On this page:

• Can I get a refund for a faulty product?
• Tips for getting a refund for a faulty product
• Can I get a refund if I've changed my mind?
• Frequently asked questions

It’s worth refreshing your memory on your rights to a refund.��Luckily, the Australian Consumer Law provides a range of consumer protections against dud products.��

Can I get a refund for a faulty product?

If you buy or receive a product that doesn’t do what it’s supposed to or isn’t of acceptable quality, you can take it back to the retailer and ask for a remedy, such as a repair, replacement or refund.

Consumer guarantees apply whether or not you bought a product on sale, so don’t be put off by ‘no refunds’ signs. (They’re illegal anyway.)

But whether or not you can get a refund depends on whether the fault is major or minor.

Tips for getting a refund for a faulty product

Know your rights

Do your research on the Australian Consumer Law before you go back to the store. See our comprehensive guide to your consumer rights for all the details.

Bring backup

Go into the store armed with the relevant information from the Australian Consumer Law. (Our article on what to do with a faulty product is a great resource.) If you have the information on hand, you can whip it out at the first sign of a retailer trying to shirk their obligations.

Know what you need and what you don’t

If an item is faulty, you don’t need to return it in its original packaging (despite what retailers might try to tell you). You don’t throw your refund rights away with the box.��

You don’t necessarily need a receipt, either – proof of purchase is enough.��

Don’t let them fob you off

Don’t let retailers fob you off to the manufacturer – they need to offer you a remedy if they sold you a faulty product.

Ask for the manager

Casual staff may not have a thorough grasp of the Australian Consumer Law. If you’re having trouble getting a refund for a faulty product, ask to speak to someone more senior.

Know how to complain

If you’re not getting anywhere, it’s time to complain.��

Check out our articles on making complaints for advice on where to go.

Can I get a refund if I’ve changed my mind?

Retailers aren’t obliged to give you a refund just because you’ve changed your mind.��

Many retailers do offer change-of-mind returns, but make sure you check their policies before you buy. Questions to ask include:

• If I change my mind, can I get a full refund? Or do I only get store credit or an exchange?
• How long after I’ve bought the product can I return it?
• Does it need to be in the original packaging?
• What proof of purchase do I need if I want to return an item?

Frequently asked questions

The post Got a dud product this festive season? Here are your rights appeared first on ����Vlog.

����Vlog’s quarterly Consumer Pulse survey has once again found that many of us are worried about how much it costs to feed our families. A whopping 87% of Australians recently told us that the price of food and groceries was a concern and was even more worrying than expenses such as rent and mortgage.��

With the festive season looming and entertaining on the cards for many, our clever ����Vlog community and staff are sharing how they save on the cost of food and groceries during this pricey period.

1. If you’re in a loyalty scheme, cash in your points

We’ve expressed our concerns about supermarket loyalty schemes but there’s no question that they’re a popular way to save.��

If you are a member, you may find that the extra expenses that the festive season brings make December a good time to use your points. Some loyalty points programs, such as Woolworths’ Everyday Rewards, give you the option to ‘bank’ your points to spend at Christmas rather than spending them throughout the year.

“I have about $520 worth of Woolworths Everyday Rewards points banked which will be released for use on December 1,” says Cate.��

Another Woolies shopper, Mel, told us that she uses her points to shop for alcohol for the Christmas and New Year’s period.��

If you also have loyalty cards for any other retailers where you shop regularly now is a good time to see what your points can buy you.

2. Check for savings through your memberships

Many organisations such as motoring groups like the NRMA or RACV, and health insurers like HCF offer discounts for their members on gift cards you can use at the big two supermarkets. While the discounts may not be huge, they add up, especially if you’re spending big on Christmas entertaining.

“I buy Woolies vouchers at around 4% off which saves me $40 every $1000… not a lot but when you consider how much we spend on groceries it adds up,” says Lisa.

3. Look for cheaper options for your fruit and veg

While they might not be the most expensive part of the menu, saving a bit on your fruit and veg can help make festive feasting at least a little more affordable.��

If you’re lucky enough to have a large fresh produce market nearby, you may be able to save by shopping there. Depending on when you go and what you buy, it’s possible to make substantial savings.��

“Markets like Paddy’s at Flemington in Sydney sell larger quantities of seasonal fruit much cheaper (and tastier, I think) than what you can get from the supermarket,” says Imogen. “Boxes of cherries, trays of mangoes and peaches, berries – all significantly cheaper. Worth it if you can make the trek and put up with the pushy patrons!”

Other changes to the way you buy your fruit and veg can help you save throughout the year.��

“I recently joined a food co-op and have been really impressed with the quality and cost of fruit and vegies,” says Uta, who anticipates serving plenty of traditional side dishes such as roesti, potato dumplings and red cabbage at her Christmas dinner.��

4. Shop ahead

While you can’t necessarily buy everything you’ll need for Christmas lunch months ahead, there are often items you can begin to stock up on before December rolls around to help you spread the cost 

“For anything non-perishable, start adding things to your weekly shop in the lead-up so you don’t have one mammoth shopping bill three days before Christmas,” says Mindy.��

Even better, if you know that you’ll be hosting an event the following year, you can stock up on crackers, table decorations and other seasonal items when they go on sale straight after Christmas.��

Sometimes issues with weather or produce availability can affect the prices of popular Christmas food items as the festive season ramps up and demand is high. If you see a great price in the lead-up to Christmas on items you want for your festive catering, it could be worth stocking up if you have space to freeze or store them.

“I buy prawns at the end of November and freeze them,” says Finola.��

Frozen prawns can be safely kept in your home freezer for 6 to 8 months, provided your freezer is operating as it should and maintaining a temperature of -18°C or less.��

For Vi, it’s citrus he stocks up on.

“I buy some lemons a month early and keep them in a plastic bag in the fridge. They always seem to be exorbitant two weeks out from Xmas,” he says.��

5. Share the load

If you’re hosting a celebration around the festive season, get the attendees to help with the catering.��

“You gotta do ‘bring-a-plate’ for big dos,” says Mark. “We create a theme and everyone has to bring a main and sweet around that theme. We have a friends’ Christmas dinner around the 28th December every year where we do that and it’s always amazing.”

Some coordination will be required unless you want to end up with 11 pavlovas and no salads.��

6. Switch things up

Our regular surveys of grocery costs at Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and IGA supermarkets find some fairly significant differences for similar items, so if you’re watching every cent it can be worth checking out what’s on offer at stores you may not regularly visit.��

If you’re lucky enough to have easy access to more than one store, you can save by comparing prices and splitting your shop across different supermarkets. There are different apps available to help you identify the best deals across the various chains, so if you have the option, visiting more than one shop can help reduce how much you spend on your Christmas entertaining.

Even if you only have one supermarket option, using unit pricing to find the cheapest products can help you save. For example, when we compare loose vs packaged groceries we find significant savings to be had if you buy the lowest priced option on offer.��

The post 6 ways to save on your Christmas groceries appeared first on ����Vlog.

