Dusk button battery case puts 66,453 homewares under fire

A Federal Court fight over 66,453 Dusk homewares sounds like the sort of retail-regulator yarn you would skip. Then you remember where button batteries live: in light-up trinkets, decorative bits, cheap home gear and the impulse buys that disappear onto a shelf until a kid finds them. That is why the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission taking Dusk to court matters at home, not just in the retail trade.

The ACCC says Dusk supplied or offered to supply 66,453 allegedly non-compliant products across 29 product lines between May 2023 and December 2024. Its case is that this was not one rogue item or one dodgy batch. It was a run of everyday products sold for long enough that some could already be in lounge rooms, bedrooms and hallway cupboards around the country.

The concise statement filed in Federal Court says 54,635 units across 25 product lines allegedly were not put through the pre-supply testing required under Australia’s mandatory button-battery standard. A further 11,828 units across four product lines allegedly were sold without the warning information the rules require. The ACCC is seeking penalties, declarations, compliance orders and costs.

Why the case lands outside retail trade

The grim bit is the reason those standards exist.

If swallowed or inserted, such a battery may lodge in a child’s throat and cause serious injury or death within as little as two hours.
Source: ACCC concise statement, Federal Court filing

That line is the frame for any house with toddlers, nieces, nephews or grandkids wandering through on the weekend. Button batteries do not only live in obvious toys. They can hide in low-cost homewares and novelty items adults stop noticing once the packaging is binned. Australia’s rules were tightened because the risk window is brutal.

Catriona Lowe said in the ACCC media release the regulator was “extremely concerned” Dusk allegedly supplied tens of thousands of products that did not comply with standards designed to protect young children. Inside Retail reported Dusk has about 150 stores plus two online stores, which is how a technical safety breach can become a national consumer problem quickly.

We are extremely concerned as Dusk allegedly supplied tens of thousands of products that did not comply with button battery standards designed to protect young children.
Source: Catriona Lowe, ACCC

Why Dusk is under sharper scrutiny

Dusk has been in the frame over button batteries before. The court filing says the retailer paid $106,560 in 2023 after eight ACCC infringement notices tied to button-battery products. If the commission proves its case, the argument will turn on why the rules allegedly were still not met after earlier enforcement action.

Dusk said in a statement carried by Inside Retail that it takes product safety seriously and cooperated fully with the ACCC throughout its investigation.

Dusk takes product safety seriously and has cooperated fully with the ACCC throughout its investigation.
Source: Dusk Group, via Inside Retail

The useful move for readers is checking the forgettable stuff: cheap light-up homewares, novelty pieces and older impulse buys with a battery compartment no one has looked at since Christmas. If something in the house uses a button battery and you are not sure the cover is secure, check it before a kid does. The court will decide whether Dusk broke the law. The home-shed version is simpler: a tiny battery inside a throwaway product can turn into a real family-risk story very fast.