Ace Buisness Desk – Fashion retailer H&M Hennes & Mauritz Pty Ltd (H&M Australia) has paid $138,600 in penalties for allegedly selling more than 4,000 items of children’s clothing without complying with the required fire hazard warning label requirements in breach of the Australian Consumer Law Australias ACCC Product Safety Business News Published: 30 Oct 2026

H&M Australia paid these penalties after the ACCC issued it with seven infringement notices for the alleged breaches of the Australian Consumer Law relating to failures to comply with the Consumer Goods (Children’s Nightwear and Limited Daywear and Paper Patterns for Children’s Nightwear) Safety Standard.

The standard requires children’s nightwear to carry an appropriate fire hazard label – either “high fire danger” or “low fire danger” depending on the composition of the garment and its flammability test results.

Some of the products did not have any fire hazard warning label attached. For others, where a fire hazard warning label was attached, it either did not meet the requirements of the safety standard because of the nature of the warning or the position of the label on the product.

“While the products complied with the flammability requirements of the standard, their failure to carry the required warning labels to alert consumers to the dangers is a serious matter,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.

“Without the correct labelling, parents or carers may have been unaware of the severity of the risk to children wearing these garments and being close to heat or flame. This creates an unacceptable risk of serious injuries to children.”

“We expect suppliers to be aware of their product safety obligations and ensure that they fully comply with these obligations, including by ensuring their products come with all required safety warnings. This includes having adequate systems in place to ensure compliance,” Ms Lowe said.

H&M Australia supplied 4,473 items of four types of children’s clothing in Australia – pyjamas, dressing gowns, poncho towels with ties and all-in-one pyjamas with feet – which failed to comply with the safety standard. The company issued voluntary recall notices for the products in July 2024, April 2025 and June 2025.

H&M Australia has admitted its conduct contravened or was likely to contravene the Australian Consumer Law. The company has provided a court-enforceable undertaking to the ACCC with a commitment to conducting an awareness campaign about product safety fire hazard warning labels and to further advertise the recalls. It has also undertaken to review its existing compliance processes and establish a product safety compliance program.

Consumers who have purchased these items should stop using these products immediately and return to the nearest H&M store for a full refund. No receipt is required.

A copy of the undertaking is available here.

Background

H&M Australia is a subsidiary of the Swedish clothing company H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB. In Australia, it operates 32 retail stores as well as an online store.

The Australian Consumer Law prohibits a company from supplying consumer goods that do not comply with an applicable safety standard. More information about the safety standard that applies to these products can be found on the Product Safety Australia website.

Consumer product safety is an enduring priority area for the ACCC. The ACCC prioritises product safety issues which have the potential to cause serious harm to consumers.

Additional Notes:

The ACCC can issue an infringement notice when it has reasonable grounds to believe a person or business has contravened certain consumer protection provisions in the Australian Consumer Law.

The payment of a penalty specified in an infringement notice is not an admission of a contravention of the Australian Consumer Law.

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