Ethical Clothing Australia is an accreditation body and not-for-profit organisation. It focuses on protecting workers’ rights by working collaboratively with textile, clothing and footwear (TCF) businesses manufacturing in Australia.
Ethical Clothing Australia works to protect and uphold the rights of both local factory-based workers and outworkers who are people who work from home or a location that isn’t a factory. Many of the workers in the industry face exploitation, as they may not have an awareness of their legal rights and entitlements, and fear losing work if they speak out about workplace issues.
To become Ethical Clothing Australia accredited, a business’s manufacturing operations, including in-house and their supply chain are audited annually. The audit ensures that local workers are paid appropriately, receiving their legal entitlements, and working in safe conditions. The audit covers all workers in the supply chain, including every person working across design, pattern making, cut, make, trim, and dispatch.
The Ethical Clothing Australia accreditation and labelling system provides consumers, procurement managers and buyers with a simple way to identify and purchase ethically made Australian TCF products.
Ethical Clothing Australia embraces a multi-stakeholder approach. It is an example of how industry, employers and unions can work together to create and deliver a robust program that supports an ethical local industry.
