Baptist World Aid Australia has released its latest controversial report on ethical fashion.
The report graded 114 apparel companies in Australia on their approach to the rights of workers.
While the report's credibility continues to comes under question, here are some braoder insights from the 2018 edition.
Knowing suppliers from farm to factory
While the report reveals that most companies know all their manufacturing suppliers, only 18% of companies know all their fabric suppliers, and only 7% know where their raw materials like cotton originated.
Living wage a major concern
The report reveals that only 5% of companies could demonstrate that all their manufacturing workers were being paid a living wage, and 70% of the industry is yet to take significant action to improve worker wages.
Transparency – if shoppers can’t see, how do they know?
The report finds that more companies than ever before are practicing transparency, yet more than half (54%) of the companies assessed were yet to publish any details of their suppliers, demonstrating an unwillingness to be held accountable for their treatment of workers.
The Australian Government has committed to legislating a Modern Slavery Act in Australia by the end of the year. Among other things, this legislation will require companies to publish details of the systems they have in place to ensure that workers aren’t enslaved.
The gender pay gap
This year for the first time, the report’s grading metric assessed companies on their gender policies and strategies.
All countries in the Asia-Pacific reported a gender pay gap – with the gap most significant in Pakistan, India, and Sri-Lanka at 66.5%, 35.3%, and 30.3% respectively.
Tracking fashion’s environmental footprint
In another first Baptist World Aid began initial assessment of companies’ efforts in environmental management, and anticipates this to become a part of the formal grading system in 2019.
Preliminary results reveal a significant correlation between the strongest labour rights performers and strong environmental systems.
Outland Denim, Freeset, Mighty Good Group, Etiko, H&M, Common Good, Kowtow, Rrepp, Patagonia and Icebreaker demonstrated outstanding environmental management.
Although many large global firms had some environmental systems in place, firms headquartered in Australia and New Zealand are largely trailing behind their international counterparts.