The ACCC Just Took Amazon to Court Over a Backpack. Marketplaces Are Now on the Hook.

The ACCC has taken Amazon to the Federal Court, and the product at the centre of it is a child's unicorn backpack. The regulator alleges the toddler backpacks, which came with a detachable light-up plush toy powered by button batteries, were missing the mandatory warning labels required under Australian Consumer Law.

This is the first time the ACCC has dragged an online marketplace into the Federal Court over alleged breaches of mandatory product safety standards. The case was filed on 29 May 2026. The ACCC says Amazon held the backpacks in its Australian fulfilment centres between June and November 2022, that 41 units reached consumers and 267 were still sitting in its warehouses at the end of that window.

Button batteries are not a small matter. Swallowed by a young child they can cause severe internal burns and death. That is why the warning rules exist and why the regulator is pursuing declarations, penalties and costs.

For years the marketplace model leaned on a simple line. The platform connects buyers and third-party sellers, so the seller carries the compliance risk. This case tests that line directly. The ACCC is arguing that because Amazon had possession or control of the goods in its own fulfilment centres, it carries the obligation too.

If that argument lands, every marketplace operating in Australia inherits a heavier duty of care over what moves through its warehouses. For brands that sell through Amazon, eBay, Catch and the rest, it also means your compliance is now someone else's legal exposure, which changes how hard they will police you.

The era of the marketplace as a neutral noticeboard is closing. The platform that holds the stock is now expected to know what it is selling.