On this page:

• The best gift for a savvy shopper
• The best gifts for kitchen connoisseurs
• The best gifts for fitness fanatics
• The best gifts for movie buffs, audiophiles and tech heads
• The best gifts for backyard bosses

����Vlog experts assess hundreds of products each year, so they’re well placed to tell you which ones will be well received and which will end up relegated to the back of the cupboard (or listed on eBay come Boxing Day).

To help make sure you stay on the Christmas card list for next year, our experts have compiled a list (and checked it twice) of their top picks of products we test here at ����Vlog – plus the ones to avoid.

The best gift for a savvy shopper

If your Secret Santa recipient is absolutely impossible to buy for, we’ve got you covered. Give them the gift of choice – literally! 

A ����Vlog membership gives even the pickiest purchaser all the intel they need for their next big buy.

It’s the perfect gift for someone setting up a new house (or renovating their existing one), having a baby, or just someone who wants to buy the best performing products at the best price.

With access to more than 200 reviews, there’s something for everyone, so you won’t have to agonise over choosing between teal and duck egg blue, like you do with a pair of socks.��

And because it’ll help them avoid buying an expensive dud, it’ll save them money – now that’s a gift that really keeps on giving.��

The best gifts for kitchen connoisseurs

Coffee machines

With prices hitting $5 (and upwards!) for a small takeaway coffee, a coffee machine could be a welcome gift for anyone who’s feeling the effects of their coffee habit on their budget.

Just bear in mind that even though pod machines can be cheap to buy, the cost of the pods themselves can quickly add up – they’re much more expensive than buying whole beans or even ground coffee.

However, they’re a great option for anyone who just wants a no-fuss coffee, quick smart. A manual or semi-automatic machine requires a bit more learning but can deliver a better-quality brew.��

Or for the ultimate in convenience, a fully automatic machine will create the coffee of your choosing at the press of a button – but they’re pretty pricey.

We’ve calculated that a coffee machine could save a household of two more than $2000 a year by switching from buying two cafe coffees a day to making coffee at home.

(And that’s a conservative estimate – we based these numbers on a $1200 machine and fancy coffee beans costing $49.50/kg.)

Not sure which type to buy? We can help you decide which coffee machine is right for you.

What not to buy:

In terms of pod machines, we suggest you avoid the Nescafe Dolce Gusto Piccolo XS 9781, which scored just 30% in our taste test.

And any barista who made coffee as poorly as the Sunbeam Café Barista EM5000 would be out of a job. (It also scored just 30% on the taste test.)

If you’re looking for a one-touch wonder, the fully automatic Gaggia Anima Prestige is a good way to waste $1599 in one hit: it received an abysmal ����Vlog Expert Rating of just 51%.

Soda makers

Buying for the host with the most? A soda maker can add some extra sparkle to their soiree, even if they’re not serving alcoholic drinks.

Not only does a soda maker give you sparkling water literally on tap whenever you want it, it can also expand your beverage repertoire: you can get creative with juices, syrups, spirits and different soft drink flavours to create delicious cocktails and mocktails.

Plus, instead of lugging heavy drink bottles home from the supermarket and then filling the recycling bin with them, having a soda maker means you can significantly reduce your plastic waste. Not to mention the carbon miles you’ve also saved by not purchasing bottled sparkling water.��

What not to buy:

At an eye-watering $499, the Aarke Carbonator Pro will look pretty, but if you buy it for a friend, they might end up shoving it in the back of the cupboard: our experts weren’t won over by its good looks and scored it just 66% overall in our latest soda maker review.

Kitchen knives

You might not have considered this one, but a good-quality knife can make a great gift. No, not for the street thug in your life – for keen cooks and amateur butchers.

Not only can it make meal prep much faster, but a good kitchen knife can be a real pleasure to use.��

Most of us work with knives that aren’t as sharp as they could be (which as well as being inefficient can also be unsafe), but a quality kitchen knife should stay sharper for longer.

Some knives can cost hundreds of dollars (the most expensive we’ve tested costs $400), but you don’t necessarily need to pay more to get the best blade for your budget: a number of more affordable knives performed very well in our testing.

We recommend kitchen knives with a ����Vlog Expert Rating of 80% and higher; however, knives that just missed out on being recommended are still worth considering.

While gifting a fancier, high-end knife might have that ‘wow’ factor, giving your loved one the gift of a knife that’ll stand the test of time is far more thoughtful, so check out our review to find the best kitchen knives.

What not to buy:

The $200 Mundial Kitchen Knife may be made from high carbon stainless steel, but it didn’t deliver high-grade performance in our testing. It scored just 60% – that’s less than some cheap knives from the likes of Ikea and Kmart!

Ice cream maker

Given the size of the ice cream section at the supermarket, you could be forgiven for wondering why on earth anyone would bother making their own ice cream from scratch, but for a particular type of person, it can be a lovely gift.��

But it’ll actually be a treat for both the recipient and for you: they’ll get a fun new kitchen appliance, and you’ll get to enjoy the fruits (or rather desserts) of their labour.

(Just don’t tell them about your ulterior motives in giving it to them.)

And they’re not just for making ice cream: you can also use them to whip up gelato, frozen yoghurt and slushies.

This is also a really thoughtful gift idea for people who love ice cream but may have special dietary requirements so want to make their own. (Read about more pros and cons of buying ice-cream makers.)

What not to buy:

You probably won’t want an encore after using the $299 Ovation Ice Cream Maker, which was the lowest scoring product in our review – by a long way. It’s not the most expensive, but if you have $300 to spend on a Christmas present, the Ovation will get you a frosty reception.

Other gifts for gourmands:

• Air fryers
• Multi-cookers
• Dutch ovens and casserole pots
• Stand mixers

The best gifts for fitness fanatics

Fitness trackers

Looking for a gift that’ll get their heart racing? Whether you’re buying for a seasoned gym bunny or someone who’s just taken up jogging, a fitness tracker is a thoughtful gift idea that’ll help get them motivated and monitor their progress over time.

Depending on your budget – and the recipient’s goals – you could go for a simple fitness band that’ll cover the basics, or go all out with high-end smart watch.

While a complicated Garmin or an Apple or Google Pixel watch might seem like an impressive gift, sometimes less is more: the top scoring fitness trackers in our tests weren’t necessarily the most expensive.

Our experts found a number of more affordable options that outperformed some pricier models, so if you want to put the ‘smart’ into ‘smartwatch’, check our review to find the best fitness trackers for your budget.

What not to buy:

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch5 took home the wooden spoon in our testing, with a ����Vlog Expert Rating of 68%. Our testers experienced significant delays in the watch updating pace and distance counts, and female triallists found the watch band uncomfortable.

