Local military outfitter Australian Defence Apparel (ADA) has reported that outworkers in local fashion manufacturing are at an increased risk of exploitation.
According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, outworkers are contractors or employees who perform their work at home or at a place that wouldn’t normally be thought of as a business premises. It claims outworkers are common in the textile, clothing or footwear industry.
ADA’s report on outworkers comes from the company’s recently released 2022-2023 Modern Slavery Statement.
The company stated that while Australia is generally considered to be a low-risk country, the risk of modern slavery here still exists.
“Many [outworkers] are migrant workers who come from non-English speaking backgrounds and are not fully aware of their legal rights and entitlements,” ADA reported. “There is the potential that outworkers used by sub-contractors will work long hours and not receive the legal award rate of pay, superannuation or personal leave.
“They may also be more susceptible to work-related injuries due to poor working conditions that are not adequately regulated by occupational health and safety standards.”
Including Australia, ADA stated the country of manufacturer and product sector all need to be considered in the assessment of modern slavery risk.
“Offshore workers may be impacted by inadequate or poorly enforced national laws, with corruption hindering any improvements of workers’ rights and conditions.
“Forced labour is an issue in many regions where individuals are held in debt bondage, and the potential for child labour exists in areas of high poverty.”
According to the ADA, it has developed a risk-based approach to addressing the modern slavery risks within its supply chain. It reported that considerable progress has been made through training employees to ensure good governance and due diligence are followed.
“ADA has documented policies and procedures that establish controls and a framework for managing broader human rights and the risk of modern slavery within our business and supply chain. All employees are provided with training on these policies during their induction to ADA and through annual refresher training.”
During the 2022 – 2023 reporting period, ADA directly sourced goods from 405 suppliers across 24 countries, predominantly located within Australia and Asia.
Suppliers of its manufactured goods are located in 7 countries, with 48% of these suppliers located within Australia, 23% in China and 14% in Vietnam. Other supplier countries include Indonesia, Laos, New Zealand and Cambodia.
ADA CEO Chris Dixon said there has been little change to the company structure, its operations and its supply chains during the reporting period.
“We commit to regularly reviewing and enhancing our strategies, practices, and outcomes as we continue to develop our ethical sourcing program and modern slavery framework to combat modern slavery within our supply chain,” he said.
“The exploitation of human beings for financial gain continues to persist in various forms and across diverse industries. ADA recognise the risks within our industry and the significance of our role in combatting Modern Slavery.”
Meanwhile, due to the lifting of COVID-19 restriction during late 2022, ADA operations personnel were able to travel to its manufacturing suppliers overseas, where it uncovered three instances of excessive overtime.
“It was established that the overtime was voluntary and appropriate rates of pay were given,” ADA reported. “When speaking with the factories, ADA personnel were told that the factories were struggling to find workers as people were choosing to stay close to their home provinces after the lockdown had been lifted. Workers wanted the additional pay to compensate for lost wages they suffered through the pandemic shutdowns.
“It was explained to factory management that they are breaching their own local labour laws and introducing safety risks to their workers allowing them to work so many additional hours.”
“ADA is continuing to work with our suppliers, encouraging ongoing and open dialogue in relation to challenges and disruptions that they are facing in their operations to ensure that our ethical sourcing and modern slavery requirements continue to be met throughout our supply chain.”
ADA employs 350 people in Australia and New Zealand, with 100 in manufacturing. Operations are head-quartered in Melbourne with manufacturing in Bendigo, warehousing in Melbourne and Canberra and satellite sales offices in NSW, QLD, SA and ACT.
The company’s key owner is Logistik Unicorp group (Logistik), a Canada-based operation which provides uniform management services to both commercial and defence industries and employs around 1,200 people globally.