The ACCC declared a new mandatory product standard in May 2024 setting a series of labelling and information requirements for a range of free-standing furniture.

The standard will come into effect on 4 May 2025.

Businesses can access the legislative instrument here. The ACCC has also provided a set of guidelines to assist suppliers to implement the mandatory standard on the Product Safety Australia website.

Our position

For many years, the National Retail Association has been a leader in improving furniture safety and we strongly support the new standard. Given the significant safety risks posed by toppling furniture, we urge all retailers and suppliers to comply with the mandatory standard as soon as possible.

However, as the mandatory standard applies to a vast array of furniture, National Retail has provided some additional guidance to further help suppliers understand what steps to take.

This material has been developed by the National Retail Association Product Safety Committee’s Furniture Working Group.

This is not intended, nor should it be taken, as legal advice. 

Additional Guidance from the Product Safety Committee Furniture Working Group

This new mandatory standard is one that applies to a vast array of differing products, often with long ‘shelf-life’ (pun intended). The guidelines provided below aim to minimise the risk of non-compliant stock being withdrawn from sale and sent to landfill. We ask all retailers and suppliers to manage their stock as best they can to secure compliance and enhance safety.

Implementing the information standard with flat-packed furniture

The new mandatory standard requires that a label be attached to each item of furniture. In the lead up to the standard’s date of effect, applying labels retrospectively to furniture that comes pre-packed is a major problem. The ACCC has recognised this in a statement about flat-packed furniture in its supplier guidelines – compliance expectations. This statement indicates a policy that accommodates furniture items that have been packed before the standard and supplier guidelines were announced. The following notes offer further advice in managing such products.

For any flat-packed furniture, compliance with the mandatory standard requires, as a minimum:

  • ensuring in-storelabelling is complied with; and
  • following the onlineinformation specifications for any advertisement for the product

In addition, for flat-packed units unable to have labels applied to the product itself by the 4 May 2025 date of effect, the following suggestions are made as a way to meet the intent of the mandatory standard:

  • As a minimum, stick/stamp the appropriate in-store warning message on the box itself in at least one prominent position; and also consider
  • sticking/stamping a QR code on pack that links to an instruction guide that includes the mandatory safety information; and
  • providing the requisite on-product label with the box (inserted into the box or taped onto the outside), with a note asking the customer to attach the label once assembled and indicating where the label should be placed once assembly is completed. And for any online sales, email such advice to the customer; and
  • be able to demonstrate that for future stock, measures have been put in place to ensure full compliance, ie. labels applied before packaging.

Any discretion applied by the ACCC and state agencies will likely take account of the above suggested voluntary measures.  Please note though that any such discretion will not be exercised indefinitely.

Scope

What is the furniture used for?

The mandatory standard uses the term ‘primarily’ in the definitions of clothes storage unit and entertainment unit.  A ‘clothes storage unit’ is ‘designed to be used primarily to store clothes’ and ‘entertainment unit’ is ‘designed to be used primarily to house, support or carry an television’.

As the term ‘primarily’ is not otherwise defined, the common meaning of the word would apply. It seems self-explanatory, and the Macquarie Dictionary simply gives ‘chiefly’ and ‘principally’ as synonyms.

So, even if the term ‘clothing’ was listed among other items that could be stored in a drawer unit or cupboard, it would not render the unit primarily to store clothes. There is of course a bit of a fine line as to what primarily means. If clothes storage was high on a list of potential uses of a product, this would push it towards being captured by the standard and labelling may be needed (at least to limit the chance of an argument with a regulator).

For general storage units and entertainment units, this has some strong implications for product naming, descriptions and imagery used online, on-product and in-store. There may also need to be some reviews of product that’s already in-store and/or won’t be labelled by 4 May 2025.

The objective of the mandatory standard is essentially to stop injuries from ‘weighty’ units toppling, especially chests of drawers, tallboys, wardrobes and bookshelves as well as units designed to support freestanding TVs. Items like lightweight plastic drawer units not primarily designed to store clothes or have TVs placed on them should be able to be fairly considered not caught by the mandatory standard if reasonable interpretation is applied.

Entertainment units – TV or not TV?

The PSA guide and mandatory standard web pages currently state (as at 8/11/24) ‘Entertainment units of any height. Entertainment units are typically used for housing televisions, home theatre systems or gaming consoles.’

However, the mandatory standard defines ‘entertainment unit’ as ‘an item of furniture that is designed to be used primarily to house, support or carry a television’.  There is no mention of home theatre systems or gaming consoles in the mandatory standard, so if an entertainment unit for home theatre systems or gaming consoles was not designed to be used primarily to house, support or carry a television it would not be covered by the mandatory standard.

The current information on the PSA website is therefore incorrect and misleading to entertainment unit suppliers. National Retail has asked ACCC to amend these pages as soon as possible.

In-store warning for Category 3 – incorrect example (as at 8/11/24)

The example provided in the PSA supplier guidelines for the Category 3 in-store warning includes the statement: ‘This furniture type is at high risk of toppling over.’

However, section 8(6)(a) provides that for Category 3 furniture, the warning must include statements to the following effect: ‘This furniture type is at risk of toppling over.’

The word ‘high’ is not required to appear in the Category 3 warning and while the specified wording is only ‘to the effect’, the in-store warning for category 1 does require the warning to state ‘This furniture type is at high risk of toppling over’ so there should be a distinction between risk (for Category 3) and high risk (for category 1). National Retail considers that advising consumers of a ‘high risk’ when this is not deemed necessary can diminish the message for products that are high risk, and misrepresent the hazard from a commercial viewpoint.

National Retail has asked ACCC to amend the page as soon as possible.

Further National Retail Association guidelines

The National Retail Association publication Best practice guide for Furniture and Television Tip-over Prevention remains relevant, providing background and additional advice on some practical aspects of supplying safe furniture. The guide is undergoing a minor revision to reference the new mandatory standard and will be available soon.

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NOTE: Additional updates regarding ACCC responses or clarifications will be made on this article, so please check in again or contact the Policy Team on policy@nationalretail.org.au for further information.