Personal blenders

Quick, nutritious and portable, smoothies are a hit for good reason. A single-serve blender is a great gift to help your friend or family member stick to their healthy eating goals for the new year.

They’re not as powerful as traditional blenders, but they more than make up for it in convenience: all you need to do is throw in the ingredients, whizz it up, and then you’re good to go – you drink directly from the blending cup, which saves on washing up and helps you get out the door faster.

Or, if you know the gift recipient also get use out of a larger blender, some models now come with single-serve cups as well as the usual larger jug format, which makes them a more versatile (albeit more expensive) kitchen appliance.��

If you’re looking at a high-performance super blender, you’re probably asking ‘Is an expensive blender like a Vitamix worth it?‘

What not to buy:

It’s budget-friendly, but the $50 Sunbeam Insta Go Blender was the lowest ranking personal blender in our test. It’s definitely not one to buy for green smoothie enthusiasts: it was so bad at blending kale that our experts gave it a score of zero for this test.

Headphones

The right soundtrack can help motivate you to push a bit harder and top your personal best – or even just make those last 10 minutes on the exercise bike less dull.

But a killer playlist won’t do much good if your headphones are uncomfortable or don’t stay put when you’re working out.

When we test headphones, our panel of five experts gives each pair a score for comfort, assessing how they feel to put on and take off, how comfortable they are to wear for 30 minutes, and how they fare when the wearer is moving around.

You can sort and filter the reviews by noise cancelling score, sound quality and comfort, as well as brand, price and style to help you find the perfect pair.��

What not to buy:

While wireless earbuds are great for freedom of movement, JBL’s Live Flex aren’t a great example of the style. Our testers say they’re uncomfortable, don’t deliver good active noise cancellation, and the sound quality is ordinary at best.

The best gifts for movie buffs, audiophiles and tech heads

Soundbars

Going out to the cinema becomes a luxury when you have small children, a hectic schedule, or you’re on a tight budget. But a soundbar can help create that movie theatre atmosphere at home – at a fraction of the cost of a full home theatre set-up.

Plus, it can double as a wireless speaker so you can really get your money’s worth by using it for movies and music.

You can spend thousands of dollars on a good soundbar, but the two top scoring models in our review cost less than $600.

We’ve rounded up the best soundbars at every price, so you can find the best bar for your budget.

What not to buy:

If you’re looking for a bargain, the $119 Meredo Wooden 2.1 might catch your eye, but even at that price you’d be paying too much for it. It’s the cheapest soundbar in our test, but it’s also the lowest scoring with a ����Vlog Expert Rating of just 48%. The next lowest score is 63%, which shows how ordinary its performance is.��

Wireless speakers

If you’re buying for someone who likes having a soundtrack for every activity, a wireless speaker is a good choice of gift.��

Depending on how naughty or nice they’ve been, you can spend as little as $60 for a portable speaker like the JBL GO 3 or as much as $900 for a home speaker like the Sonos Five (or even more if they’ve been especially good this year).

For someone who’s always on the go, a portable Bluetooth speaker means they can take the party with them, whether they’re lounging by the pool, flipping steaks on the barbie or picnicking in the park.��

These can be an affordable option, with many costing less than $100.��

Look for something lightweight and robust with a good battery life and ideally some level of water resistance.

If you’re buying for someone who’s on a first-name basis with Alexa, Siri or Google, a smart speaker is a clever buy. You’ll be giving the gift of convenience: the recipient will be able to control things such as music, lighting, heating and cooling, calendars, streaming services, and more.

And then there’s smart display speakers that also have a screen, so you can watch the news or follow a recipe via a YouTube video, for instance.

What not to buy:

�ճ����$329 Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3�����Ի���$199 Boom 3 portable speakers were the lowest ranked products in our review, with a ����Vlog Expert Rating of 45% and 43% respectively.��

There are plenty of other wireless speakers that deliver better performance for less money, so check our review to find the best wireless speakers.

Bluetooth trackers

Have you had it with your absent-minded teen losing their house keys approximately 475 times a year? Does your spouse call you in a flap every week because they can’t find their wallet again? 

A Bluetooth tracker could help them and save your sanity. Essentially a small device that you attach to frequently-misplaced items, it connects to your mobile phone via an app that helps reunite you with whatever it is that you’ve lost.��

We can’t guarantee that it’ll help your loved one change their habits, but hopefully it’ll help cut down on the number of panicked phone calls you receive each week.

What not to buy:

The Orbit Keys and Orbit Stick-on. Both of these products failed our safety tests relating to button batteries, which can cause significant injuries and even death if small children swallow them. Mandatory safety standards for button batteries came into effect in 2022, but ����Vlog experts still find products on the market that don’t comply with button battery laws. ���ܰ���Bluetooth trackers review will tell you which products are safe and which you should avoid.

Other gifts for a very techy Christmas:

• Headphones
• Movie and TV streaming devices
• Smartphones
• Simple mobile phones
• Smart doorbells
• E-readers

The best gifts for backyard bosses

Barbecues

Another gift that benefits the giver as well as the receiver, a new BBQ will fire up a backyard chef’s enthusiasm for outdoor entertaining.

You could go for a portable barbie for balcony, verandah and park cook-ups, a larger size for bigger gatherings, or even a smoker for the especially keen (but patient) barbecuer.

From charcoal to LPG, electric to natural gas and even infrared, there are almost as many BBQ types as there are BBQ chefs in the world.��

So before you start shopping, make sure you know what you’re looking for so you don’t get caught up in the moment and come home with a four-burner beast with a side burner for someone who only has a small balcony and mostly cooks just for one.

And if you’re buying for someone who’s already a grill master, take a look at BBQ add-ons like pizza stones, smart digital meat thermometers, or even a hibachi grill.

What not to buy:

The Ziegler & Brown Ziggy electric BBQ only just managed to scrape through with a pass mark in our tests. When our experts tested its roasting capabilities, it did so poorly that they gave it a score of zero.

Pool cleaners

Cleaning the pool is a thankless task: as soon as you’ve finished, it starts filling up with leaves again (and half the water ends up outside of the pool thanks to bombs and belly flop competitions).

Automating the job means that no-one has to miss out on the festivities because they’re busy scooping debris from the depths.

A fancy robotic pool cleaner can cost thousands of dollars, but you don’t need to max out your credit card for a good cleaner: of the 10 pool cleaners our experts recommend, four of them cost less than $1000 (and a fifth just over the $1K mark), with two costing less than $550.��

What not to buy:

The Baracuda Tracker WS000029 really sucks – and not just because it’s a suction cleaner.��

It scored an abysmal 3% for its performance in the pool. Our experts stopped testing around the three-hour mark because they concluded that it’d be easier to just manually vacuum the pool.��

Plus, it retails for $725, which is quite expensive for a geared suction cleaner – and especially for one this terrible.��

A ����Vlog membership costs just $83.95 for 12 months, but could save you from wasting hundreds of dollars on a product like this suction cleaner.��

Instead, you could check our review, pick up a ����Vlog Recommended robotic pool cleaner for under $550 and spend the difference on inflatable unicorns and cocktail umbrellas.

