Between September and December 2010, Cotton On sold more than 1,000 children's nightdresses and more than 1,000 pairs of girls' pajamas that breached Australian fire-safety standards. The garments were marketed with labels claiming they represented a low fire danger, but regulators determined that the sleepwear was highly flammable and unsafe for children. The problem therefore involved both product safety and misleading consumer information: parents were given assurances that the garments posed a reduced fire risk when the clothing did not meet the required standards.
In December 2012, the retailer was fined a total of $1 million. The penalties included $400,000 for the unsafe nightdresses, $400,000 for the unsafe pajamas, and a further $200,000 for the false and misleading low-fire-danger claims. The case exposed the hazards of mass-market children's apparel in which rapid product turnover, outsourced manufacturing, and compliance failures can converge. Although it was not a factory disaster, the episode demonstrated how vulnerable consumers—particularly children—can bear the consequences of failures in design specifications, testing, labeling, and retail oversight.
