Australia’s popular loungewear brand Oodie has paid a $101,280 fine for allegedly failing to comply with a mandatory product safety standard.
The ACCC issued Oodie - under the business name Davie Clothing Pty Ltd - six infringement notices as it failed to include high fire danger warning labels to six different styles of the Kids Beach Oodie, as required by the Consumer Goods (Children’s Nightwear and Limited Daywear and Paper Patterns for Children’s Nightwear) Safety Standard 2017.
An ACCC investigation into the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) contraventions began following a consumer complaint. Davie Clothing supplied six designs of the Oodie without the fire label fixed to the garment or displayed on its website, as required by the safety standard.
More than 2,400 of the affected hooded towel garments were sold to Australian consumers from 29 September 2022 to 14 July 2023.
“Fire hazard warning labels are crucial to alert consumers to the high fire danger of products and to help keep children safe,” ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe said.
“Children can suffer serious burns if their clothing catches fire and we urge consumers to remain especially vigilant when kids are more likely to be near artificial heating or open flames.
“This serves as an important reminder to suppliers of kids clothing to ensure all their relevant products meet safety standards, particularly regarding the use of fire danger warning labels.
“Failure to take the necessary steps to comply can result in consumers being unaware of high fire danger risk, which is unacceptable. This is particularly concerning where children’s clothing is concerned.”
The ACCC has also accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from Davie Clothing. In the undertaking Davie Clothing has committed to publish a corrective notice on its website and establish and maintain an ACL Compliance Program.
A copy of the undertaking is available at Davie Clothing Pty Ltd.
Copies of the infringement notices are available on the infringement notices register.
The ACCC asserted that payment of a penalty specified in an infringement notice is not an admission of a contravention of the Australian Consumer Law.
The ACCC can issue an infringement notice when it has reasonable grounds to believe a person or business has contravened certain consumer protection provisions in the Australian Consumer Law.