Battery lawn mowers

For the lawn-proud garden guru in your life, a petrol-powered mower could be making their job harder: they can be heavy, difficult to manoeuvre and tricky to start.

A battery lawn mower can lighten the load – literally. They weigh less, they’re quieter, they start with just the press of a button, and you don’t need to worry about buying, storing and handling petrol (and the associated fumes).

While they generally can’t handle large blocks, they’re fine for typical suburban blocks up to about 500 square metres.

If your groundskeeper has other battery-powered tools (or is thinking about buying some), mower batteries are usually compatible with other power tools from the same brand – things like line trimmers, brush cutters and leaf blowers. So find out their preferred brand before you shop.

As a bonus, if they already have a battery-powered tool system, you might not need to buy a battery for the mower, which will bring the cost down.

What not to buy:

The Ryobi 18V 37cm Lawn Mower 4AH Kit sits at the bottom of the pile in our battery lawn mowers review. It scores 72% overall which doesn’t sound too bad, but the top performers score 90% and higher.��

Its battery only lasts for 22 minutes, so unless your backyard is the size of a postage stamp, you won’t be able to knock over the mowing in one go.

Other gifts for an alfresco Christmas:

• Pizza ovens
• Robot lawnmowers
• Leaf blowers

The post ����Vlog experts’ top picks for Christmas gifts appeared first on ����Vlog.

1. Last-minute pressie ideas

Even the most dedicated Christmas shopper gets last-minute gift requests sprung upon them (or maybe you haven’t even started your shopping yet? We won’t judge).��

Our buying guides are here to help you before you shop:

• Buying for a kitchen creative? Take a look at how to buy the best coffee machine, kitchen mixer buying guide, how to buy the best food processor for your needs, and how to find the best air fryer.��
• Need to find something for a tech head? Make sure you’re across noise-cancelling headphones to avoid, how to buy the best wireless speakers, finding the right TV for your budget and how to buy the best soundbar.��
• Got a health nut on your Christmas list? Find out how to buy the best fitness tracker, read our guide to buying running shoes, learn about buying headphones and earphones for jogging, or items for a home gym on a shoestring.��

For more inspiration, hear what ����Vlog staff say they want (and definitely DON’T want) to open on Christmas Day.

2. Freaking out over your Christmas feast?

All out of inspiration? Don’t despair. Our resident kitchen queen is here to help.��

Check out Fiona Mair’s expert tips for cooking for a crowd, the best appliances to use and how to plan your prep day-by-day. She even shares some of her favourite dishes too.

Also make sure you learn from other people’s mistakes and avoid these epic food fails.

3. The gift of a gift card  

It’s the king of last-minute Christmas gift ideas – in fact, Aussies spend up to $2.5 billion on gift cards each year. But they can also have a few pain points and there are some pitfalls you should avoid.��

Read our guide: How to buy the best gift cards before you commit.

4. The perfect last-minute gift: A chocolate box

A box of chocolate is a last-minute gift that always delivers – it’s suitable for teachers, great-uncles, neighbours and colleagues alike. But how do you decide which one to give? 

���ܰ���chocolate box comparison has got you covered.��

5. Head instore or go online? 

It’s getting a little close to the wire to do any online ordering if you want to ensure delivery before Christmas Day – so if you’re still ordering anything (food or gifts), make sure you check delivery times to avoid disappointment. And read our pros and cons of doing your grocery shopping instore or online.��

Regardless of where you shop, check their websites carefully to ensure your delivery will arrive on time and they can deliver all the products you want.

6. Be wary of last-minute extended warranties 

If you’re buying home appliances or tech such as computers, tablets or smartphones in the lead up to Christmas (or looking to bag a bargain in the sales), read our guide on whether extended warranties are really worth paying extra for. (Hint: in most cases, they’re probably not.)

7. Get the best tasting foods for your festive feast

Planning to stock up on seasonal goodies like fruit mince pies? Don’t shop before you’ve checked our fruit mince pies review and our supermarket hams review.��

We also tell you which supermarket custard is the best for your festive desserts and which Christmas pudding our experts rated highest. And if you’re having oven difficulties with just a week to go, why not consider cooking Christmas lunch on the barbecue this year?

8. Ask for gift receipts (and store your receipts in an app)

If you’re buying a last-minute gift and you’re not sure if the lucky recipient is really going to love it, ask for gift receipts instore. These days, many retailers can also email them to you so you have an electronic record.��

If you have a lot of paper receipts, store them in one handy place in a plastic sleeve so it’s easy to organise returns after Christmas if need be (and so they don’t fade). Even better, take photos of them and store them in an app like the free .

9. When to tell your insurer you’re going on holiday

Planning an extended trip away from home, perhaps that long-awaited caravanning adventure or a sabbatical to a holiday house? Most of the policies in our home and contents insurance reviews require you to tell your insurer if you’re away for 60 days or more – this could vary depending on whether you have a house sitter or Airbnb guest, though.��

Even if you’re going away for a shorter time, there’s things to consider to help keep your home safe while you’re away: read our guide on How to make sure your home is still insured while you’re on holiday.

10. Keep your cool 

In the midst of the festive madness, when you’re panicking about finding the perfect lavender-scented hand cream for your kids’ teacher, or stressing that the Christmas bon-bons don’t match the napkins, take a deep breath and remember: we’re all in this chaos together.��

If you need a good chuckle to ease the stresses of this time of year, read Penny Flanagan’s all-too-relatable article about 9 thoughts we all have while Christmas shopping.

The post 10 tips that might be handy in the week before Christmas appeared first on ����Vlog.

Choose the right tools for the job

Having spent more than two decades testing well over 3000 appliances in our kitchen labs, Fiona knows that the tools you have at your disposal will make or break your Christmas feast preparations.��

Her number one advice? Use a food processor.��

“A food processor is your helping hand in the kitchen for chopping, slicing and mixing, especially when you’re catering for large numbers,” she says.

“And a blunt knife is frustrating to use and slows you down, so make sure they’ve been sharpened ahead of time.”

“If you have an oven with fan-forced mode, you can cook on multiple shelves in the oven but ensure you have enough roasting trays. For barbecue cooking, use large aluminium barbecue roasting trays.”

Fiona also recommends using a meat thermometer and cooking timer. “This will take the guesswork out of knowing when your meat is cooked and [ensure] you don’t overcook anything,” she says.

Sizing up

The size of your appliance can also make a real difference when it comes to cooking for a crowd.

“If you’re catering for a large number of people you might want to invest in a second fridge or freezer to store the food,” Fiona says.��

“You don’t want to leave meats and other perishables sitting out on the bench all day to spoil, this could cause people to get sick.”

