As online marketplaces continue to boom, can consumers be confident the products we buy online are safe?

On Wednesday, independent consumer advocacy group Choice lodged a “super” complaint with the key regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Choice is calling on the ACCC to investigate “a significant volume” of potentially dangerous toys and other banned products it found for sale on various online marketplaces. The regulator must respond within 90 days.

Such scrutiny may belatedly encourage all online marketplaces to take mandatory safety standards more seriously. But the Australian Consumer Law still lacks a general safety provision. This would require businesses to proactively ensure only safe products are put on the market.

Australia is lagging behind the European Union and several other countries, where stronger laws have been in place for decades to try to prevent unsafe products being sold online.

Online marketplaces in the spotlight

Choice’s super complaint came only a day after the ACCC issued takedown notices to Amazon, eBay, Kogan and Fruugo over concerns some of their products may contain small, high-powered magnets banned under Australian law.

Last Friday, the ACCC also announced it was suing online retailer Amazon, alleging kids’ backpacks previously listed and sold on the site failed to comply with mandatory safety requirements for button batteries.

Amazon has reportedly already taken down these listings and contacted affected customers.

But in both cases, these actions relate to bans on, or mandatory safety standards for, specific products. They are not based on a........

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