Limited review of the child restraint systems for use in motor vehicles mandatory standard

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About the child restraint systems for use in motor vehicles mandatory standard

The mandatory standard for child restraint systems for use in motor vehicles was first introduced in 1978 to ensure child restraints supplied in Australia have key safety features to reduce the risk of bodily injury to a child passenger in the event of a motor vehicle impact.

The mandatory standard was last updated in 2014. It references and requires compliance with either the 2004, 2010 or 2013 versions of the voluntary Australian Standard for child restraints (AS/NZS 1754) with the variations outlined in the mandatory standard. This voluntary Australian Standard was updated in 2024.

Find out more about the mandatory standard on the ACCC Product Safety website.

Consultation issues

Retain the current mandatory safety standard (maintain the status quo)

If the status quo is maintained, there would be no change to the mandatory standard, and it would continue to reference the 2004, 2010 and 2013 versions of the voluntary Australian Standard. These voluntary standards have been superseded.

Maintaining the status quo would mean that the mandatory standard would not reference the 2024 version of the voluntary Australian Standard. Businesses would not be able to supply products that comply with the updated Australian Standard, unless they have additionally been tested to the 2004, 2010 or 2013 versions.

Consumers will have the same level of protection they have now but may miss out on safety improvements provided by the 2024 version of the voluntary Australian Standard.

Referencing the updated voluntary Australian Standard

The voluntary Australian Standard for child restraints (AS/NZS 1754) was updated by Standards Australia in 2024. We are consulting to determine the suitability of the 2024 version of this standard before making a recommendation to the Minister.

Where a mandatory standard allows for more than one version of a voluntary standard as a compliance option, suppliers can be required by the mandatory standard to include information on which compliance option(s) the product complies with. This compliance information could be marked on the product itself, the packaging, or in information provided with the product. 

Specifying variations

The current mandatory standard references and varies the voluntary Australian Standard for child restraints (AS/NZS 1754) and we propose recommending that these variations are maintained in the updated mandatory standard.

Allowing mandatory standards to be dynamic

Mandatory standards can reference one or more voluntary standards. Voluntary standards are updated from time-to-time. Ordinarily, a mandatory standard would reference only the version of the voluntary standard that was in place when the reference was introduced into the mandatory standard.

Dynamic referencing means that the mandatory standard can reference a voluntary standard as it exists from time-to-time. This will allow updates to the listed voluntary standard to then flow through to the mandatory standard, keeping pace with global product safety developments.

We propose allowing a 6-month review period before any updates take effect in the mandatory standard. During this time, we will review these updates to ensure they are appropriate.

We can recommend to the Minister to stop an update flowing through to the mandatory standard where necessary.

Transition periods

Appropriate transition periods in the mandatory standard allow for:

• changes arising from this review to take effect
• superseded versions of the referenced standard remaining as compliance options for a specified time.

Transition periods allow businesses to:

• sell existing stock
• make manufacturing and design changes
• undertake testing to ensure compliance with an updated standard.