Another option is to use an esky or cooler, making sure you fill as much empty space as possible with ice and keep it in a cool spot.��

And instead of letting those bottles of sparkling wine and beer take up valuable space in the fridge, “have a few plastic tubs around for drinks – but don’t forget to buy some ice for them on Christmas morning,” says Fiona.��

If oven space is at a premium, Fiona suggests taking some of the cooking outside – a hooded barbecue is an ideal backup appliance for cooking Christmas lunch.��

“If you have a four-burner barbecue with a hood, I suggest cooking your meats in there, which will leave room in the oven for you to cook your roast vegetables,” she says.��

Have a practice run cooking a roast on the barbie before the big day to get an idea of how well your barbecue heats and how long it may take to cook. “Cooking the meat in the barbecue indirectly will take around three-to-four hours so get it cooking in time,” adds Fiona.��

Plan ahead

One month before

Start planning your Christmas celebrations at the beginning of December. Work out exactly how many guests are coming and what their dietary requirements are to determine just how much food you’ll need – and whether you have enough seats, plates, cutlery and serving platters.��

“You’ll need to order your turkey, ham and seafood early for pick up just before Christmas,” says Fiona. “The butcher or fishmonger can give you an idea what size to order for the amount per serve you’ll need.” 

Once your menu is set, write a detailed shopping list. “Try not to go overboard and only buy the quantities required because remember, you’ll have to store the food somewhere,” says Fiona.��

She also recommends a practise run of any recipes you haven’t cooked before, to avoid a kitchen nightmare on the day.��

One week before

“Clean out your fridge to make space, ensure your oven is clean and that your barbecue’s gas bottle is full,” says Fiona.��

Now is also a good time to make a large amount of chicken stock and freeze. Defrost on the day and use to make gravy.��

Two days before

Fiona recommends hitting the supermarket two days before Christmas so your ingredients are as fresh as possible.��

When you get home, wash your vegetables, peel if needed and cut into portions before covering and storing in the fridge.��

One day before

Make salad dressings and store in jars, and parboil any vegies you plan to roast.

“Any vegetables that have longer cooking times, such as red cabbage sauerkraut, can also be cooked the day before as this will free up your stove top on Christmas day,” Fiona says.��

“Christmas Eve is also the time to pick up your seafood, which needs to be kept cold at all times so store it in the fridge.”

If you’re cooking roast ham or turkey, you can do some of the prep work now. “Remove your turkey from the packaging, rinse, dry and then add seasonings and stuffing and smother with butter,” says Fiona.��

“For the ham, remove the skin layer, score the fat, glaze and add cloves as needed and then cover it ready for roasting the following morning.” 

On the day

Knowing how long each dish takes to cook will help you stay on schedule.��

“Write a to-do list, including cooking times and when foods should be placed in the oven and or prepared,” says Fiona. “Ticking each one off when completed is such a good feeling.”

You should also keep food safety in mind as the last thing you want is to give your guests the gift of salmonella.��

“Keep washing your hands throughout the preparation and don’t leave meats and proteins sitting out on the bench all day,” says Fiona. “And make sure you don’t cross-contaminate meat with vegetables.”

Read our guide on how to avoid food poisoning for more.��

Fiona’s tips for cooking meat and seafood

Whether you’re cooking turkey, ham, chicken, seafood or all of the above, do your research to determine how long to cook them for.��

“Remove meats from the fridge at least an hour before cooking, as this will take the chill off them – a ‘cold’ turkey will require longer cooking time,” she says. “Add some water to the bottom of the dish to help steam the meat and to prevent the meat from drying out, keep topping this up during the cooking.

“For the first hour of cooking any meat, cover completely with foil to help steam the meat then remove the foil for the duration of cooking, only shielding wings and legs. Then re-cover any cooked foods with foil again to keep them warm.”

Cooking meat on the barbecue? Fiona has you covered. “Preheat the barbecue on the highest setting (240°C), cook for the first hour on high then reduce the temperature to a medium heat (180°C) for the duration of the cooking time,” she suggests.��

“If you have a three- or four-burner BBQ, use the outside burners only and place the tray in the centre (this is called indirect cooking).

“Refrain from opening the barbecue hood too often as you’ll lose heat, which will make the cooking time longer. Once cooked, rest the cooked meat for at least an hour to allow the juices to settle.”

Fiona’s Christmas dessert alternatives

Christmas pudding is a staple for many, but not everyone is a fan of the traditional dessert so consider offering alternatives.��

“Make a chocolate pudding or, as it’s summer, you can’t go past a pavlova with fresh fruit,” Fiona says.��

“I like to make a peppermint bark with dark and white chocolate and I always have Lebkuchen on the table, which is a traditional gingerbread cookie with lemon icing … the kids love them.”

The day after

Once the meal has been eaten and the dishes done, pack those leftovers in containers and pop them in the fridge for a bonza Boxing Day meal.��

“Leftovers the next day are delicious without doing much to them, served with a salad makes it so easy for a next day meal,” Fiona says.

“Remove any meat from the bone and place it in an airtight container. Any vegetables and leftover gravy can also be stored in a container. A ham will last more than a week in the fridge if stored correctly.

“Any bones can be placed into a pot of water with seasonings and simmered for a few hours to make stock that can be frozen for soups and risottos.”

But if you are in the mood to do a little more cooking, you can always make a Christmas leftover pie to use.

“Preheat the oven to 200°C, then chop leftover meat and vegies into 2cm pieces and place in a bowl with some frozen peas and fresh herbs like parsley and thyme,” says Fiona.

“Add enough gravy to cover the mixture, or make up the difference with a white sauce. Pour filling into a greased pie dish lined with shortcrust pastry, then cover with puff pastry and brush with an egg wash.��

“Bake for 40 mins or until the pastry is golden brown, then serve with leftover salad vegetables.”

The post Our expert Christmas cooking tips appeared first on ����Vlog.

