AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Greg Williams, Alexandra Rose and Caitlin Sheehy, Clayton Utz
1.5 Penalties for Breach of Product Safety Obligations Pecuniary Penalties Under the Australian Consumer Law, the maximum pecuniary penalties that may be imposed for breach of product safety obligations generally are, in the case of a corporation: • a fine of up to AUD100 million; • if the court can determine the value of the benefit that the body corporate (and any body corpo - rate related to the body corporate) have obtained directly or indirectly and that is reasonably attribut - able to the act or omission, a fine of three times the value of that benefit; or • if the court cannot determine the value of the ben - efit, a fine of 30% of the adjusted turnover of the corporation during the breach turnover period for the act or omission. The maximum penalty that may be imposed on an individual is a fine of AUD2.5 million. In either case, the above-mentioned pecuniary penal - ties can be sought in either a criminal prosecution or a civil penalty proceeding. The above-mentioned fines are the maximum fines payable in respect of breaches of substantive pro - visions of the Australian Consumer Law. There are some breaches that may attract lesser penalties – for example, penalties for breach of the recall notification obligations outlined under 1.4 Obligations to Notify Regulatory Authorities include (at present) AUD16,500 for a corporation and AUD3,300 for an individual, but can also include orders disqualifying individuals from managing corporations for a period (on application by the regulator). Civil penalties There are numerous examples of the ACCC seeking and obtaining civil penalties in respect of breaches of the Australian Consumer Law. By way of example, in relation to product safety, in December 2025, a national retailer of apparel was required to pay AUD14 million for non-compliance with the Consumer Goods (Products Containing But -
ton/Coin Batteries) Safety Standard and Consumer Goods (Products Containing Button/Coin Batteries) Information Standard. The following are recent examples of civil penalties being imposed in relation to breaches of the Australian Consumer Law that did not relate to product safety. • In March 2023, an Australian online bookseller was ordered to pay AUD6 million in respect of mislead - ing statements made on its website in relation to consumer guarantee rights. • In July 2023, a former Australian vocational train - ing college and its marketing arm were ordered to pay a record penalty of AUD438 million for act - ing unconscionably and misleading students into thinking vocational courses they were enrolling in were free. • In August 2023, an Australian technology company was ordered to pay AUD10 million in respect of false and misleading representations made on its website about discount prices for add-on com - puter monitors. • In December 2023, a US-based wearable technol - ogy company was ordered to pay AUD11 million after it admitted to making false, misleading or deceptive representations to 58 consumers about their consumer guarantee rights to a refund or a replacement after they claimed their device was faulty. • In December 2023, an Australian car company was ordered to pay AUD6 million in respect of false or misleading representations made to customers that certain dealerships had closed and would no longer service vehicles. • In February 2024, an Australian car company was ordered to pay AUD11.5 million in penalties for false or misleading representations it made to nine consumers about their consumer guarantee rights. • In March 2024, an Australian online floral company was ordered to pay AUD1 million after it admitted to making false and misleading representations on its website – namely, by publishing misleading star ratings for its products, advertising products at a discount when they had not generally sold products at the “strikethrough price”, and adding surcharges that were inadequately disclosed.
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