Avoid misleading consumers when selling Indigenous souvenirs and artwork
The Office of Fair Trading was at Jellurgal Aboriginal Cultural Centre on 27 March 2018 to announce the results of the recent operations targeting fake Indigenous art.
Images of The Honourable Yvette D'Ath MP, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice with Lexe Bushbridge and Aunty Joyce from Jellurgal admiring the art and smiling.
Image of Brian Bauer, then Executive Director, Office of Fair Trading and Christopher McKenzie, Director, Complaint and Program Coordination, Office of Fair Trading at the Jellurgal Aboriginal Cultural Centre.
Consumers it's important to check the authenticity of the products you buy to ensure you're not being misled.
Traders—if you sell Indigenous souvenirs and artwork, we have information and guides on our website to help you market them correctly – www.qld.gov.au/fairtrading.
If you're selling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander souvenirs and artwork, you can't make false or misleading claims about them. You must let consumers know what they're buying and must not mislead them into believing a product is authentic or genuine when it isn't.
You can be making claims about souvenirs or art in your words, images or gestures, including in advertising, websites, signs, labels, stickers or packaging.
You must be able to prove your claims are true.
To ensure you don't mislead your customers use these best practice guidelines when making the following claims about products.
To prove an item is authentic include:
- the name of the artist and their language group or homelands
- the title of the work and when and where it was created
- the details or the story depicted on the work
- details showing the work is an original.
Take care when selling reproductions. Include a notice that the reproduction is authorised by the artist and how many copies were reproduced.
When you claim a product is original, you're saying it's the first of its kind produced by the artist, sculptor, writer or designer and isn't a copy.
Copies of an original must not be claimed to be an original.
A genuine product is real and exactly what it appears to be. For example, a 'genuine boomerang' would be able to be thrown like a boomerang and a 'genuine didgeridoo' would be able to be played, rather than be simply decorative.
If you claim a product is hand painted, the claim must relate to that actual product. It's not acceptable to claim a product is hand painted if it's a printed reproduction of an original hand-painted piece.
The product must be produced by a person (or group of people) who identifies as Australian Aboriginal. You would need to be able to individually identify the person (or people) who made the product.
The product is produced by a person (or group of people) who identifies as Indigenous Australian. You would need to be able to individually identify the person (or people) who made the product.
The product is produced by a person (or group of people) who identifies as someone indigenous to the Torres Strait Islands. You would need to be able to individually identify the person (or people) who made the product.
This means the item is produced in a long-established way. You would need to know that the methods and practices used to produce the product were typically used by previous generations.
You can't make this claim unless the artist is previously paid an agreed commission for the reproduction of their artwork.
To make this claim, the product must come with documentation which (at a minimum):
- proves who made or created it
- provides its name
- lists its size and the medium used
- documents any identifying characteristics
- states the name and contact details of the person certifying its authenticity.
Depending on the claims being made about the item it might also need to include:
- evidence the creators are Indigenous
- when, where and how the product was made
- what it was made with.
More information
- Read the factsheet about avoiding false and misleading claims when selling Indigenous souvenirs and artwork.
- Download the Avoiding unfair business practices guide or order a copy to understand how to comply with Australian Consumer Law.
- Read the Smart Business Bulletin for current news, features and business tips.