If you are planning on risking your life by going to the shops during this period, here are 10 thoughts that will probably go through your mind as you elbow someone out of the way for the last box of red-striped-because-they-match-my-table-scheme Christmas crackers.�� 

1. Oh my god! There will be no (insert signature Christmas food here) left for my Christmas feast!

Last year in our family lunch collective, the Christmas ham was allotted to me. I left my run a bit late and then totally panicked, telling myself that there would be ‘none left’ by the time I got to the David Jones food hall. In this state of mind, I rushed in, grabbed the first ham I saw (deciding that because it was the ‘last ham in Australia’ I’d just have to pay the $349 asking price as my punishment) and made my way to the checkout.��

On my way to the checkout I saw a whole lot of other hams: all manner of sizes and price-points below $100. These reasonably priced hams were still available to anyone who wanted to buy them. It slowly dawned on me that this $349 ham I was about to buy was not the last ham in Australia. I was merely caught up in the Christmas syndrome known as: ‘OMG there’ll be none left’.��

2.�� Next year I’m going to do all my shopping online

When you are standing in the queue at the fancy candles and doodads shop and the sales assistant asks every person in the queue ahead of you to recite their name, address, phone number and email address in order to claim a 10% ‘membership’ discount, you swear to yourself that next year, NEXT YEAR, you will order everything online. Then next year in November you again find yourself thinking: no need to panic, I’ve still got plenty of time.��

3. Are these really the only Christmas songs available to play over a shopping centre sound system? 

As the first verse for Mariah Carey’s, ‘All I want for Christmas’ starts up again, directly followed by the distinctive puffing synth riff of George Michael’s, ‘Last Christmas’, you really begin to wonder if any musician anywhere has been doing anything since the late ’80s.�� 

4. I really should have bought these big rolls of Christmas wrapping last

There’s no way to effectively carry big rolls of Christmas wrapping. They ‘timber’ out of the bag, they point the wrong way and goose the person in front of you in the queue, they’re just a literal pain in everyone’s date. Word to the wise: buy your Christmas wrapping as you exit the centre.��

5. No time for chit-chat, it’s Christmas!

I appreciate that everyone is full of Christmas cheer, but when we’re four deep at the Haigh’s counter and the women up front are too busy catching up on Lachlan’s latest exploits to notice the queue has moved forward, all my Christmas cheer goes out the door. Move up! We are all waiting to buy giant peppermint frogs for our nephews!

6. I think I need more tinsel for my tree

You never need any more tinsel for your tree. You will always have too much tinsel. Do not buy anymore tinsel. More tinsel will not solve any of your problems.

7. No harm buying something for myself while I’m here, it’s my Christmas present to me 

Staying on target in large shopping centres is hard. Which is why sometimes we find ourselves accidentally buying lots of really good stuff for ourselves and a few lame boxes of chocolates and tea for random aunts and uncles we probably won’t even see this Christmas.��

8. Consumerism will be the death of us all

Sure, it’s a dark thought for Christmas, but there’s nothing like seeing steely-eyed shoppers pushing giant trolley-loads of cheap generic gifts to make you swear off capitalism and go off-grid for the rest of your natural life.��

9. Will I ever get out of this carpark alive? 

Just when you think you’re out, the Christmas retail frenzy pulls you back in and you find yourself crawling down carpark ramps in a queue of tail lights, wondering if you’ll actually get that $349 ham home in time for Christmas lunch.��

The post 9 thoughts you’ll probably have if you visit a shopping centre days before Christmas appeared first on ����Vlog.

Here, ����Vlog staff reveal the worst Christmas gifts they’ve ever received.��

Plus we share some advice about what to do with those unwanted gifts.

So corny

“My husband – to whom I have frequently expressed my active dislike of cooking – gave me a bag of peppercorns. They were special Kampuchean peppercorns but that really didn’t make it any better.” – Marg Rafferty, managing editor.

Couple coals

“My great-grandparents actually had a tradition of gifting each other a lump of coal each year. It was very sweet.” – Ashley Iredale, whitegoods expert.

Brace yourself

“My parents thought it would be a good idea to get my braces fitted on the day before Christmas. I was 11, and my teeth hurt like crazy. My mum thought it would cheer me up if she put my xmas lunch through the MouliBaby …  so I could eat the resultant paste. It did not cheer me up.” – Scott O’Keefe, digital home test coordinator.��

Grime and punishment

“Years ago my then-flatmate bought me a vacuum cleaner. It was well-intentioned as we didn’t own one and were using a dustpan and brush to ‘clean’ the carpet (I know, I know). But as a gift it definitely sucked.” – Marianna Longmire, commissioning editor.

Hair you go

“One year my nan gave me a fake-hair accessory that’s meant to match your natural hair colour with a bright streak running through it. I have dark brown hair, but the fake hair was mouse brown/blonde with a green streak. When I opened it my nan said, ‘Oh, I must have been thinking of my other granddaughter.’

“It gets worse. One birthday she gave my mum (her daughter) a bar of soap, a fluffy coat-hanger and a single used chopstick.” – Emily Swanson, digital engagement campaigner.

On yer bike

“When I was younger, my brother and I both received new bikes for Christmas while my sister got a sewing machine. She was furious and would have much preferred a bicycle, but our mum couldn’t understand why she was so upset as the bikes were cheap ones from a box store while the sewing machine was a state-of-the-art model worth hundreds of dollars. To this day, my sister still isn’t over it – and it’s been nearly 30 years!” – Amanda Adams, consumer insights researcher.

Clear and present danger

“Despite my repeated pleas of don’t get me anything, I was given scented candles by my then-partner’s family when they knew I was allergic to perfumes and fragrances. They also gave me food I was allergic to and wine I couldn’t drink. On the plus side I got to breathe easy and regift them!” – Wendy Evans, verifier.

Want vs need

“It wasn’t a gift to myself, but a gift from my father to my mother. It was Christmas morning and my mother opened a rather long present. It turned out my father had got her a towel rack. Not a big rack, but a single bar that you would attach to the wall. It was a very nice rack and a new rack was needed, in fact it’s still being used to this day. But it didn’t go down well and I later had to explain to my father that a good starting point is to get something she’ll want, not what they both need.��

“Actually, that same Christmas my sister got the video game expansion to the game The Sims 2. My sister didn’t even own The Sims 2 to add the expansion to.” – Mitchell Thompson, IT systems administrator.

What to do with an unwanted gift

If your Christmas gift is a dud, you have a few options.

Return it

According to Australian Consumer Law, if the gift is faulty, you can take it back to the retailer and ask for a refund, repair or replacement.

But if you simply don’t like your gift, retailers are under no obligation to give you a refund, although many do offer change of mind refunds. You’ll need proof of purchase, such as a receipt, which can be tricky with gifts – either you might not have it, or you’ll have to ask the gifter for it (awkward?).

Our article on your rights to a refund at Christmas has more information.

Donate it

Charities such as and the are always after good-quality items. But there are a number of items they can’t accept, such as:

• Ripped, torn, soiled or stained clothing or furniture
• Cracked or broken homewares
• Stained bedding including mattresses
• Green waste
• Household waste
• Computers, printers and scanners
• Building materials
• Car parts
• Weapons – including replicas and martial arts weapons
• Taxidermy (stuffed) animals.

Sell or regift it

You could try to sell your unwanted gift on eBay or Gumtree, or on various online buy sell swap sites.

Alternatively, pay it forward using , or if you know someone who’d get some joy out of it, give it to them! (It’s probably best if they don’t know the original gifter, or things might get tricky.)

Accept it

You can always graciously accept and keep your gift. After all, some relationships are too important to risk hurting someone’s feelings.��

The post Are these the worst Christmas gifts ever? appeared first on ����Vlog.

