City Beach admits to thousands of instances of non-compliance from 2022–24
The Federal Court has ordered Fewstone, a fashion retailer trading as City Beach, to pay total penalties of $14m for supplying non-compliant button battery products, including toys, digital notepads, keyrings, lights, and light-up Jibbitz accessories for Crocs shoes.
In April 2025, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) brought a court proceeding for breaches of the button battery safety standards for the first time.
In a media release, the ACCC noted that City Beach admitted that, between June 2022 and October 2024, it had sold products that failed to comply with:
Last December, the Federal Court fixed the amount at $14m after a contested hearing on penalties.
The court found on the part of City Beach pervasive failures to inform itself of its obligations to comply with the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and its obligations as a product retailer. The court determined that:
“Today’s penalty sends clear message to businesses and suppliers that failing to meet safety standards for button batteries is unacceptable and can result in serious penalties,” said Luke Woodward, ACCC Commissioner, in the media release.
Also in December, the Federal Court ruled that City Beach breached the ACL by selling consumer novelty products that failed to comply with mandatory button battery safety and information standards.
The court ordered City Beach to:
ACCC’s media release noted that the country’s mandatory button battery standards took effect in June 2022, with the aim of decreasing the risk of death or serious injury due to button batteries.
“Button batteries pose a significant risk to children, and can be fatal,” Woodward said. “The ACCC will not hesitate to take strong enforcement action against businesses that fail to comply with the button battery standards.”
According to the media release, three children in Australia have passed away from inserting or ingesting button batteries.
