{"id":"F2017L01394","name":"Consumer Goods (Baby Bath Aids) Safety Standard 2017","slug":"consumer-goods-baby-bath-aids-safety-standard-2017","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":439371,"registerId":"F2017L01394-fast-fetch-1775955425074","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Consumer Goods (Baby Bath Aids) Safety Standard 2017","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n\n\n \n\nConsumer Goods (Baby Bath Aids) Safety Standard 2017\n\nI, Michael McCormack, Minister for Small Business, make the following safety standard.\n\nDated 19 October 2017\n\nMichael McCormack\n\nMinister for Small Business\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Schedules\n\n5 Definitions\n\nPart 2—Requirements\n\nDivision 1—Basic requirements\n\n6 Requirements during transitional period\n\n7 Requirements after transitional period\n\nDivision 2—Details of requirements\n\n8 Baby bath aid to have warning statement\n\n9 Packaging in which baby bath aid supplied to display warning statement\n\nDivision 3—Details of alternative requirements that apply during transitional period\n\n10 Requirements of the Trade Practices (Consumer Product Safety Standard) (Baby Bath Aids) Regulations 2005\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nTrade Practices (Consumer Product Safety Standard) (Baby Bath Aids) Regulations 2005\n\n \n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n \n\n1 Name\n\n This instrument is the Consumer Goods (Baby Bath Aids) Safety Standard 2017.\n\n2 Commencement\n\n This instrument commences on the day after this instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.\n\n3 Authority\n\n This instrument is made under subsection 104(1) of the Australian Consumer Law.\n\nNote: The reference to the Australian Consumer Law is a reference to Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 as it applies as a law of the Commonwealth, States and Territories: see section 140K of that Act and corresponding provisions of Acts of States and Territories applying that Schedule.\n\n4 Schedules\n\n Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.\n\n5 Definitions\n\n In this instrument:\n\nbaby bath aid means a device designed to support a baby while the baby is being bathed.\n\ntransitional period means the period of 12 months beginning on the day this instrument commences.\n\nUS Standard means the American Society for Testing and Materials Standard ASTM F1967‑13 Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Infant Bath Seats, as in force or existing at the time when this instrument commences.\n\nNote: The US Standard could in 2017 be purchased from SAI Global’s website (https://www.saiglobal.com). The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission can make a copy of the standard available for viewing at one of its offices, subject to licensing conditions.\n\nPart 2—Requirements\n\nDivision 1—Basic requirements\n\n6 Requirements during transitional period\n\n (1) During the transitional period, a baby bath aid and any packaging in which the baby bath aid is supplied must meet the requirements set out in Division 2 or 3.\n\n (2) This section is repealed at the end of the last day of the transitional period.\n\n7 Requirements after transitional period\n\n After the transitional period, a baby bath aid and any packaging in which the baby bath aid is supplied must meet the requirements set out in Division 2.\n\nDivision 2—Details of requirements\n\n8 Baby bath aid to have warning statement\n\n (1) A baby bath aid must have a warning statement.\n\n (2) Subject to subsection (3), the warning statement must be in the following form:\n\n \n\n|  | WARNING
Children have DROWNED while using bath aids.
This is NOT a safety device.
ALWAYS keep baby within arm’s reach.
NEVER leave baby in care of children. |  |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n\n\n \n\n (3) In the warning statement:\n\n (a) the letters of the word “WARNING” must be at least 10 millimetres high; and\n\n (b) upper case letters (other than in the word “WARNING”) must be at least 5 millimetres high; and\n\n (c) lower case letters must be at least 2.5 millimetres high; and\n\n (d) the letters must be clearly legible; and\n\n (e) each side of the triangle must be at least 30 millimetres in length; and\n\n (f) the exclamation mark in the triangle must be at least 13 millimetres high; and\n\n (g) the letters, triangles and exclamation marks must be in a colour that contrasts with the background of the warning statement to allow for the warning statement to be easily read.\n\n (4) The warning statement must:\n\n (a) be fixed permanently onto the baby bath aid; and\n\n (b) be located on the baby bath aid in a conspicuous place; and\n\n (c) be clearly visible when a baby is in the baby bath aid.\n\n (5) For the purposes of paragraph (4)(a), a warning statement is considered to be fixed permanently onto a baby bath aid if, when conditioned as per subclause 7.3.1 of the US Standard, the warning statement complies with subclause 7.3.3 or 7.3.4 of that standard (as affected by subsection (6)).\n\n (6) For the purposes of subsection (5), the US Standard is varied by:\n\n (a) replacing the words “A nonpaper label (excluding labels attached by a seam)” in subclause 7.3.3 with “A warning statement (excluding warning statements attached by a seam)”; and\n\n (b) replacing the words “A warning label” in subclause 7.3.4 with “A warning statement”.\n\n9 Packaging in which baby bath aid supplied to display warning statement\n\n (1) Packaging in which a baby bath aid is supplied must display a warning statement unless:\n\n (a) the packaging is colourless and transparent; and\n\n (b) the warning statement described in section 8 is clearly legible through the packaging.