and upper case.
Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
The height requirement applies to the lettering of the warning as a whole; the bold and upper-case requirement is stated only for the words FIRE WARNING. The instrument sets the content of the standard. What follows from supplying goods that do not meet it sits in the Australian Consumer Law, which is Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and is not part of this instrument.
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Australia Care Labelling Standard F2023L01187 AU
Regulated goods must comply with either the requirements in section 11, which apply the Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 1957:1998 Textiles—Care labelling as varied by that section, or the requirements in section 12, which apply Clause 4 of ISO 3758:2012 Textiles—Care labelling code using symbols. The two routes are alternatives and a compliant article need satisfy only one.
Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
Section 6 defines regulated goods as any clothing, household textiles, apparel including wedding dresses, christening gowns and promotional, sample and flawed articles, furnishings, upholstered furniture, bedding including sleeping bags, mattresses, bed bases, piece goods and yarns made from textiles, plastics, plastic coated fabrics, suede, skins, hides, grain leathers or furs. Section 7 lists ten classes of exempt goods, among them all second-hand goods, all footwear other than hosiery and the textile materials used in making footwear, all jute products, and all bags and cases. The date given here is computed rather than stated: section 2 commences the instrument on 5 September 2023, section 5 defines the first transitional period as six months from commencement and the second as twelve months from the day after the first ends, so section 10 governs from 5 March 2025. Sections 8 and 9, which allowed the repealed 2010 notice as a third route during those periods, each provide for their own repeal at the end of the period they govern. The instrument sets the content of the standard. What follows from supplying goods that do not meet it sits in the Australian Consumer Law, which is Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and is not part of this instrument.
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Australia Care Labelling Standard F2023L01187 AU
Under the Australian/New Zealand Standard route, care instructions must take into account all elements of an article, including dyes, finishes, fibres, construction, design, zips, buttons, fasteners, padding, lace, beading, trims, decals, linings, interfacings and embroidery that form an integral part of it, and must give cleaning instructions together with maintenance instructions where these are needed so that following them does not damage the article. The wording of the label must be in English and clearly legible.
Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
Where an article cannot be washed or drycleaned, the substituted Clause 2.1.3 at subsection (6) requires the permanent label to carry instructions in words that warn of this and adequately describe the care treatment. The new Clause 2.5 added by subsection (13) names classes of made-up goods exempt from carrying a permanent label, including hosiery, gloves, bibs, washable nappies, tea towels, place mats, shower curtains and small haberdashery, for which care instructions may instead be given on a removable ticket, an accompanying pamphlet or printed on the packaging. Section 11 varies the standard in eighteen subsections and the register entry records the ones that state duties rather than editorial omissions. The standard itself is not published by the Commonwealth and is sold by its publishers. The instrument sets the content of the standard. What follows from supplying goods that do not meet it sits in the Australian Consumer Law, which is Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and is not part of this instrument.
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Australia Care Labelling Standard F2023L01187 AU
Under the International Standard route, regulated goods comply if they comply with Clause 4 of ISO 3758:2012 Textiles—Care labelling code using symbols, as that standard was in force at the time this instrument commenced.
Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
The definition at section 5 fixes the edition as the one in force or existing when the instrument commenced, so a later revision of ISO 3758 is not picked up automatically. The note to section 12 points to Annex C of that standard for examples of additional wording that can accompany the symbols. The instrument sets the content of the standard. What follows from supplying goods that do not meet it sits in the Australian Consumer Law, which is Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and is not part of this instrument.
No date set 7
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no date set
AU ACL Act No. 51 of 1974 (Cth), Schedule 2 AU
A person must not, in trade or commerce, supply consumer goods of a particular kind where a safety standard for goods of that kind is in force and those goods do not comply with it. A pecuniary penalty may be imposed for a contravention.
Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
This is the section that makes the three recorded Consumer Goods standards enforceable rather than descriptive; all three are safety standards made under section 104 and all three are already in this register. The Australian Consumer Law is Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010; section numbers here are the Schedule's own, which is how the Act cites them.
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no date set
AU ACL Act No. 51 of 1974 (Cth), Schedule 2 AU
A person must not, in trade or commerce, offer for supply consumer goods whose supply is prohibited by section 106(1). Offering for export is excluded from this subsection.
Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
The export carve-out in this subsection is narrower than it looks, because section 106(5) separately prohibits the export itself without Ministerial approval. Reading 106(2) alone gives the wrong answer.
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no date set
AU ACL Act No. 51 of 1974 (Cth), Schedule 2 AU
A person must not, in or for the purposes of trade or commerce, manufacture, possess or have control of consumer goods whose supply is prohibited by section 106(1). In a proceeding under Part 5-2 it is a defence if the defendant proves that the manufacture, possession or control was not for the purpose of supplying the goods other than for export.
Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
The prohibition reaches stock sitting in a warehouse, with no sale and no offer. The defence is available but the onus sits on the defendant to prove it, which is a different position from the regulator having to prove an intention to supply.
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no date set
AU ACL Act No. 51 of 1974 (Cth), Schedule 2 AU
A person must not, in trade or commerce, export consumer goods whose supply is prohibited by section 106(1) unless the person has applied in writing to the Commonwealth Minister for approval to export those goods and the Minister has given that approval by written notice. A pecuniary penalty may be imposed for a contravention.
Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
Goods that fail an Australian safety standard cannot simply be shipped somewhere with no such standard. Approval is per-application and written, and section 106(6) requires particulars of any approval given to be tabled in each House of the Commonwealth Parliament within seven sitting days.
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no date set
AU ACL Act No. 51 of 1974 (Cth), Schedule 2 AU
Where a safety standard specifies two or more sets of requirements as alternative methods of complying, and the regulator gives a supplier a written request to nominate which set it has complied with, is complying with, or intends to comply with, the supplier must give the regulator a written notice nominating that set within the period specified in the request.
Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
This bites on the recorded care labelling standard F2023L01187, whose sections 11 and 12 are alternatives - AS/NZS 1957:1998 as varied, or clause 4 of ISO 3758:2012. Choosing a route is not the end of it: the route chosen is answerable on request, which means it has to have been decided and recorded rather than settled after the fact. The section reaches a supplier who has supplied, is supplying, or merely intends to supply.
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no date set
AU ACL Act No. 51 of 1974 (Cth), Schedule 2 AU
Where a person supplies consumer goods in contravention of section 106 and another person suffers loss or damage because of a defect in or dangerous characteristic of the goods, because of a reasonably foreseeable use or misuse of them, or because information required by the safety standard was not provided, and that loss or damage would not have been suffered had the goods complied, the loss or damage is taken to have been suffered because of that supply.
Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
A deeming provision on causation rather than a duty in its own right, recorded because it changes what a claimant has to establish. Missing information required by the standard is named alongside a physical defect, so a labelling failure sits on the same footing as a dangerous characteristic.
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no date set
AU ACL Act No. 51 of 1974 (Cth), Schedule 2 AU
The Commonwealth Minister may, by written notice, make a safety standard for consumer goods or product related services of a particular kind for the purposes of preventing or reducing the risk of injury to any person. A safety standard for consumer goods may consist of requirements about performance, composition, contents, methods of manufacture or processing, design, construction, finish or packaging; about testing during or after manufacture or processing; and about the form and content of markings, warnings, instructions or other information accompanying the goods.
Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
Recorded because it sets the outer limit of what a future Australian standard can require, and that limit is wide: composition and methods of manufacture are named, not only performance and labelling. A standard reaching into how cloth is made would be within power.