Have heard UK booster seats are illegal in Australia????

[Flumpleton]

Any one know if this is the case.Was planning on taking DS1s with us on plane but maybe not if it it in fact illegal. i understand that Oz car seats have an extra tether strap to ours but is that the case with the boosters too??

I think they are pretty strict about car seats, Sandcastles would be able to help. Otherwise try searching, I know I saw a thread before about carseats in Oz and there was a link to a road safety site in oz. Rules are different in most states.
Are you moving or just visiting?

depends on your booster and the age of your child. But generally our car seats are attached to a bolt on the back dash.

what sort is ds1's seat?!?! What state are you visiting? ALthough car seat laws are uniform, I can put up a link for you.

this might help

we are moving for at least 12 months to Perth. Booster is a Maxi Cosi high back type - just trying to avoid buying another one when we got there but don't want o go round breaking the law!

does it have a 5 point harness or is it one that just uses the care seat belt??

You could get around it by using the H harness one. Uses the car seat belt and an attached H harness that is bolted into the car.

picture of one is on that page I linked too.

Flumple, I thought this, and infact have told other people this on here...but recently was reminded by a friend that in NSW (might be different elsewhere, but I think its the same?) The law only states that a child under the age of 1 year must be in an approved child restraint. This law is changing (not sure when). I think the issue is that UK child seats don't meet Australian Standards, but I'm fairy sure you don't legally need one at all at the moment (WHICH IS TOTALLY OUTRAGEOUS of course) , so I imagine your UK one would be fine.

I will see what I can find on this...

some info in this article

astrophe - you do need a car seat - suggest children are in restraint/booster up until at least 7 yo here in QLD.

variety dept stores sell car seats very reasonably - stores like K Mart, BigW, Target, Toys R Us.

I can understand the pain of buying one for a year when you have a perfectly good one that you already use BUT better to be safe than sorry I figure.

look at page 17 of this govt document...down the bottom of the page.

FWIW I agree, and would buy one. The one we had in Aust cost us $250 (£100) and was the cheapest one which made the highest safety category in Choice magazine. For a booster it would be cheaper I expect.

But the law seems to be fairly ambiguous re children over 12 months - just says they need to be 'suitably restrained', whereas under 12 months must be in an approved restraint. Stupid law though, and I hope they change it very soon.

car seat on sale

do you have family/friends here who could keep an eye on sales etc and pick one up for you - jsut a thought.

can get them even more reasonably online.

You can order target online and have it delivered somewhere?!?

another store

here in Brisbane - there are also companies who hire out baby equipment - so that could be an option - hiring a car seat for a year - might work out cheaper to just buy one.

hadn't thought about hiring one, thanks for tip eids. will look into it today.
we don't really have anyone over there who we know well enough to order one for us. You're in Brisbane aren't you eids? my DH worked at the alexandra (??) hospital there a while and LOVED it

what about if you ordered it and had it delivered to someone to just hold it for you??

Yup I am in Brisbane - where are you going?? Perhaps an aussie mumsnetter could do that for you if needed?

could have it deliv to guy who is out there doing job DH is due to take over, in perth btw

perhaps you could ask if there is a perth mumsnetter that could help out - or have it delivered to you dh's workplace - i did that with some stuff when i moved to the UK.

think we are going to do the workplace thing. the contact there seems really accommodating. Just heard yesterday of someone leaving a nice house where we want to rent and want to get rid of all furniture, yipee!

Hi - I arrived in Perth today!! I'm more than happy to look after the car seat for you if you have it delivered to my place. (and I promise not to use it!!)

As far as we understand it in WA, child seats for babies from the UK are not okay (the Australian ones have an extra anchor point at the top which is attached to the roof of the car with an extra strap). However booster seats, so long as they have full backs are okay. We have exported our UK booster seats and my FIL has bought an Aussie one for my eldest DD whilst ours are in transit. TBH, it appears to be identical to our Britax ones.

Let me know if I can be of help.

Hi NM. Wow how exciting for you!! Whereabouts are you?we arrive in 7 weeks time. Funnily enough I just spoke to someone today who advised taking the booster so npw you have advised too I will def do that.
Thanks for the offer of housing a car seat. I just need to work out logistics of how we are getting back from airport etc and I'll be in touch. would loveto hear how you are finding things though

Hi! I'm in South Perth, staying with inlaws at the mo. We're starting our house-hunting in earnest this week as we want to get our eldest DD into school asap, so we need to be in the catchment area. We haven't a clue where we want to live though!!

Yesterday we had lots of Autumn showers and really strong wind (what a greeting!) but it's soooo different to being in the UK. We didn't get cold for a start despite getting wet.

Just woken up (no jet lag as came from the Seychelles which is only 4 hours behind) and the sun is shining brightly. Have only seen the tiniest little cloud in the blue, blue sky .....

Anyway, if you want to ask me any questions I'm more than happy to help.

NM

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