ACCC introduces new laws to reduce toppling furniture dangers

The safety of our loved ones is paramount, and when it comes to the sanctity of our homes, we assume a level of security that, tragically, is not always guaranteed.

In light of this, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has taken a significant step to enhance the safety of furniture in our homes.



This comes after ACCC revealed that nearly 1,000 Australians are injured each year due to unstable furniture, with 28 deaths recorded over the past 24 years.

Heartbreakingly, 17 of these fatalities were children under the age of five.

In response to these figures, the ACCC has announced a new furniture standard to prevent further tragedies.


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ACCC released new warning laws to target toppling furniture. Credit: Shutterstock


The new toppling furniture information standard, introduced by Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones on 3 May, represents a ‘critical step towards reducing the injuries and deaths’, ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.

The dangers of toppling furniture are severe, with head injuries, crush injuries, and suffocation being the leading causes of death.

The risk is particularly high for young children, who are naturally curious and often unaware of the potential dangers posed by heavy, unsecured items.

However, it's not just the little ones who are at risk; elderly Australians are also vulnerable to these hazards.



Under the new regulations, furniture suppliers are now required to take several measures to mitigate the risks associated with furniture toppling.

These include attaching a permanent warning label to furniture items, providing safety information and advice about anchoring furniture in manuals and assembly instructions, and issuing warnings about the hazards of toppling furniture in stores and online.

For businesses that fail to comply with these standards, they will pay the maximum penalty for breaching the standard set at $50 million.

It's important to note that the standard excludes second-hand and resold furniture, as well as furniture already designed to be fastened to the wall.

The ACCC advised the best way to prevent furniture from tipping over.



‘The best way to prevent furniture from tipping over is to secure it to the wall or floor,’ the ACCC said.

‘What you’ll need depends on what your wall or floor is made of and what kind of furniture you’re working with. There are different kinds of wall and floor anchors available.’

‘If your furniture doesn’t come with anchoring hardware, you can ask about anchors and buy what you need from a furniture retailer, hardware store or a speciality store for baby goods.’

Additional safety measures include storing heavy items in the bottom drawers to prevent furniture from becoming top-heavy and locking drawers to prevent children from using them as steps to climb.

Before purchasing new furniture, the ACCC recommended examining it in the store to ensure it is sturdy and stable.
Key Takeaways
  • The ACCC has introduced a new furniture information standard after the deaths of 17 young children due to toppling furniture.
  • Furniture suppliers are now required by law to include permanent warning labels, safety information, and advice on anchoring furniture.
  • The new standard aims to reduce injuries and fatalities by making consumers aware of the risks and providing them with necessary safety measures.
  • Consumers are advised to secure furniture to walls or floors and take other preventive measures, such as keeping heavy items in lower drawers.
We would love to hear from you about the steps you're taking to secure furniture in your home or any experiences you've had with unstable furniture. Your insights could be invaluable to fellow readers and help prevent future accidents. Share your thoughts and tips in the comments below, and let's work together to keep our families safe.
 
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I am a renter and you have to have permission, dare I say to sneeze. I have picture rails and cannot put anything permaent in my unit. If I do, at the inspection you are told to take it down or they come and take it down. Plain and simple. Renters have no rights. As for the key safe, I have yet to have an inspector tell me to take it down. And yes the local ambulance knows the combination, something you have to update every year. If I was told to get rid of it, I would go to the Residental Tenancies Association and try and fight it. It is a vital safety feature for an older person or for a young disabled person as well.
 
tenancy laws state if it's secured anywhere around the home it becomes the property of the owner. Sorry but its been that way at least since 1988 when I was an Tenancy Advocate. Even I pulled a wardrobe over me when I was a kid. Goes with growning up.
It doesn't affect me as I am not a renter and my children are well and truly adults, but the way things are today so many people are renting with children. All very well for the government to bring in this safety measure, but a bit short-sighted to claim it solves the problem given tenancy laws.
 
All my kids have secured all furniture to the wall including TV's
All my furniture is safe and all my grandchildren are supervised when in my house
I agree, supervision and educating children are necessary. Our parents did that and we survived.
 
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Now with the trend for built in furniture in bedrooms and sometimes in living areas there are not so many freestanding items to topple onto Kids/adults. A lot of modern furniture is much lighter than the older style furniture pieces, which adds to the risks, and these lighter pieces do need to be secured to walls/floor. this is not an option in rentals.
Supervision and education.
 
It's all quite reasonable and sensible to secure furniture against possible toppling, but where does that leave renters? A lot won't want to risk any impact on their bond. I had to secure some high shelving units in my last rental and then had to expend time and money to patch the walls when they were removed. How do we work around this? (and hanging art.)
You make a choice.

If you want shelves and hanging art, secure as needed and remove and repair when leaving.

If you don't want to do that, choose to not have them.
 
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Parental responsibility required in the first instance. Regarding rentals - perhaps a law needs to be passed that the owner of a rental will be held responsible for all costs, including medical costs and loss of income, due to any injury from furniture that is not properly secured and causes injury to a tenant, and proof that any damage caused to walls was deliberately done by a tenant before their bond is impacted in any way. All injury must be proven and documented in some way.
That would apply to furnished rentals.

The tenant has to accept liability in the case of unfurnished rentals.
 
I’m a renter and that’s the first I’ve heard of that rule. I can’t even have a key safe for ambos outside without removing it if I leave so that it looks as though it was never there.

