Ally, Betts and Roger David are the latest brands to be named and shamed in a controversial annual report.
Baptist World Aid has released its latest fashion study, grading 106 apparel companies on supply chain transparency.
The report has previously received backlash over its questionable reporting methods.
This year’s report argued major grading disparities between multinational companies such as Zara (A grade), versus Australian headquartered Valleygirl and Lowes (D+ grades).
Well-known brands Ally, Betts and Roger David scored an F for being non-responsive to the research and demonstrating no transparency.
Australian headquartered Valleygirl, TEMT and Lowes scored D+. Some 72% of companies that scored at or below a D+ are headquartered in Australia.
Other key findings include:
· Of the 15 brands awarded an A grade or higher, only three are headquartered in Australia and they are all Fairtrade.
· Only one company, Mighty Good Undies, could prove that they were paying all their workers a living wage.
· Just 7% of companies know where all their cotton, a popular raw material, is coming from.
Baptist World Aid Australia advocacy manager Gershon Nimbalker said more work needs to be done.
“Beyond niche ethical producers that consistently score the top grade, multinational companies like Patagonia and Zara are trumping Australian fashion brands,” he said.
“There have been a number of Australian companies like Cotton On Group and Kmart that have made significant headway in this area, but 72% of companies that scored at or below a D+ are headquartered here.”
The proportion of companies looking to improve wages continued to rise from 11% in 2013 to 42% this year.
Since 2013, there has also been a 30% improvement in companies tracing second tier suppliers, while two and a half times more companies (45%) trace raw materials suppliers.
Nimbalker said just 7% of companies knew where their cotton was coming from, however.
“It’s encouraging to see the improvements being made here but more than half of these brands still haven’t started trying to map where their raw materials are coming from.
“Modern-day slavery is a reality. If companies can’t identify, or don’t care, where all their materials are made then how can they be sure workers aren’t being exploited or even enslaved?”
The number of companies publishing full supplier lists has risen from 16% to 26% since last year.
APG & Co (which owns Saba, JAG and Sportscraft), Big W and the Cotton On Group are among this group.
The organisation also praised increased openness from General Pants, Gorman, Seed Heritage, Factory X, and Brand Collective.
Brands which were non-responsive to the report, along with those that do not provide any substantive public information, were indicated in this report by an asterisk next to their name.