Recent developments
Product liability is progressively becoming an area of considerable legal and commercial risk to entities involved in the sale, supply, distribution, importation, manufacture, advertising and/or promotion of consumer, commercial and financial products and services.
Product liability has developed into a mainstay of the Australian legal landscape, particularly with the introduction in Australia of an American-style class action mechanism.
Although product liability issues have traditionally focused on consumer goods such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices and home appliances, a new wave of financial services and securities liability litigation is now poised to emerge as a major risk for corporations involved in the distribution of financial and investment products and services.
Increasing regulation (particularly in the post-Enron and HIH era), more astute and informed consumers and the rise of class action litigation, necessitates an appreciation by entities of the product liability laws which may have an impact on their business and the potential risk and liability to which those laws may expose them.
Regulatory authorities in Australia such as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC), the Federal Consumer Affairs Division and its state and territory equivalents have become more and more active in pursuing contraventions in this area of the law. These bodies investigate complaints by consumers and institutions about products and, in some instances, will actively pursue issues in court.