A mandatory safety standard for babies' dummies to help keep infants and toddlers safe from the potential hazards that may be found in poorly designed or manufactured dummies was launched today by Chris Pearce, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer.
“The new mandatory standard prescribes a number of features that will make the dummies sold in Australia safer for our children. These include: safe shield size and shape; ventilation holes; secure teat attachment and structural integrity. The standard also requires the product packaging to feature a warning to parents not to tie the dummy around their baby's neck,” Mr Pearce said today.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will enforce the mandatory product safety standard.
The ACCC's safety education campaign for babies' dummies accompanies the introduction of the new standard. The campaign aims to promote awareness of potential hazards posed by dummies and ways that parents and carers can minimise those risks.
“Parents must remember that while dummies are designed to help comfort and settle children, like anything young children put in their mouths, they may be potentially hazardous. Dummies that are poorly designed, or that have become worn or damaged with use, can break apart leaving small pieces that could choke a child,” Mr Pearce said.
“Attaching a dummy to a child's clothes or the side of their cot with a ribbon or string – while a relatively common practice – does create a strangulation hazard. The new standard requires dummy packaging to warn parents and carers about this hazard.”
“The new safety standard and campaign have been developed with the assistance of the Federal and State Consumer Product Advisory Committee to safeguard and educate consumers”, said Mr Pearce.
Copies of the safety brochure can be ordered from the ACCC's website accc.gov.au or the ACCC Infocentre on 1300 302 502.
Monday 23 October
MELBOURNE
Media contact: Gillian Harvey 03 9887 3890 or 0411 567 060