“Our purpose is to give the faceless a face and the voiceless a voice” -- That was the remarkable opening message that Rachel Reilly, Ethical Clothing Australia National Manager, gave before the start of the panel for the Ethical Clothing Australia Week in Sydney, in partnership with The University of Sydney’s Modern Slavery Unit and the Business School’s MBA Dimensions Program.
Ethical Clothing Australia (ECA) is an accreditation body that works collaboratively with local textile, clothing and footwear (TCF) businesses to protect and uphold the rights of Australian garment workers. Their accreditation program maps a business’s supply chain from design to dispatch including initial design, pattern making, cut, make, trim, and all value-adding services.
Each year, ECA hosts a series of events to commemorate the Ethical Clothing Australia Week, both virtual and in-person. Now in its fourth year, it was an opportunity to celebrate the skilled workers in Australia, who create and distribute the garments we wear and love. The week also recognised the businesses that have taken action to prove their ethical credentials by becoming Ethical Clothing Australia accredited and raise awareness about the issues regarding unfair worker treatment and different forms of exploitation.
The program this year ran from October 7-13, with events hosted in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. In Sydney, the commemoration brought together several ECA members brands such as The Social Outfit and Citizen Wolf. The NSW Anti-slavery Commissioner, Dr James Cockayne was also present for a social gathering and insightful panel discussion as well as many more industry professionals.
Moderated by Heather Chai, Director Modern Slavery Unit at The University of Sydney, the panel featured:
The Hon. Dr Sarah Kaine MLC
Jenny Kruschel | TCF National Secretary | CFMEU, Manufacturing Division
Associate Professor Martijn Boersma | The University of Sydney
Carolyn Kitto OAM | Co-Director | Be Slavery free
Andrew Quinn | Director | ABMT Apparel
The speakers provided remarkable anecdotes of their experiences working in the industry, outlining some of the challenges still remaining and giving us some light on how they can be overcome.
Ethics in the fashion Industry
The ethical issues in the fashion industry are extensive: unfair working conditions, extensive hours, and low pay are just a few of them. To provide some context, according to the Fashion Checker (2023), 93% of some of the largest international brands are not paying garment workers a living wage. Besides that, many garment factories do not count on the appropriate infrastructure for their workers to be safe and comfortable. Incidents like the 2013 Bangladesh garment factory building collapse in Rana Plaza, in which more than 1,000 people died, reveal the need for big changes in the industry to guarantee workers’ basic human rights.
The fashion industry is considered one of the main responsibles for the existence of modern slavery. This term refers to when an individual is exploited by others, for personal or commercial gain. Whether tricked, coerced, or forced, they lose their freedom. Extended work-shifts with low wages can lead workers to be forced to work for unhealthy periods of time to earn what they need to buy basic supplies.
The speakers acknowledged how some of these conditions have improved over the years. For example, the Modern Slavery Act implemented in Australia in 2019 requires larger companies and other entities to report on how they are preventing and addressing modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains. On the other hand, companies have begun to allow maternity leave for their workers, and the International Labor Organization (ILO) adopted a code of practice on safety and health in textiles, clothing, leather, and footwear industries in 2021 to provide guidelines on risk management. Despite this progress, there is still a lot of work to be done, and transparency in the supply chain is one of the greatest barriers to change, especially since the needs of fashion industry workers have evolved over time.
The Fashion Transparency Index (2023) indicates that 99% of major brands and retailers do not publish the number of workers in their supply chains who are paid a living wage. Many of them still choose not to disclose how they operate. Transparency is the only way for workers to have a voice, not only nationally but also internationally.
Addressing the issues
The panel speakers agreed that there is a need for more strict regulations and enforcement of existing policies. Local governments should require companies to report on every activity on the manufacturing side, monitor where their workers are on the production chains, and document what they are working on. Besides that, they should minimize existing risks in the workspace and properly implement risk management plans.
Governments can also play an important role in helping sustainable and ethical businesses scale. As Kitto highlighted, the issue with ethical businesses is that they tend to operate at a smaller scale due to more limited resources and high competence from other fast fashion brands. That sometimes prevents them from being able to take on larger projects or clients. Governments can provide the resources to help ethical businesses reach the scale they need to produce at a higher demand.
Krushel emphasized the key role that unions play in providing a collective for workers to defend their rights. They are crucial to re-balance the status inequalities. Without them, workers are isolated and prone to exploitation, especially groups that are already at a higher vulnerability status, such as women and refugees.
As consumers, we can play our part in responsible consumption by choosing ethical brands. However, despite people’s general concern for these issues, it can be challenging to identify which brands truly follow ethical standards. We encourage choosing brands accredited by Ethical Clothing Australia by searching for their logo in our products. Other examples of certifications include B Corp and Bluesign.
There is a shared responsibility between the civil society and governments to take action for an ethical fashion industry. You can start by making informed personal choices, advocating for change by educating people around you, and demanding ethical clothing regulations from your local authorities.