The consumer watchdog has taken legal action against Kmart over millions of products it sold that allegedly caused burns to consumers and others that had not been tested.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleges the Wesfarmer subsidiary breached consumer law by selling millions of nail glue products without adequate warnings and thousands of button battery products that failed to comply with standards.
The ACCC claims Kmart continued selling an OXX cosmetic nail glue that could cause serious injuries despite 51 people reporting they suffered skin burns to the retailer.
The watchdog claims the retail behemoth also failed to report the incidents to authorities.
Court documents allege seven complaints were made to Kmart about the nail glue steaming, smoking, burning or melting when it came into contact with fabric.
A child was allegedly hospitalised from injuries they sustained from the nail glue.
“Consumers reported suffering serious injuries, including burns requiring medical treatment and, in some cases, hospitalisation and skin grafts,” a court document stated.
“Consumers sent Kmart photos of burned clothes and skin, and some described the nail glues causing an exothermic or chemical reaction, heat and smoke.”
The ACCC also claims the retailer failed to protect consumers from serious injury or death by selling button battery watches and smart tags that were not tested.
It alleges almost 64,000 Anko children and adult watches that contained button batteries sold at Kmart between June 2022 and November 2024 did not test any of the products before supplying them to consumers.
Kmart also allegedly sold a smart tag product with a lithium battery that was not enclosed in the device did not include adequate safety information.
“The battery can cause severe or fatal injuries in two hours or less if it is swallowed or placed inside any part of the body,” a court document said.
ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said Kmart sold millions of these products that posed a potential danger to consumers, including children.
“We will allege Kmart’s conduct showed serious compliance failures which exposed the public to a significant risk of product safety harm,” she said.
“Button batteries are potentially deadly to young children if swallowed or inserted. We expect all businesses, especially large retailers like Kmart, to have consumer safety front of mind.”
A Kmart spokesman said the safety of their products and customers’ trust were the retailer’s highest priorities.
“The ACCC has commenced proceedings against Kmart Australia Limited alleging breaches of the Button Battery Safety Standard for certain watches and a Smart Tag, and separately alleging there were misleading warnings on nail glue products and failures to submit mandatory injury reports,” a spokesman said.
“The watch button battery matters are historical and relate to compliance processes in 2023. The smart tag matter was self-identified by Kmart in 2024 and a voluntary recall conducted.
“We have continued to strengthen our product safety and compliance processes.”
The spokesman said while the nail glue incidents were historical they regretted any injury associated with the products and apologised to affected consumers.
“Kmart remains of the view the labelling and warnings were appropriate to prevent misuse. We take our reporting obligations seriously and submitted mandatory injury reports about these products to the ACCC,” the spokesman said.
“We have co-operated with the ACCC throughout its investigation and are disappointed at its decision to take action on historical matters that Kmart has addressed.
“As the matter is now before the Court, we will not be commenting further on the proceedings.”