\n\n (2) The warning statement must:\n\n (a) be in the form set out in subsection 8(2); and\n\n (b) comply with the requirements in subsection 8(3); and\n\n (c) be displayed on, or be legible through, the packaging; and\n\n (d) be located on the packaging in a conspicuous place.\n\nDivision 3—Details of alternative requirements that apply during transitional period\n\n10 Requirements of the Trade Practices (Consumer Product Safety Standard) (Baby Bath Aids) Regulations 2005\n\n (1) If a baby bath aid and any packaging in which the baby bath aid is supplied does not comply with Division 2, the baby bath aid and any packaging in which the baby bath aid is supplied must comply with the requirements of the Trade Practices (Consumer Product Safety Standard) (Baby Bath Aids) Regulations 2005, as in force or existing immediately before the commencement of this instrument.\n\nNote: The Trade Practices (Consumer Product Safety Standard) (Baby Bath Aids) Regulations 2005 could in 2017 be viewed on the Federal Register of Legislation website (https://www.legislation.gov.au).\n\n (2) This Division is repealed at the end of the last day of the transitional period.\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\n \n\nTrade Practices (Consumer Product Safety Standard) (Baby Bath Aids) Regulations 2005\n\n1 The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument.\n\nNote: Under item 4 of Schedule 7 to the Trade Practices Amendment (Australian Consumer Law) Act (No. 2) 2010, the Trade Practices (Consumer Product Safety Standard) (Baby Bath Aids) Regulations 2005 continued in force from the start of 1 January 2011 as if they were a safety standard made under section 104 of the Australian Consumer Law.\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument continues to regulate baby bath aids and their packaging but updates and specifies labelling, placement and permanence-testing requirements and replaces the 2005 Regulations. The transitional clause preserves the earlier rules for 12 months, so the regulated product scope is effectively unchanged while compliance details have been tightened (see s.5, s.6–10, Schedule 1)."},"complexity_factors":["Narrow substantive scope limited to baby bath aids (definition in s.5) reduces breadth of obligations","Precise technical requirements for typography, symbol size and contrast (s.8(3)–(4)) add drafting detail but limited legal ambiguity","Reliance on an external technical standard (ASTM F1967‑13) and specific subclauses for permanence testing creates an external-reference dependency (s.5, s.8(5)–(6))","12‑month transitional regime that preserves the 2005 Regulations for that period introduces temporal complexity (s.6, s.10)","Repeal of the 2005 instrument (Schedule 1) requires attention to continuity and compliance timing"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument mandates that every baby bath aid and its packaging display a specific, permanent warning statement with prescribed letter sizes, symbol dimensions, contrast and conspicuous placement. It references the ASTM F1967‑13 standard for testing label permanence and allows a 12‑month transitional period during which the earlier 2005 regulations may be relied on. (See s.5, s.6–10)\n\nManufacturers, importers and suppliers pay to meet the marking, packaging and permanence-testing rules; regulators assess compliance under the specified tests. (See s.8–9)"},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation maintains its original narrow scope focused specifically on warning label requirements for baby bath aids. It replaces the 2005 regulations with updated requirements but does not expand beyond consumer product safety warnings for this specific product category. The transitional period and incorporation of external standards are implementation mechanisms, not scope creep."},"complexity_factors":["Incorporation by reference of external US standard (ASTM F1967-13) with specific modifications in subsections 8(5)-(6)","Dual compliance pathways during transitional period (Division 2 OR Division 3), with automatic repeal mechanism","Detailed technical specifications for warning labels (7 specific dimensional requirements in subsection 8(3))","Conditional exception for packaging warnings based on transparency and legibility (section 9(1))","Nested definitions requiring cross-referencing (\"baby bath aid\" defined in section 5, referenced throughout)","Legislative machinery for repeal of predecessor instrument with historical continuity note"],"plain_english_summary":"This law requires manufacturers, importers and retailers of baby bath aids to carry permanent, highly visible warning labels on the product (and packaging unless label is visible) making clear these are NOT safety devices and that babies must be kept within arm’s reach. It includes a 12‑month transition for compliance and a durability test for labels. The aim is to reduce drownings caused by misuse and false reassurance."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/consumer-goods-baby-bath-aids-safety-standard-2017","history":"/api/acts/consumer-goods-baby-bath-aids-safety-standard-2017/history","analysis":"/api/acts/consumer-goods-baby-bath-aids-safety-standard-2017/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/consumer-goods-baby-bath-aids-safety-standard-2017/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/consumer-goods-baby-bath-aids-safety-standard-2017/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/consumer-goods-baby-bath-aids-safety-standard-2017/documents"}}