Children's entertainment group The Wiggles Holdings Pty Ltd (The Wiggles) has admitted it likely breached the Australian Consumer Law by selling Emma Bow headbands without mandatory safety warnings required for products containing button batteries, and has committed to raising awareness of the dangers that button batteries can pose.
The Wiggles' Emma Bow is a yellow and black headband featuring four lights powered by button batteries.
Between June 2022 and March 2024, The Wiggles sold the headband without mandatory safety warnings that it contained button batteries and about the risks that button batteries pose.
The Wiggles has provided the ACCC with a court-enforceable undertaking in which it admits it likely breached the Australian Consumer Law by supplying headbands which failed to comply with the Button Battery Information Standard and commits to implementing a consumer law compliance program within their organisation.
The importer and distributor of the headband, CA Australia Pty Ltd (CA Australia), has also provided a written commitment to the ACCC to improve its consumer law compliance.
"The Emma Bow was aimed for children's use and was available at The Wiggles' live concerts. It was also sold by other suppliers on The Wiggles online store and through various physical retail stores" ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.
"Without a warning on the product, parents may not have known it contained button batteries and not understood the severity of the risk."
"If swallowed, a button battery can become stuck in a child's throat and result in catastrophic injuries, and even death, in as little as two hours," Ms Lowe said.
As part of its co-operation with the ACCC's investigation, The Wiggles has committed to produce an episode of its podcast "Wiggle Talk - A Podcast For Parents", which will refer to the recall of the Emma Bow headband, and discuss safety issues relating to button batteries and children's toys to help raise awareness.
The Wiggles and CA Australia recalled the product and a recall notice was published on the ACCC website on 1 August 2024. Consumers who still have the Emma Bow should refer to the recall notice for further information, including to arrange for a return of the product.
Compliance with button battery standards is a priority for the ACCC. Button batteries pose a significant risk to vulnerable young children and the button battery mandatory standards are an important step in helping to prevent injuries to children.
The undertaking can be found here: The Wiggles Holdings Pty Ltd
Images of the Emma Bow product
ACCC guidance for businesses and consumers
The mandatory button battery standards aim to make button battery products safer and provide consumers with important safety information to mitigate the risks associated with button batteries.
The Information Standard requires certain warnings and safety information to be provided with button battery products and/or packaging.
Button batteries are small, round and shiny and can be appealing for young children to swallow or insert, which poses a significant risk of serious injury or death. In Australia, three children have died from incidents involving button batteries. Compliance with the mandatory standards helps to prevent this.
If you suspect your child has swallowed or inserted a button battery:
- call Triple Zero (000) immediately if your child is bleeding or having any difficulty breathing
- call 13 11 26 immediately for 24/7 fast and expert advice from the Poisons Information Centre.
Prompt action is critical, do not wait for symptoms to develop. Serious injury can occur in as little as two hours and can be fatal.
The ACCC strongly encourages consumers to check for button battery products in their homes and take steps to secure them to keep them safe for young children. Consumers can check the list of recalled products on the ACCC Product Safety website.
Anyone who has experienced product safety incidents (including near misses) is strongly encouraged to report these to the supplier and to report safety concerns about particular products to the ACCC via the Product Safety website.
Suppliers of button battery products must submit a report to the ACCC within 2 days if they become aware that a consumer good they have supplied caused or may have caused a death, serious injury or serious illness. Further information about this reporting can be found in the ACCC's Mandatory Reporting Guideline.
The ACCC has published a fact sheet and guide for businesses on the button battery mandatory standards to assist businesses with meeting their obligations.
Background
The Wiggles is a children's musical entertainment group. It also licences its intellectual property and rights to supply products to third parties.
CA Australia is a designer, manufacturer and wholesaler of soft plush toys. It was the only importer of the Emma Bow headband into Australia and the exclusive supplier of it to The Wiggles.
There are four mandatory safety and information standards for button and coin batteries, and products containing them. They apply to all levels of the supply chain, including manufacturers, importers and retailers.
It is alleged that during the period from 22 June 2022 to 24 March 2024, The Wiggles supplied 3,164 of the headbands to consumers.
It is alleged that during the period from 23 June 2022 to 19 September 2023 CA Australia supplied at least 3,764 headbands, including to The Wiggles and other third-party retailers.
The Wiggles has recalled the Emma Bow product for the entire period it was supplied, 1 November 2015 to 24 March 2024. The Button Battery Information Standard came in force on 22 June 2022.
The Wiggles as part of the resolution of this matter has committed to produce an episode of its podcast "Wiggle Talk - A Podcast For Parents", relating to button battery safety and/or safety issues associated with children's toys. The podcast will be published within the next 6 months across YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Other button battery enforcement outcomes include:
In May 2025, Hungry Jack's paid penalties totalling $150,240 after the ACCC issued 8 infringement notices for supplying a Garfield-themed Toy that allegedly did not comply with Australia's mandatory button battery standards. Hungry Jack's also provided the ACCC with a court-enforceable undertaking.
In April 2025, the ACCC commenced proceedings against Fewstone Pty Ltd (trading as City Beach) regarding allegations that City Beach offered for sale 70 product lines containing button batteries which did not comply with the button battery standards. This matter is still before the Court.
In May 2023, the Reject Shop and Dusk paid a total of nearly $240,000 in penalties after the ACCC issued them with infringement notices for alleged failure to comply with mandatory product safety and information standards applying to Halloween novelty products containing button batteries.
