3 June 2026
CHOICE is sounding the alarm on the scale of harm being caused by unsafe products sold online, by lodging a super complaint to the ACCC urging it to take action against online marketplaces and third party suppliers.
“The scale of unsafe products we’ve found for sale is frightening – particularly those designed for infants and children, like cots and toys. Our recent investigation found a range of potentially banned products that were easy to buy from stores like Amazon, Aliexpress, eBay and Temu – from cigarette lighters that look like toys to tongue studs that can easily detach and cause internal injuries,” says CHOICE Director of Campaigns, Andy Kelly.
“This complaint reveals the true scale of the harm being caused – a staggering 6% of people who purchased products online in the last two years suffered an injury or property damage from an unsafe product. For some, these were not isolated incidents, reporting that they’d been harmed by multiple unsafe products,” says Kelly.
“Online marketplaces appear to routinely exploit gaps in the law to profit from the sale of cheaply made, unsafe products. Consumers should not have to trade safety for affordability, but until these gaps close in our regulatory framework, consumers will continue to be harmed,” says Kelly.
“Unlike other countries, Australia doesn’t have an overarching law that prevents businesses from selling, or facilitating the sale of, unsafe products. How many incidents need to happen before something is finally done to fix this problem?” says Kelly.
“This super complaint needs to be a catalyst for lasting reform. It’s time for the Government to make Australia’s product safety laws safer for consumers and fairer for local retailers that do the right thing but have to compete against overseas giants flooding the market with cheap, unsafe products,” says Kelly.
Sign onto the product safety complaint: https://action.choice.com.au/page/192623/petition/1
Images: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1darFIBRHNe1i-pHmHlkspCY8UKSxhUqN?usp=drive_link
Editor’s notes:
About designated complaints
- CHOICE is one of three organisations appointed as a designated complainant, allowing CHOICE to submit one complaint every twelve months to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
- The ACCC must publicly respond to this complaint within 90 days.
- A designated complaint must relate to a significant or systemic market issue affecting Australian consumers or small businesses and must also relate to either a potential breach of the laws that the ACCC enforces, or the ACCC’s functions or powers.
