The ACCC has introduced stricter safety regulations regarding safety warnings for toppling furniture. Since at least 2021, consumer groups like CHOICE have advocated for stronger safety measures for freestanding household furniture, which pose serious risks of injury and asphyxiation, particularly to young children and the elderly.
Despite at least 27 fatalities since 2000, only voluntary guidelines were in place until recently. However, after an extensive review and feedback process, the ACCC’s recommendations have led to the introduction of the Toppling furniture information standard on 3 May 2024.
Does this apply to you?
First, determine if these standards are relevant to your products. Your product qualifies as toppling furniture if it falls into one of these three categories:
| Category 1 | A clothing storage unit or bookcase with a height of 686 mm or more. A clothing storage unit is an item of furniture intended to primarily store clothes. It has one or more doors or drawers. |
| Category 2 | Entertainment units of any height typically used for housing televisions, home theatre systems or gaming consoles. |
| Category 3 | Hall tables, display cabinets, buffets, and sideboards with a height 686 mm or greater. |
| Other | This also applies to:
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This does not apply to:
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How does this affect you?
If these guidelines apply to your products, implementation must begin immediately. Suppliers have been provided with a 12-month transition period to implement the new Information Standard, including complying with product labelling requirements, which will come into effect on 4 May 2025.
Maximum penalties for businesses range from:
- $50,000,000;
- 3 X the value of the “reasonably attributable” benefit obtained from the conduct, if the court can determine this (such as the cost-savings from non-compliance) or;
- if a court cannot determine the benefit, 30 percent of adjusted turnover during the breach period.
Note: The maximum financial penalty for individuals is $2,500,000.
Failure to comply with these regulations may also result in liability for any injuries caused by your product toppling. By investing minimal effort and cost in compliance, you can protect yourself from significant compensation claims and potential fines.
How to implement these regulations?
If your products do fall under the new standards, you are required to warn consumers about the risk of injury in the specific ways related to toppling furniture.
This involves covering three measures outlined in the standard including:
- Attaching a permanent warning label to furniture;
- Including safety information and advice about anchoring furniture in manuals and assembly instructions; and
- Providing warnings about the hazards of toppling furniture in furniture stores and online.
These are explored in the table below.
Comprehensive Warning Measures Guideline Table
Note: The warning must align with the requirements of each specific category.
E.g. Category 2 item warnings must specify the importance of always securing your television with an anchor device.
| Warning Measures | Involves | Example (Category 2) |
| #1 Attaching a permanent warning label to furniture.
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Attach an affixed durable warning label with clearly visible information, that will last the lifetime of the product. Location-wise, the label must be visible when the product is empty such as on the inside of a door or drawer. |
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| #2 Including safety information and advice about anchoring furniture in manuals and assembly instructions; and
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Include a warning about the risk of tip overs and the importance of anchoring in any instructions (including assembly instructions) supplied with the furniture. Best practices states that the warning should be clearly visible on the first page, ideally in a prominent section. |
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| #3 Provide and display warnings about the hazards of toppling furniture in furniture stores and online.
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Note: If supplying to a retailer, it is the retailer’s responsibility to display the warnings both online and in-store. However, if you are renting a space or using a platform to sell your furniture, it is your responsibility to ensure all warnings are properly in place. | |
| In-Store:
Can be in the form of:
When there is no display model available, then the point-of-sale warnings should be attached to or near packaged items. |
In-Store Warning:  |
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| Online:
The warning must be included in the description of the furniture provided by the platform. The warning must appear in the item description and be clearly visible, prominent, and legible. |
Online Warning:
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Download the warning labels files: ACCC Product Safety – Supplier Guide.
In summary, suppliers should take the following steps to ensure they are compliant with the new standard:
- Classify your products under Category 1, 2 or 3.
- Ensure anchoring guidelines in assembly instructions align with the guidelines that match your product’s category here.
E.g. Category 1 requires the inclusion of warnings like ‘Place heavy items down low,’ but other categories may have additional or different requirements. - Update all product descriptions to include compliant warnings for online sales, ensuring they are clearly visible and not just in images or carousels.
- Review your manufacturing processes to ensure the addition of permanent warnings, updated instruction manual and swing tags (if applicable*).
- Conduct regular compliance audits to verify that updates are implemented correctly and products continue to meet evolving standards.
- Retail-specific: Ensure your sales and customer service teams are familiar with the requirements so they can verify proper signage in stores and help customers understand the importance of anchoring furniture.
Note: This guide was informed by the ACCC Supplier Guide as seen here.
How to keep on top of product updates
Make sure to regularly visit sites such as the ACCC for regular updates, and sign up to their newsletters. You can also stay informed through product and consumer regulatory bodies in the countries you are selling to, such as the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) in the United States.
With SupplyScope, you can create automatic reminders to add permanent labels, and standardise the inclusion of warnings in product instructions. With the help of AI and automation, SupplyScope’s product lifecycle management tools make it easy to keep on top of the latest changes to industry standards, and ensure your products are always compliant.
SupplyScope provides real-time insights and suggestions in conjunction with leading Australian compliance experts, giving you the confidence to automate your product compliance processes, and allowing you to focus on other areas of your business.