On this page:

• Why are retailers having so much trouble getting stock from overseas?
• Why you should do your Christmas shopping earlier this year
• What about Christmas food?
• Alternative ways to give gifts 

As the busy Christmas season approaches, retailers and supply chain experts are warning that empty shelves and stock shortages could mean Santa isn’t able to get hold of every gift he wants to put under the tree this year.��

In short, you should be shopping for Christmas as early as possible.��Here’s how to navigate what’s shaping up to be a challenging silly season.

Why are retailers having so much trouble getting stock from overseas?

“There’s one reason – the pandemic,” says Dr Hermione Parsons, director of the Centre for Supply Chain and Logistics at Deakin University, Victoria.��

“It’s created serious problems in air freight and serious problems in sea freight. And because Australia is an island nation, we have been seriously hit.” 

Border closures, restrictions to flights and shutdowns due to COVID-19 outbreaks have created critical shipping and supply disruption all over the globe. In August, the world’s third busiest port, Ningbo in China, closed for two weeks because of a spate of COVID cases.��

Freight coming from the west coast of the USA, an important trading hub for Australia, is riddled with ongoing delays partly caused by restrictions on flights coming into Australia.��

Priority imports

What limited freight space we do have is sensibly being given to priority imports, such as vaccines, medical supplies and other emergency items, including spare parts and components.��

“That means someone wanting to buy a dress or a piece of jewellery or whatever they want to buy via e-commerce is probably going to have to wait until airfreight capacity – in the belly of passenger flights – increases sufficiently to enable the transportation and logistics of less critical items for our country,” says Parsons.��

Domestic disruption

And it’s not just international freight that’s affected. Transport of goods within Australia has also been hampered by state border closures, occupational health and safety issues, and sheer overload.��

“Border closures create a backlog,” Parsons says. “And every time there’s a backlog it takes time to catch up.”

Why you should do your Christmas shopping earlier this year

There are three main reasons you should be starting that Christmas shopping now.��

First, retailers big and small are experiencing unprecedented shortages of stock, as well as shortages of parts and materials to make their products.��

Second, the work of Australia Post and couriers is being hampered and delayed by internal border restrictions.��

Third, we’re shopping online more than ever before – Australians spent $3.7 billion online in July alone, a new record for a single month.��

Christmas 2020 also broke records, with Australia Post delivering 52 million parcels in December. The national carrier also told ����Vlog “early indications are that this Christmas will be our biggest yet”.

Stiff competition

All this means you’re competing with a lot of other consumers – not just for the products themselves, but also for the delivery services that get those products to your door.

So the earlier you can get your shopping done, the more likely you are to bag the products you want.

“The key message for consumers is to be prepared and don’t leave your Christmas shopping to the last minute,” says CEO of the Australian Retailers Association, Paul Zahra.��

“While a reopening is on the cards in locked-down parts of the country in the coming weeks and months, these supply-chain issues are likely to be with us right through to Christmas, so consumers should consider shopping early to avoid disappointment.”

Items ordered… then cancelled

����Vlog buying co-ordinator Sonja Scodeller has had issues when buying products online – the order will be accepted, only for it to be cancelled a day or two later and a refund issued.��

“It seems stores can’t keep up with stock levels either in store or online, therefore can’t update quantities quickly enough,” she says.��

“If possible, I suggest doing a ‘click and collect’ from the store, or you could ring and put things on hold or pay over the phone. That way you can be sure of getting the product in the timeframe required.”

Check delivery times and return policies 

It’s also helpful to double check delivery times directly with retailers, making sure they can guarantee that your order will reach you on time.��Generic delivery times on websites are a good start, but if you have any doubts, pick up the phone or send an email.

“It’s also worth checking the store’s return policy,” says ����Vlog buyer Narelle Cornelius. “Has it been extended due to slow delivery, so you have enough time to return it?” 

This also applies to overseas stores, or stores that look like they’re in Australia but ship from overseas.��

“Buying now and trying to organise a refund or swap after Christmas might not be possible,” says Cornelius. “So before you buy, think carefully about what you want or need, as well as sizing for clothes.”

What about Christmas food?

If you’re one of those people who hates the sight of Christmas food appearing in supermarkets as early as September or October, this could well be the year to shelve your irritation and snap it up instead.

That’s because some experts predict that food supply-chain problems could also make it hard to get hold of festive foodstuffs from overseas.��

‘Potentially empty shelves’

“With Christmas quickly approaching, consumers might notice sparse or potentially empty shelves when stocking up,” says David Aherne, CEO and managing director of freight forwarding company Across The Ocean Shipping.��

“Unfortunately, the side effects the global pandemic is incurring on the shipping and logistics industry are being felt in Australia’s major supermarkets with imported items such as frozen berries, prawns and even coffee beans being held up at major ports.”

Plan ahead, buy local

Again, the answer is to plan ahead and buy local where you can. Order hams, turkeys, seafood and puddings as far in advance as possible so you don’t miss out. And keep an eye out for those early supermarket Christmas product drops.��

Woolworths, for example, is already stocking Christmas items such as its own-brand mince pies, iced fruit cake and plum puddings – although keep an eye on their best before and use-by dates if you plan to store them for December 25.

Alternative ways to give gifts 

It’s the nightmare-at-Christmas scenario: you’ve left it too late, the shelves are bare and online retailers are plastered with ‘Sold Out’ signs. What are your options? 

1. Make it yourself

Baked or bottled or stitched or drawn: handmade items created with love are always appreciated.

And you don’t need to be a crafting or cooking expert to get started. ����Vlog home economist Fiona Mair‘s recipe for microwave strawberry jam is easy to follow – and it even scored higher than the store-bought options in our strawberry jam taste test.

2. Buy second-hand products

Scour second-hand stores for quirky finds that ooze personality.��

“Shopping in online marketplaces such as eBay, Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace are another way to find a unique gift, and you can often get a great deal on items,” says ����Vlog consumer expert Marianna Longmire.��

“But be careful when buying second-hand appliances or children’s items – you might end up with an older model that wasn’t subject to safety standards when it was first sold. It’s also worth checking to see if it’s been subject to a recall.”

3. Give the gift of experience

Why does a gift have to be an object? Buy a voucher for a hotel or restaurant instead. Not only are many of us itching to get back into travel and eating out after months of uncertainty, but the hospitality industry needs support as well. Two birds, one stone.

4. Shop locally

Shop directly from your local stores and prepare to be flexible, rather than having your heart set on a specific gift.

5. Don’t wait for the sales

It’s tempting to wait for a product to go on sale before you buy it, particularly for big-ticket items. But if there’s something you really want – for yourself or as a gift – and it’s in your budget, why not just buy it? If you wait for it to go on sale, there’s a chance it will sell out, leaving you empty-handed. And if you wouldn’t be willing to pay full price for it, ask yourself whether you really want or need it anyway.

The post Should you buy Christmas presents now? appeared first on ����Vlog.

(This story was updated on 9 October to reflect JB Hi-Fi’s reversal on its gift card policy.) 

