New Toppling Furniture Information Standards – does your compliance hold up?

Since 2000 at least 28 people, including 17 children under 5, have died in Australia from toppling furniture and televisions, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).  Each year more than 900 Australians suffer injuries requiring medical assistance from toppling furniture, with children under 5 years old and older Australians being most at risk.

In response, the government has introduced the Consumer Goods (Toppling Furniture) Information Standard 2024 (the standards) for businesses that manufacture, import, supply, or sell certain kinds of furniture.  The standards, which come into effect on 4 May 2025, aim to raise awareness of the hazards of toppling furniture to reduce the risk of death and injury.

While the Office of Impact Analysis has concluded that there will be minimal disruption to the market by limiting the changes to information standards alone (as opposed to requiring furniture design changes), businesses will need to adopt the standards with haste to meet their obligations.

What is toppling furniture?

The relatively short standards state that any furniture which is designed to be affixed to a wall or structure and cannot be used properly unless so affixed, or second hand furniture, must not be considered as toppling furniture.  Outside of this exemption, the various categories of furniture covered by the standards include the following categories:

Category 1

• Clothes storage unit, or
• Bookcases,

With a height exceeding 685mm.

Category 2

• Entertainment units

Category 3

• Hall tables,
• Display cabinets,
• Sideboards, or
• Buffets,

With a height exceeding 685mm.

Warnings and Safety Information

The standards require warnings and safety information to be provided for toppling furniture products in all three of the following instances.

Points of sale

Businesses that supply toppling furniture will need to ensure they include clearly visible, prominent and legible warnings about the risk of tip overs and the importance of anchoring the furniture, either:

• in the description of the toppling furniture provided by the platform (for online supply); or
• on or near the toppling furniture (for retail premises).

Affixed to the toppling furniture

Toppling furniture must also have warnings and safety information permanently affixed to the furniture itself, and again, be clearly visible, prominent, and legible.  The warning must last the lifetime of the product and be in a location which is visible when the toppling furniture is empty.

Contained in the instructions

Persons who supply toppling furniture must also ensure that a warning about the risk of tip overs and the importance of anchoring is included in the instructions (including assembly instructions) – once again, being clearly visible, prominent and legible.

What should the warnings say?

Among other things, the warnings in each instance need to include an alert word (such as ‘DANGER’ or ‘WARNING’), an internationally recognised safety alert symbol, and a statement to the effect that children have died from furniture toppling over.  Each of the different categories of toppling furniture also require their own further specific warnings to be included and displayed in each instance.

Conclusions

In short, affected businesses will need to follow these key actions:

• attach permanent warning labels to furniture;
• display point of sale warnings both instore and online; and
• provide safety information in instructions included with toppling furniture.

Businesses that don’t comply with the standard after 4 May 2025 will be held in breach of the Australian Consumer Law and could face enforcement action by the ACCC.  The ACCC has encouraged suppliers to take all steps reasonably possible to comply with the mandatory information standard at commencement.  The steps suppliers take to comply and to reduce the risk of death and injury associated with toppling furniture, will be taken into account in the ACCC’s assessment of compliance and in determining what, if any, action the ACCC may pursue in accordance with its Compliance and Enforcement Policy.

Given the penalty for a breach of the ACL is up to $50,000 per breach, it’s always best practice to comply with the obligations from the outset and thereby avoid fines or penalties altogether.

If you are a furniture manufacturer and/or need advice or guidance on how to comply with the Toppling Furniture Information Standard, or any of the other mandatory Australian standards, take the proactive approach, and get in contact with Macpherson Kelley’s IP, Trade & Technology team who have extensive experience in the field.

Practical legal advice.  Exceptional service.  Good Thinking!

The information contained in this article is general in nature and cannot be relied on as legal advice nor does it create an engagement. Please contact one of our lawyers listed above for advice about your specific situation.