Information standards regulate the type and amount of information provided to consumers about goods and services.

The Commonwealth minister responsible for administering the Australian Consumer Law can:

• make new information standards; and
• declare an existing standard as a national information standard. For example, the minister can declare a standard issued by Standards Australia, a non-government organisation, as a national standard.

An information standard for goods or services can:

• require particular information to be provided, or not;
• set the form or manner of this information; and 
• give a certain meaning to information.

The Australian Consumer Law recognises a number of mandatory information standards including:

• the Free Range Egg Labelling Information standard - eggs labelled as free range must meet certain requirements including stocking densities of 10,000 hens or less per hectare;
• Cosmetics Ingredients Labelling - product ingredient information should be available to help consumers compare products, identify ingredients and avoid adverse reactions;
• Tobacco Health Warnings – tobacco products must carry health warning labelling comprised of graphic images, warning statements, explanatory messages and information messages.

The law also allows Australian governments to regulate consumer goods or product-related services by imposing mandatory safety standards.

For more information, see the ‘Mandatory standards’ section of the Product Safety Australia website.