Unsafe products remain just a click away, highlighting urgent need for reform: CHOICE
The ACCC has announced the actions it will take in response to CHOICE’s super complaint that exposed the shocking scale of unsafe products being sold online. The announcement confirms that law reform is needed to protect consumers and hold businesses accountable.
While deciding that investigating the concerning products CHOICE identified would be “challenging” due to gaps in the law, the ACCC confirmed that it will advocate for new general safety protections in response – including developing options for reform.
Quotes attributable to Andy Kelly, Director of Consumer Impact at CHOICE:
“We strongly welcome the ACCC’s commitment to advocate for general safety protections and obligations on online marketplaces to prevent the sale of unsafe products in response to our super complaint. It’s extremely disappointing that we have a situation right now where our current laws are so weak that they don’t allow the regulator to act to protect people from clearly unsafe products.”
“While many of the products we identified in our complaint were removed when we alerted the marketplaces to them, a quick internet search reveals countless similar products still available for sale across online marketplaces, from novelty cigarette lighters to sky lanterns. The current whack-a-mole approach to product safety is failing consumers, leaving them in harm’s way. Our complaint highlighted that 6% of people are harmed by products purchased online each year.”
“Since we made our complaint, Consumer Ministers have committed to prioritise new general safety protections. It’s crucial that we get these reforms right so that they prevent businesses from selling unsafe products in the first place – including imposing strong obligations on online marketplaces. It’s great that the ACCC will develop options for these landmark reforms, but we still don’t have a timeline for when general safety protections will be implemented. We urge the government to expedite these critical reforms to protect consumers from harmful products found on online marketplaces.”
Editor notes:
CHOICE identified dozens of unsafe products available for sale on online marketplaces like Amazon, AliExpress, Temu, Shein & eBay back in June 2026, which formed the basis of our second designated complaint to the ACCC. A full copy of CHOICE’s designated complaint can be found here.
