NGOs crack down on alleged human rights violations within Australia’s fashion industry

Organisations in Australia are cracking down on local fashion brands suspected of carrying out systemic labour rights violations. A new report by Oxfam Australia, backed by the Human Rights Law Centre, has outlined evidence of exploitation and child labour specifically across Bangladesh’s garment supply chain, with potential links to Australian retailers.

For the ‘Unravelling Exploitation’ report, the local subsidiary for Oxfam carried out interviews and surveys with over 400 workers, through which it was found that the “current sourcing model enables and sustains conditions that amount to modern slavery”. “These issues may impact many Australian fashion brands sourcing from Bangladesh,” Oxfam noted.

In its research, the organisation uncovered evidence of children being employed in subcontracted settings, as well as coercive financial control methods, physical violence and verbal abuse against the workforce. In addition, forced labour was reported by 28 percent of workers, while 95 percent of factory employees said they were paid below living wage.

“Our research serves as a stark reminder that the clothes Australians buy may come at the cost of someone else’s safety and dignity,” Nina Crawley, Oxfam Australia’s campaign and advocacy lead said. “For too long, Australian fashion brands have relied on opaque and exploitative supply chains to maximise profit. Workers must be placed at the centre of reforms to build a fashion industry where exploitation has no place. We urgently need strong, enforceable laws to hold them accountable and protect workers from harm.”

Oxfam criticised the implementation of Australia's Modern Slavery Act, which, since its introduction in 2018, “has largely failed to drive meaningful change”. The organisation noted that as it stands, there are “no penalties for inaction”, meaning it simply serves as a “box-ticking exercise”.

Legal challenges arise of suspected use of Xinjiang forced labour

Similar concern has been raised over the lack of restrictions in place for goods imported from China’s Xinjiang region. Unlike the US and some regions in the EU, Australia does not prohibit such imports, despite reports, including one from the UN, suggesting there is evidence that many products created in the region are manufactured using forced labour. Organisations are now attempting to increase pressure to ensure more control can be had over associated trade.

The Human Rights Law Centre, for example, is aiding a legal process filed by the Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women’s Association (AUTWA) against retail chain Kmart, from which it has requested documents on two suppliers that appear on its factory list that are believed to have links to the Xinjiang region. If documents show that Kmart had not efficiently monitored the risk of forced labour in its supply chain, the association said it plans to pursue a legal claim that the retailer has breached Australian Consumer Law “by engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct”, representative law firm Maurice Blackburn said. According to Human Rights Law Centre’s associate legal director, Freya Dinshaw, this case is the first of its kind to seek accountability from local retailers suspected of engaging in modern slavery practices.

Kmart has denied the allegations, telling media outlets that it was disappointed AUTWA threatened legal action despite inviting the organisation to meet with the company “several times”. A Kmart spokesperson told ABC news: “For over 15 years, we have had in place an Ethical Sourcing Program, which helps us to identify and mitigate modern slavery risks, including the risk of forced labour in our operations and supply chains.”

According to Kmart, suppliers in the programme are regularly monitored through activities like site visits, audit programmes and investigations. The company also claimed to be the first Australian retailer to publicly share its factory list on its website. Such pressure was escalated when the Commerce Commission issued a warning for the retailer regarding its “100 percent sustainably sourced cotton” advertising, which, following an investigation, was found to potentially be misleading customers.

During the Commission's investigation, Kmart was said to have admitted that its ‘Better Cotton’ was mixed with conventional cotton in the supply chain. Its claim that 100 percent of its cotton was supplied by Better Cotton farmers was therefore not certain. While Kmart has since removed the statement from its advertising, Vanessa Horne, the commission’s competition, fair trading and credit general manager, said: “Unsubstantiated claims are unfair for businesses who put in the time and resources to make sure their environmental claims are legitimate.”

Meanwhile, for Dinshaw, the latest filing by the AUTWA only underlines “the weakness in Australia’s modern slavery laws”. She added: “It shouldn’t be left to members of the public to compel companies to open their books through legal action where there are suspicions of links to modern slavery. Australian companies should be legally required to investigate and prevent forced labour in their supply chains and face hard consequences if they don’t.”

Oxfam and the Human Rights Law Centre are calling on the Australian government to strengthen the Modern Slavery Act, requiring companies to address risk with penalties for non-compliance; introduce new responsible business laws to ensure companies carry out human rights due diligence; and ban imports made with forced labour.