# Can I defend an ACCC claim about products I bought to resell?

- Jurisdiction: Australia
- Practice area: Consumer Law
- Published: 2026-10-22
- Last updated: 2026-10-22
- Canonical: https://lawasked.com/au/consumer-law/can-i-defend-accc-claim-about-products-i

## Question

I run a small online shop and sell household electrical goods bought from an Australian wholesaler. I recently learned that some products may not meet the required safety standards and that their labels did not include required information. The wholesaler told me that no safety or information standard applied to the products. I did not know this when I bought them and had done reasonable checks based on the paperwork provided. If the ACCC starts court proceedings against my business, can I rely on the wholesaler’s statement and my checks to defend myself, provided I identify the wholesaler in writing before the hearing?

## Summary

Yes, you may have a defence, but identifying the wholesaler in writing is only a procedural requirement and does not itself establish the defence. You must also prove the statutory conditions, including good-faith reliance on the wholesaler’s representation or reasonable diligence, and comply with the court-leave or seven-day notice requirement.

## Analysis

The primary defence is in Schedule 2, section 252 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (ACL). It applies where the ACCC alleges a contravention arising from supplying consumer goods that did not comply with a safety standard or that were supplied without compliance with an information standard. [cite:au-competition-consumer-2010-sch2-sec252]

You must prove that the goods were acquired for the purpose of re-supply, that they were acquired from a person carrying on an Australian business of supplying such goods otherwise than as an agent of a person outside Australia, and either that you did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained the relevant non-compliance, or that you relied in good faith on a representation by the supplier that no relevant safety or information standard applied. [cite:au-competition-consumer-2010-sch2-sec252] The reference to “re-supply” includes supplying the goods in an altered form or condition and supplying goods in which they have been incorporated. [cite:au-competition-consumer-2010-sch2-sec11]

The wholesaler’s written or oral statement can therefore support the good-faith-reliance limb, provided you genuinely relied on it and the statement was a representation of the relevant kind. The defence is not automatic: the ACCC may dispute that you relied on it in good faith, that the statement was made by the required supplier, or that the other statutory elements are satisfied. Your own reasonable checks may also support the alternative limb if they show that you could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained the non-compliance. [cite:au-competition-consumer-2010-sch2-sec252]

The identification notice is an additional condition. Unless the court gives leave, you must serve on the person instituting the proceeding a written notice identifying the person from whom you acquired the goods no later than seven days before the hearing commences. Consequently, identifying the wholesaler in writing before the hearing may satisfy that requirement if it is served on the ACCC within the prescribed time, but it does not replace proof of the substantive defence. [cite:au-competition-consumer-2010-sch2-sec252]

The underlying prohibitions remain relevant: a person must not supply consumer goods of a kind subject to a safety standard where the goods do not comply with that standard, or offer for supply goods whose supply is prohibited. [cite:au-competition-consumer-2010-sch2-sec106] For comparable prosecutions concerning goods supplied for re-supply, section 210 contains a parallel defence for safety-standard and information-standard contraventions and imposes the same leave-or-written-notice condition. [cite:au-competition-consumer-2010-sch2-sec210]

## Statutory citations

- Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Schedule 2 ACL), Schedule 2, Section 252 - Supplying consumer goods for the purpose of re ‑ supply [in force] (https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A00109/latest/text)
  > It is a defence if the defendant proves that the consumer goods were acquired by the defendant for the purpose of re-supply; the goods were acquired from a person carrying on in Australia a business of supplying such goods otherwise than as an agent of a person outside Australia; and the defendant did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained the non-compliance, or relied in good faith on a representation that no safety or information standard applied.
- Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Schedule 2 ACL), Schedule 2, Section 252 - Supplying consumer goods for the purpose of re ‑ supply [in force] (https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A00109/latest/text)
  > A defendant is not entitled to rely on the defence unless the court gives leave, or the defendant has, not later than 7 days before the hearing commences, served on the person who instituted the proceeding a written notice identifying the person from whom the defendant acquired the consumer goods.
- Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Schedule 2 ACL), Schedule 2, Section 106 - Supplying etc. consumer goods that do not comply with safety standards [in force] (https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A00109/latest/text)
  > A person must not, in trade or commerce, supply consumer goods of a particular kind if a safety standard for consumer goods of that kind is in force and those goods do not comply with the standard.
- Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Schedule 2 ACL), Schedule 2, Section 11 - References to acquisition, supply and re ‑ supply [in force] (https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A00109/latest/text)
  > A reference to the re-supply of goods acquired from a person includes a reference to a supply of the goods to another person in an altered form or condition and a supply to another person of goods in which the first-mentioned goods have been incorporated.
- Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Schedule 2 ACL), Schedule 2, Section 210 - Supplying goods acquired for the purpose of re ‑ supply [in force] (https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A00109/latest/text)
  > In a prosecution for a contravention committed by supplying goods in contravention of section 194 or 203, it is a defence if the defendant proves the goods were acquired for the purpose of re-supply, were acquired from an Australian supplier otherwise than as an agent of a person outside Australia, and the defendant lacked knowledge despite reasonable diligence or relied in good faith on a representation that no safety or information standard applied.

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