City Beach Fined $14M for Button Battery Safety Breaches
“`html
Table of Contents
Australian fashion retailer City Beach has been penalized by the Federal Court for selling products containing unsafe button batteries, posing a risk to children. The ACCC initiated legal action, citing violations of mandatory safety standards.
Published: 2025/12/22 07:51:08
What Happened?
City beach,owned by Fewstone,admitted to supplying over 54,000 products with non-compliant button batteries between 2022 and 2024.These products included toys, digital notepads, key rings, and light-up Jibbitz accessories for Crocs shoes (ABC News, 2025). The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) brought the case to the Federal Court, arguing the products failed to meet mandatory safety and information standards.
Button batteries are small, flat, circular power sources commonly found in a wide range of everyday products, including toys, remote controls, hearing aids, and watches.Their small size and smooth, metallic appearance make them particularly attractive to young children, who may mistake them for sweets or other small objects (ACCC, Button Batteries).
Ingestion of button batteries can cause severe internal burns within hours. The battery can become lodged in the esophagus, creating an electrical current that causes tissue damage. This can lead to perforation of the esophagus or trachea, and even death (Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, 2023).
According to the Australian paediatric surveillance Unit (APSU), there has been a concerning increase in button battery ingestions in recent years. Data from 2017-2022 showed:
| Year | Number of Cases |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 138 |
| 2018 | 168 |
| 2019 | 201 |
| 2020 | 230 |
| 2021 | 287 |
| 2022 | 318 |
Source: Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit (APSU)
Mandatory Safety Standards
In response to the increasing number of incidents, the Australian Government introduced mandatory safety standards for button batteries in 2022. These standards, outlined in the Consumer Goods (Button batteries) Safety Standard 2020, require:
- Products containing button batteries must have secure battery compartments that prevent access to the