The Minister for Justice and Consumer Affairs, Shane Rattenbury, is today advising the community of an interim ban on the supply of certain models of hoverboards in the ACT.

The ban follows the recall of 20 models of hoverboards in recent months due to concerns of imminent risk of death or serious injury.

The ban has been imposed by the Federal Minister for Small Business and Assistant Treasurer, the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer MP, on the advice of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC).  The ban prevents the supply of hoverboards that do not meet safety standards for batteries and related circuits.

“Hoverboards became available for sale in Australia in late 2015.  However, significant safety issues with the operation of these devices soon became apparent, particularly in overseas countries where they had been sold prior to becoming available in Australia,” Mr Rattenbury said.

 “Reports suggest that hoverboards may be responsible for numerous house fires across the United States and parts of Europe.

 “While no incidents have been reported in the ACT, hoverboards have been linked to four house fires in other parts of Australia. It appears the charging equipment is non-compliant with Australian standards and been the cause of hoverboards bursting into flames while being charged.

 “All Australian States and Territories are proposing to impose the interim ban on the products. I fully support the ban as my major concern is the safety of ACT consumers.

 “At a personal level I am saddened that despite a promising start these technical difficulties mean that the promising realisation of a Back to the Future vision of integrated hoverboard transportation has failed to meet its October 2015 deadline.”

 Access Canberra Compliance and Investigation officers will contact all known ACT suppliers of this product to ensure they are aware of the ban.

 If you are already in the possession of a hoverboard, the ACCC urges you to immediately stop using and charging the product, unless you are sure it meets the safety standards specified in the ban.  Details relating to the ban, recalled products and the action consumers and retailers should take are available at: http://www.accc.gov.au/update/act-now-on-unsafe-hoverboards