The ACCC is taking Kmart to court. It alleges the retailer sold cosmetic nail glue without warning consumers of a risk of serious injury from burns.
The regulator has taken action in the Federal Court in Victoria, ABC News reported. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the glues are Kmart’s home brand OXX, the ACCC alleges seven varieties breached consumer law, and it filed its documents on Thursday.
What the ACCC alleges
- At least 51 consumer complaints of skin burns from the nail glues, August 2017 to December 2024
- About 64,000 button-battery watches sold untested, June 2022 to November 2024
- Smart Tags without mandatory battery information, recalled in 2024
- Allegations only; a court date has not been set
ABC News, reporting the ACCC’s Federal Court case.
The case also takes in button-battery products. None of it has been proven in court, and Kmart says the matters are historical.
What the ACCC Alleges About the Glue
Under the ACCC’s case, as ABC News reported it, at least 51 consumers complained to Kmart of skin burns from the glues between August 2017 and December 2024. At least 33 of them referred to contact with fabric. A further seven complaints described steaming, smoking, burning or melting on contact with fabric.
Consumers reported injuries including burns requiring medical treatment, and in some cases hospitalisation and skin grafts, according to ABC News. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that customers, including children, claimed third-degree burns.
“It’s a chemical reaction, in essence, where the glue comes into contact with fabric,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe told The Sydney Morning Herald.
The ACCC claims customers sent Kmart’s customer service team photos of burned clothes and skin, and that some complaints were escalated to senior management including the CEO, ABC News reported.
The glue was sold individually and with a pack of nails. Other safety warnings were on the packaging and bottle, ABC News reported. There was no information on the risk of burns, the ACCC alleged, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
According to court documents cited by The Sydney Morning Herald, Kmart updated its packaging in December 2024 but kept selling existing stock without the warning until February 2025. At the time of the masthead’s report, the product was still for sale on Kmart’s website.
“We consider that Kmart’s failure to warn consumers of the risk of burns after receiving numerous consumer reports of burn injuries associated with the use of the nail glue exposed consumers to an ongoing risk of serious injury, as an incredibly serious matter,” Lowe said, ABC News reported. “It was important for Kmart to address this, once it was made aware of these serious product safety concerns.”
The Sydney Morning Herald reported Lowe’s point that not every consumer can afford regular salon visits, but the ACCC expects them to be warned of material risks so they can decide at the time of purchase whether to take them on. “That opportunity, we say, was not provided to consumers in this instance,” the masthead quoted her as saying.
The ACCC also alleges Kmart failed to submit mandatory serious injury reports to the Commonwealth minister. Kmart says it submitted mandatory injury reports about the products to the ACCC, ABC News reported.
The Battery Products
The ACCC alleges Kmart sold about 64,000 button-battery-powered watches between June 2022 and November 2024 that were not tested to show young children could not open the battery compartments, according to ABC News.
“These watches contained button batteries, but Kmart did not test them prior to supply to show that young children could not open the battery compartments. This is despite many of the watches being specifically designed for children,” Lowe said, ABC News reported.
The ACCC also alleges Kmart supplied GPS tracking devices called Smart Tags that did not comply with the mandatory button battery information standard, ABC News reported. They were recalled in 2024.
Button batteries are legal to sell but subject to strict information standards, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. They can cause death and serious injury in children who swallow them.
“Withholding safety information can amount to false or misleading representations in breach of the Australian Consumer Law, but it also exposes consumers to risk,” Lowe said, according to ABC News.
Kmart’s Response
A Kmart spokesperson said no injuries were reported for any of the battery products and that it had kept strengthening its safety and compliance processes, ABC News reported.
“While the incidents with nail glues are also historical, we regret any injury associated with these products and apologise to anyone affected. Kmart remains of the view the labelling and warnings were appropriate to prevent misuse,” they said.
“We have cooperated with the ACCC throughout its investigation and are disappointed at its decision to take action on historical matters that Kmart has addressed,” ABC News quoted the spokesperson as saying.
No Court Date Yet
A court date has not yet been set, ABC News reported. Kmart said that, as the matter is before the court, it would not comment further on the proceedings.
Buzzline’s other consumer reporting is in the Consumer Affairs section.
Sources: ABC News, “ACCC takes Kmart to court over nail glue burns and button battery safety”, 15 October 2026 (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-15/accc-take-action-against-kmart-over-nail-glue/107270918); The Sydney Morning Herald, “Kmart sold fingernail glue that burnt without safety warnings, watchdog says”, 15 October 2026 (https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/kmart-sold-fingernail-glue-that-burned-without-safety-warnings-watchdog-says-20261015-p615vk.html)
Photo: Philip Mallis, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
A Kmart store in Camberwell, Melbourne, in April 2021.
