Australian fashion company Country Road Group confirmed that it discovered a supplier was secretly using an unapproved informal workshop to manufacture its products.
The issue, disclosed in the group's FY25 Modern Slavery Statement, was uncovered during a routine factory visit by a Country Road Group team member, with the unapproved facility found to have hazardous operating conditions including childcare facilities positioned too close to dangerous equipment.
The statement described the facility as presenting serious safety risks, including hazardous casting and moulding operations and inadequate fire protection measures. Country Road Group classified the breach as severe, immediately activating its critical breach process and issuing a formal notice to the supplier requiring immediate corrective action.
Production was relocated to an alternative site assessed by the group's ethical sourcing team through third-party audits before manufacturing resumed.
The statement notes that remediation of the original facility was determined not to be feasible.
Country Road Group operates an Approved Factory Program covering 203 Tier 1 finished goods factories across 13 countries, covering over 80,000 workers at those sites. China accounts for the dominant share of the group's sourcing footprint, with 142 factories producing 87 per cent of units.
This matches overall Australian fashion numbers, with multiple reports indicating that around 60 per cent of all the apparel goods sold here comes from China.
The remaining factories span Bangladesh, Vietnam, Australia, Indonesia, India, Thailand and a further nine factories across Pakistan, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Spain, Slovakia and Italy.
The group's brands — Country Road, Mimco, Politix, Trenery and Witchery — source finished goods through 138 direct suppliers. The statement did not specify which brand's product was being manufactured at the unapproved facility.
Of the 144 social compliance audits assessed by Country Road Group's ethical sourcing team during FY25 — representing 71 per cent of its factory base — just 7 per cent were conducted on an unannounced basis. The remaining 72 per cent were semi-announced and 22 per cent fully announced.
Regarding the unapproved workshop, the statement does not describe the discovery as part of a formal audit, with the statement noting the group increased in-person supplier and factory visits during the reporting period.
Country Road Group acknowledged in the statement that unauthorised subcontracting practices represent one of the salient modern slavery risk factors it has identified across its supply chain, describing such practices as capable of creating "supply chain opacity and unknown actors potentially engaged in modern slavery."
Across its full audit program in FY25, the group identified four business critical non-compliances and 29 critical non-compliances across 20 factory sites.
Of the 33 serious non-compliances recorded, 27 had been verified as closed by the end of the financial year. The most common issues by category were health and safety (64 per cent of business critical and critical non-compliances), working hours (15 per cent) and business ethics (15 per cent).
Country Road Group is owned by Woolworths Holdings Limited in South Africa. The Australian-born fashion group achieved full membership of the Ethical Trading Initiative in December 2024 as part of Woolworths Holdings' group membership, a milestone the group's CEO Steven Cook described as the culmination of several years of work.
“These steps reflect our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement,” Cook shared in the 2025 statement.
“We know that addressing modern slavery requires vigilance, collaboration, and long-term commitment, and we remain dedicated to building ethical and resilient supply chains in partnership with our team, our suppliers, and our stakeholders.”