<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jun/03/choice-consumer-group-regulator-unsafe-toys-products-sold-online-accc-complaint>
"Cigarette lighters that look like toys, gel blasters, flick knives and fake
tongue studs are among the “frightening” number of unsafe and potentially
banned products being sold to Australians on online marketplaces, a
Choice
investigation has found.
After identifying the products,
Choice on Wednesday formally asked the
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to take action against the
retailers and begin a review of the country’s product safety laws more
generally.
The consumer advocacy group considered the matter serious enough to warrant a
designated or “super” complaint to the ACCC, which it can only do once a year
and compels the regulator to respond within 90 days.
Choice is calling for the law to be tightened to stop unsafe products being
sold in the “grey area” of online marketplaces.
Product safety was already in the spotlight, after the ACCC launched its first
federal court action against an online marketplace – alleging that Amazon
failed to comply with mandatory button battery warning requirements on
children’s backpacks.
The ACCC on Tuesday announced it had asked several online marketplaces to take
down “banned and potentially deadly” toys and games as part of its own
investigation into small high-powered magnets, which are banned in Australia.
Choice said it bought and received a range of toy-like novelty lighters and
cigarettes from eBay, AliExpress, Amazon and Temu, as well as sky lanterns from
Shein.
All of these products are permanently banned in Australia because of the risk
to children or general fire risk."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
