Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to commend some welcome news for families in the electorate of Ryan. To help protect younger children, the Morrison government has approved a new mandatory safety standard for toys with loose, small, high-powered magnets. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's new mandatory safety standard will limit toys with loose, small, high-powered magnets to scientific sets for children aged eight years and over. Children are at risk of serious injury or death if they swallow these high-powered magnets. If a child swallows more than one of these magnets, they can join together and stick to the child's intestinal and digestive tissue and lead to serious injuries and even death. Horrifically, these internal injuries have been likened by doctors to the severity of a gunshot wound. The magnets also pose significant choking hazards to young children.

These measures are designed to protect younger children, who are more likely to swallow the hazardous magnets as they learn and play. Under the mandatory standard, toys containing hazardous magnets must pass rigorous safety testing and will be required to carry a warning statement alerting parents to the hazard. The new mandatory standard will be implemented over the next 12 months. I'd like to congratulate Minister Sukkar and the ACCC for taking this very important step, and I look forward to their corresponding work on button batteries very soon. It's just another way that the Morrison government is reaching out to support Aussie families and Aussie kids.