Limited review of the aquatic toys mandatory standard

Overview

The ACCC invites you to have your say on proposed updates to the mandatory safety standard for aquatic toys – Consumer Goods (Aquatic Toys) Safety Standard 2020. The mandatory standard first came into effect in 1986 and was last updated in 2020.

The mandatory standard covers requirements for safety and labelling for aquatic toys for use in play in shallow water and able to bear the mass of a child under the age of 14. This includes inflatable and non-inflatable aquatic toys and items that can be worn or attached to the body. The mandatory standard does not apply to beach balls, body boards, kickboards, surfboards, inflatable airbeds and inflatable boats for use in deep water.

About this review

We are conducting a limited review of the mandatory standard for aquatic toys. The purpose of this limited review is to:

• update the mandatory standard to reference the latest version of the voluntary international and Australian standards for safety of toys.
• determine if adding dynamic references is appropriate – so updates to the referenced voluntary standards flow through to the mandatory standard.

We have not identified any additional overseas or international standards that offer a comparable level of safety and are suitable to reference as compliance options in the mandatory standard.

Significant changes such as altering the scope of the mandatory standard or other major requirements (such as performance measures) are not being considered in this review. These may be considered in a future comprehensive review.

We welcome your feedback on the options listed in this consultation.

You can read more about the reforms to the mandatory standard framework and limited reviews on the

We have not identified any additional overseas or international standards that offer a comparable level of safety and are suitable to reference as compliance options in the mandatory standard.

Significant changes such as altering the scope of the mandatory standard or other major requirements (such as performance measures) are not being considered in this review. These may be considered in a future comprehensive review.

We welcome your feedback on the options listed in this consultation.

You can read more about the reforms to the mandatory standard framework and limited reviews on the ACCC Product Safety website. 

How to make a submission

Interested parties are invited to comment on this consultation.

Submissions are due by Friday 12 December 2025.

This consultation survey should take about 20 minutes to complete. You can save your answers and return at any time to complete your submission. You do not need to complete all questions to make a valid submission.

You will be able to provide supporting documentation (if required) at the end of the consultation.

We prefer interested parties respond to the questions using the online survey linked at the bottom of this page.

If you are unable to make your submission through the ACCC Consultation Hub, you can post or email your submission to:

Director
Standards Reform Team
Consumer Product Safety Division
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
GPO Box 3131 Canberra ACT 2601

Email: ProductSafety.Regulation@accc.gov.au

If you are emailing or posting your submission, please include your name, organisation (if any) and contact details when making a submission.

Our preference is for submissions to be in electronic format (such as MS Word or PDF) that is text searchable and allows a ‘copy and paste’ function.

Publication of submissions

All submissions will be treated as public documents and published on the ACCC website, consultation.accc.gov.au, in accordance with the ACCC’s Information Policy, unless otherwise requested.

Any parties wishing to submit commercial-in-confidence material should clearly mark it as such and submit both a public version and commercial-in-confidence version of their submission, with reasons explaining why it is confidential. More information about the ACCC’s treatment of confidential information can be found in the ACCC’s Information Policy.

Next steps after consultation

We will review submissions and determine our recommendation to the Minister about updating the mandatory standard.

We may consult with stakeholders again before the mandatory standard is finalised and will publish the outcome of this limited review on the ACCC Product Safety website.

Accessibility

If you have any difficulty accessing any of the information on this page, please refer to our website’s accessibility information. Alternatively, contact us by email at ProductSafety.Regulation@accc.gov.au or phone 1300 302 502 Monday to Friday between 11 am and 3 pm AEDT.