I’m a renter and that’s the first I’ve heard of that rule. I can’t even have a key safe for ambos outside without removing it if I leave so that it looks as though it was never there.
If a tenant wants to anchor a thing, s/he would need permission in writing, that would include an obligation to remove and restore when s/he leaves.
 
I was thinking the same thing. Maybe new rules for renters to be able to.
New rules won't be effective because Landlords need to have the assurance that the property will be as it was when rented (excepting fair wear and tear).

The landlord needs to ensure the property remains in good condition.

The workable way is to obtain landlord's written permission with tenant's confirmation that the item will be removed and surface repaired when the tenant leaves.
 
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Ridiculous, just an extra cost to the maker. Teach your children not to climb on furniture. I am angry at the things I cannot open because of childproof locks on them. How easy is it to keep things out of their reach.
I agree, supervise and educate children. Our parents did that.
 
Yes it a tough one for renters- I always buy low items because of this problem and shelves are out of the question- I don’t have small children visiting but just want to be safe- I have one tall narrow bookshelf which has all my heaviest books on the bottom shelf and only ornaments and photographs above.
Good policy.
 
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Comes down to uncommon sense. This has been a problem for years and despite frequent warnings and news stories of horrible consequences, people still ignore these warnings. Bringing in laws etc will not alter the end result.
 
It's all quite reasonable and sensible to secure furniture against possible toppling, but where does that leave renters? A lot won't want to risk any impact on their bond. I had to secure some high shelving units in my last rental and then had to expend time and money to patch the walls when they were removed. How do we work around this? (and hanging art.)
Simply. Get the landlord's permission to install and when you leave fix any damage to the walls and floor that installing your shelving units and pictures has done. Why the problem? Hire-car companies have the same attitude; return it as you found it, at your cost if damaged.
 
If a tenant installs dangerous furniture that is the tenant's problem. In the true spirit of trusting a tenant to be responsible, formal inspections are reduced to 1 every three months and the tenant can otherwise deny access to landlord/letting agency to inspect the tenant's furniture. Any fixtures attached to the walls by the tenant require the permission of the landlord and if this is not sought and given then should the tenant fix anything to the walls, then that is the tenant's liability to repair ANY holes/damage to the walls caused by the unapproved fixtures. That is very reasonable. It includes hooks from which the tenant wishes to hang a picture and also blue-tack and cellotape.
I find the bolded hard believe. What damage would Blu-Tac or adhesive tape do to a wall?

For those who want to hang pictures, there's always 3M's range of Commander adhesive hooks to do the job. Easily removed without any damage to the wall. Unless the walls have been painted with watercolours!!
 
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I find the bolded hard believe. What damage would Blu-Tac or adhesive tape do to a wall?

For those who want to hang pictures, there's always 3M's range of Commander adhesive hooks to do the job. Easily removed with any damage to the wall. Unless the walls have been painted with watercolours!!
From Western Australia's Residential Tenancies Regulations 1989. In all probability, the same would apply to all states and territories.

RIGHT OF TENANT TO AFFIX AND REMOVE FIXTURES

The tenant must not affix any fixture or make any renovation, alteration or addition to the premises or common areas. The tenant must not affix any fixture or make any renovation, alteration or addition to the premises or common areas without the prior written consent of the lessor, such consent not to be withheld unreasonably. (* delete as appropriate) If the Housing Authority is the lessor, this agreement is to be taken as written permission that the tenant may make minor improvements to the premises so long as the tenant makes good to the absolute satisfaction of the lessor, any damage to the premises caused by the minor improvements or their removal.

Minor improvements includes temporary, non-structural works (such as the installation of curtains, blinds and picture hooks which are readily and easily removable) and do not affect the structure of the premises.

So there you go!
 
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I find the bolded hard believe. What damage would Blu-Tac or adhesive tape do to a wall?

For those who want to hang pictures, there's always 3M's range of Commander adhesive hooks to do the job. Easily removed without any damage to the wall. Unless the walls have been painted with watercolours!!
With respect; cellotape and similar adhesives leave behind small remnants of sticky stuff that get dirty. Celloptape may tear wall-paper when it is removed; other adhesive tapes certainly will; duct tape is appalling in that regard and masking tape will also rip paint off if left on a painted surface for a long time (2-3 weeks). Blue-tac does not necessarily come off easily or cleanly, particularly when it has been there a long time. Trivial perhaps, but true.

It is not a structural alteration by any means, but repainting walls and re-papering walls is time-consuming and costs money, and time, which neither draws income nor is tax-deductible nor recoverable from the bond.
 
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With respect; cellotape and similar adhesives leave behind small remnants of sticky stuff that get dirty. Celloptape may tear wall-paper when it is removed; other adhesive tapes certainly will; duct tape is appalling in that regard and masking tape will also rip paint off if left on a painted surface for a long time (2-3 weeks). Blue-tac does not necessarily come off easily or cleanly, particularly when it has been there a long time. Trivial perhaps, but true.

It is not a structural alteration by any means, but repainting walls and re-papering walls is time-consuming and costs money, and time, which neither draws income nor is tax-deductible nor recoverable from the bond.
Wallpaper? That went out with the Ark as I recall.

I was there to see the Ark make its maiden voyage.....
 
I was the bloke that planted the trees used to build the Ark....... and didn't drown in the ensuing flood!
 

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