The State Government has purposed all rental properties in Victoria will be safer for children with consultation underway for a new rental minimum standard for blind cords.
Consumer Affairs Minister Gabrielle Williams joined Kidsafe Victoria on Monday 17 June to discuss the proposed standard which will be mandatory for every rental property in Victoria from October 2025.
It is already mandatory under product safety standards for all blinds installed after 2010 to be secured with either a cord guide or cleat and installed against a wall or structure.
The new standard will require every rental property (regardless of when the blinds were installed) to meet the standard.
The standard will apply to all rental properties from 30 October 2025 with no exemptions.
Three-year-old Lincoln tragically lost his life when he was strangled by a blind cord playing on the windowsill in an unfamiliar rental property.
Lincoln’s grandmother, Kerrie, has bravely advocated for a blind cord safety standard for all rental properties to prevent other families from experiencing the same heartbreak.
Consumer Affairs Minister Gabrielle Williams said one death is too many, and the safety of children is non-negotiable.
“We’re putting this mandatory blind cord safety standard in place to prevent these tragic accidents happening again,” she said.
“From October next year, every single rental property in Victoria must meet this new safety standard, it’s a small thing rental providers can do to make a big difference to the safety of their properties.”
Victorian parents and carers living in an older rental property don’t have to wait for the new standard to come into effect.
Free blind cord safety kits to modify older curtains or blinds are available via the Consumer Affairs Victoria website.
Kidsafe Victoria chief executive officer Melanie Courtney said they are welcoming the introduction of the new mandatory blind cord safety requirement for rental properties.
“It will help to ensure that Victorian children are kept safe in rental homes and that no other family has to experience the devastating loss of a child from such a preventable injury,” she said.
The kit contains a device that tensions looped cords to a window frame, so they are no longer loose, reducing the likelihood of strangulation.
Under rental reforms introduced in 2021, renters do not need permission from their rental provider to install blind or cord anchors.
For more information on blind cord safety, visit consumer.vic.gov.au/blindcordsafety.
The mandatory safety standard for blind cords is one of the changes being proposed to the rental minimum standards. To have your say on the proposed new minimum standards, visit engage.vic.gov.au.
