From 22 June 2022, manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers of button batteries or consumer goods that contain button batteries supplied to Australia must comply with the applicable Australian mandatory safety and information standards.
What are the Australian mandatory safety and information standards for button batteries?
The safety and information standards for consumer goods containing button batteries include the following requirements:
- Consumer goods containing button batteries that are intended to be replaced by the consumer must have a secure battery compartment that is resistant to being opened by young children.
- Consumer goods containing button batteries, whether or not the batteries are intended to be replaced, must be secure and not release the batteries during reasonably foreseeable use or misuse conditions.
- Compliance testing must demonstrate that safety requirements have been met.
Exempted goods: Hearing aids are exempted from this standard in relation to secure battery requirements.
The safety and information standards for button batteries include the following requirements:
- Packaging must be child-resistant for button batteries of lithium chemistry of all sizes, and button batteries of a chemistry other than lithium with a diameter of 16mm or above.
- Compliance testing must demonstrate child-resistant packaging requirements have been met.
Where multiple button batteries are supplied, blister packaging must be designed to release only one battery at a time. - Any spare button batteries that are supplied with a consumer good, where the battery is not pre-installed in a secure battery compartment, must be enclosed in child-resistant packaging.
- Coin batteries of lithium chemistry with a diameter of 20mm and above must be marked with an internationally recognised “Keep Out of Reach of Children” symbol. The symbol should be clearly visible and at least 6mm in diameter.
- Button battery packaging must contain warnings and information to alert consumers to the hazard they pose to children and provide clear directions on what to do in the event a child is suspected to have swallowed or inserted a battery.
Exempted batteries: Button batteries supplied in bulk for professional use are exempted from this standard in relation to child-resistant packaging requirements.
Button batteries of zinc-air chemistry intended for hearing aids are exempted from child-resistant packaging requirements, but these products are subject to warning requirements.
Further information is provided in the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission factsheet.