In JB Hi-Fi’s 2020 annual report, the company says “gift cards and store credits are considered a prepayment for goods and services to be delivered in the future”.

But even though the goods have technically been paid for, JB Hi-Fi gave itself the right in recent days to choose which products gift-card holders can and can’t buy before ultimately rethinking the policy.

That seemed pretty shonky to us, since gift-card credits are effectively cash.

With the gift-giving season not too far away, the gamers of the world, or their parents or caregivers, might well have their eyes on the new PS5 or Xbox Series X/S.

They may even have already put down a $50 deposit if they “were lucky enough to get a spot in the pre-order queue”, as a JB Hi-Fi webpage puts it.

Your gift card is no good here

If you were planning to use a JB Hi-Fi gift card to pay off the balance for the new console, however, it would have been game over until the retailer’s recent backflip on the issue.��

A message on a JB Hi-Fi webpage, “using JB Hi-Fi gift cards to pay for your console will not be available”, is what started all the commotion.��

The JB Hi-Fi terms and conditions say gift cards “entitle the holder to goods/services equal to the value stated on the gift card or remaining after partial redemption”. But they don’t say anything about not being able to use one for certain purchases.��

“Gift cards are meant to operate like cash,” says ����Vlog head of policy Julia Steward.

“Any onerous restrictions on gift-card use have to be clearly explained at the time of purchase,” she says. “JB Hi-Fi has clear terms and conditions for gift cards with no information about restrictions. The company is at real risk of breaching the [Australian] Consumer Law here by misleading customers.”

We contacted JB Hi-Fi for comment about refusing gift card purchases but didn’t get a response.��

New policy involves jumping through hoops

The electronics retailer says it’s now accepting gift cards for purchases of the gaming consoles in question. But you still have to pay with a credit card, debit card or PayPal first and then submit a request to redeem your gift card.�� 

JB Hi-Fi will then refund the money back to your card or PayPal, but it could take up to seven business days.��

Got a JB Hi-Fi gift card and still can’t use it? Here’s what to do

• Lodge a with JB Hi-Fi, pointing the company to its own terms and conditions for gift cards.��
• If the company still says no gift cards, lodge a complaint with your state or territory consumer affairs body.��

The post JB Hi-Fi rethinks gift card policy appeared first on ����Vlog.

If the rest of Australia is anything like Victoria, where the Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit compiles data from the state’s emergency departments, the Christmas and New Year period has some unique hazards, with hundreds of people cutting themselves opening presents with knives, electrocuting themselves with fairy lights, getting poked in the eye with pine branches, and hurting themselves in other holiday-themed accidents.

But the greatest number of injuries by far are fall-related, accounting for 41% of injuries during this period, while the next highest category, “cutting/piercing injuries”, accounts for 8%. We fall over at parties, off skateboards and on slip ‘n slides, high on bubbles and a change of pace.

Health hazards of Christmas

At Christmas, emergency wards see many elderly people who, after a long period of inactivity, collapse at the family get-together from exhaustion, dehydration and over-excitement, according to Lucy Osborn, an emergency nurse in Victoria.

She says it can be a stressful time, so we might be less attentive than usual – less likely to notice that grandpa seems extra tired, or that the toddler is munching on tinsel from the tree, or bits of the tree itself. Pine needles, Osborn says, are not easy to digest.

Nor are the , , , , undeclared (if you’re allergic or intolerant) and contained in seven products recalled for posing ingestion-related risks over the past fortnight, at the time of writing.��

Overall, 25 products were recalled in those two weeks alone, covering a broad spectrum of other hazards: , with cords that could strangle, , and all manner of faulty cars.

Osborn attributes the spike in people turning up at emergency rooms on Christmas Day to the fact that, for many, “there are, literally, a lot more objects around – there’s a lot more for parents to keep their eyes on, a lot more shiny new things for kids to get their hands on”.

Although many people would refrain from handing a small child a toy with small parts in case they swallow them, there are countless potential dangers that wouldn’t necessarily register until too late – and the items that kids are drawn to aren’t limited to toys.��

Constant vigilance is impossible

When Tamsin Rumble’s son was 11 months old, he was hospitalised for 24 hours after swallowing a button battery that came loose from a night light. The battery had moved to his bowel; doctors gave him medication and told Tamsin to keep feeding him, even though he didn’t want to eat, to help flush it out.

Tamsin says the night light appeared to have a secured battery compartment, but later she realised one of its screws was too small, meaning the button batteries could be accessed with the flick of a finger, or fall out if the light was dropped.��

Her son suffered some internal bleeding, but was able to make a full recovery in two days at home. “We were very fortunate that he didn’t have more serious injuries,” she says.

“We thought we were careful parents, aware of the dangers. But this shook us and we learnt that you can’t rely on the idea that products have been manufactured to a high standard.”

Some nights, Tamsin lies awake wondering, is everything safe? “Then I’ll prowl around the house checking all the products,” she says. “At Christmas time, I become anxious about what comes in the house and I’m careful about what we give other people.”

Current safety laws inadequate

Recently, Standards Australia announced it would develop a standard for products with button batteries, which have been linked to infant deaths. However, it’s up to governments to decide whether to make the standard mandatory, and there are many more products on the market that aren’t subject to standards at all.��

In a submission to Treasury, ����Vlog says Australia’s safety laws are reactive, unfit for the future and present an unacceptable level of consumer harm. It argues the onus should be on companies to commit to a thorough approach to safety – to ensure, before putting products on the market, that they are safe.��

The idea is to write a general safety provision into law, which would apply broadly across all consumer goods and protect people who are unaware there’s risk in, say, speed-browsing in a Myer or Kmart on Christmas Eve, picking items to gift that we assume are well-regulated. A ����Vlog survey found 93% of Australians believe – incorrectly – that products sold in Australia are legally required to be safe.

Staying safe during the holidays

Product recalls have more than quadrupled since 1998, and the ACCC estimates that as many as half of recalled items are still in our homes. Due to the prevalence of dangerous products in Australia, the regulator has taken to all to ensure that we buy each Christmas.��

The ACCC recommends checking that the presents you’re giving and getting haven’t been or , are age-appropriate and don’t pose a choking hazard to young kids.

It’s also put together the following advice for staying safe this summer.

Tips to stay safe over the holiday

• Read warning labels and follow the safety instructions on products
• Check products in the home to ensure button batteries aren’t easily accessible
• Don’t put heavy items on top of shelves and, ideally, anchor furniture to walls
• Supervise children in pools, including when they have flotation devices
• Supervise children in portable pools, then empty and store them away
• Check that your pool gate and latches are locking properly 
• Check the condition of trampolines and supervise children playing on them
• Wear a lifejacket when kayaking, water skiing, fishing in a boat or engaging in other activities on the water

Read more at .

The post Summer holiday injuries: the most common ways we get hurt appeared first on ����Vlog.