Australian Safety Standards
- A standard is a published document which sets out specifications and procedures that are designed to ensure that a material, product, method or service is fit for its purpose and consistently performs in the manner in which it was intended, including warnings against possible misuse.
- Australian Safety Standards were first implemented in the 1970s.
- Voluntary standards for products such as babies' dummies were implemented in 1981. Happy Baby® was a Founding Committee Member.
- Bottles and feeding cups come under the 'plastic material for food contact use' standard which came to fruition in 1977.
- Voluntary standards are prepared by Standards Australia, industry and the Commonwealth and State Governments – companies can 'choose' to meet them.
- Dummies now come under mandatory Australian safety standards (AS2432-1991). This mandatory standard is based on the Australian safety standard AS 2432:1991 Babies Dummies. This has since been updated by Australian Trade Practices Act - Consumer Protection Notice No. 4 of 2006 for Consumer Product Safety Standard for Babies Dummies. This is the current mandatory standard for Babies Dummies. It covers requirements for design, construction and safety labelling. The mandatory standard was introduced in 2006 following ACCC and CHOICE investigations that raised concerns about the safety of some dummies on the Australian market.
- A voluntary Australian Safety Standard for AS2432 - Babies Dummies was also published in 2009. This Standard also covers requirements for design, construction and also additional safety labelling.
- The dummy mandatory standard will be reviewed in 2010 and that the 2009 version of Australian Standard AS 2432 will be considered in this context.
For further information please visit www.productsafety.gov.au
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