Examining Ethical Clothing Australia's accreditation program in the context of evolving business and human rights standards and practices
Chifley Business & Event Centre Sydney NSW, Australia
Research findings and roundtable discussion, hosted by Ethical Clothing Australia.
In 2025, Ethical Clothing Australia commissioned the Australian Human Rights Institute to conduct research into Ethical Clothing Australia’s accreditation scheme and how this compares on a global scale.
Led by Professor Justine Nolan with Associate Professor Martijn Boersma and Samuel Pryde, the research found that Ethical Clothing Australia’s program was a global leader and differentiator in the market. This was determined by three key elements:
- Strong union engagement including in governance, auditing and worker engagement;
- A focus on transparency and remediation; and,
- A model that creates leverage in local supply chains to amplify its influence.
Despite twenty-five years of operations and research to evidence the strength of the program as being a global leader, uptake and utilisation of the program remains low across sectors and policy initiatives. This includes:
- a reluctance by textile, clothing and footwear businesses to undergo accreditation;
- a resistance by governments to adopt policies which leverage the accreditation scheme in their own response to modern slavery;
- a lack of awareness amongst the private sector on how they can leverage the accreditation program to support their modern slavery, ESG or SDG reporting obligations.
Please join us for an interactive Roundtable to:
- hear Professor Justine Nolan and A/Professor Martijn Boersma present the research findings;
- learn firsthand from an esteemed international guest Christina Hajagos-Clausen about legislation, schemes and challenges in the industry from a global perspective;
- understand challenges in the local industry and the need for the Union to effectively engage workers from Jenny Kruschel;
- discuss ideas to increase utilisation of the program to enhance efforts to prevent and protect against worker exploitation in the Australian textile, clothing and footwear industry.
The research report will be distributed prior to the Roundtable.
Please note: this event is invitation only and is non-transferable. If you are unable to attend and would like someone to attend in your place, or know someone who would like to be invited, please contact Rachel Reilly directly.
Panellists
Christina Hajagos-Clausen
Christina Hajagos-Clausen is IndustriALL Global Union’s director for the textile, garment, shoe and leather sector. IndustriALL Global Union represents 50 million workers in 140 countries in mining, energy and manufacturing, including the garment and textile, leather and shoe sectors. It is a force in global solidarity taking up the fight for better working conditions and trade union rights around the world.
Christina is a board member of the initiative ACT (Action, Collaboration and Transformation); a member of the Global Steering Committee for the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industries; and also a board member of the Bangladesh RMG Sustainability Council. She represents IndustriALL Global Union on the Better Work Advisory Committee and at the OECD Garment and Footwear Advisory Group. She holds a BA in language and literature from Bard College; an MA in women studies from the New School for Social Research; and a MSc in union leadership and administration from the University of Massachusetts. She is also a graduate of Harvard’s trade union programme.
Professor Justine Nolan
Justine has published widely on business and human rights and modern slavery and advises companies, NGOs and governments and is a member of the Australian Government’s Modern Slavery Expert Advisory Group.
Prior to joining UNSW, Justine practiced as a corporate lawyer and an international human rights lawyer in Australia and the USA. She is the Executive Editor of the Australian Journal of Human Rights.
Associate Professor Martijn Boersma
Martijn Boersma is an Associate Professor in Work and Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney Business School. He previously worked at both the University of Notre Dame Australia and the University of Technology Sydney, and his earlier engagements at Greenpeace International and in the trade union movement exposed him to the complex realities of environmental and social accountability.
His expertise includes studying the ways in which businesses respond to stakeholder expectations and highlights how supply chain oversight and appropriate governance can advance more sustainable and equitable ways of doing business.
Jenny Kruschel
Jenny is an advocate for workers’ rights and supporting a skilled workforce. She is currently the TCF National Secretary of the TFTU. Jenny has a wealth of experience in the clothing, footwear and textile industry. Her working career includes various roles in textile and clothing factories in regional Victoria, as well as 25 years’ experience representing and supporting workers in TCF workplaces.
ABOUT ETHICAL CLOTHING AUSTRALIA
Ethical Clothing Australia is a not-for-profit and multi-stakeholder initiative. We have been delivering an accreditation program to protect and uphold the rights of Australian garment workers for almost twenty-five years. We work collaboratively with local textile, clothing and footwear (TCF) businesses and conduct annual audits on a business’s manufacturing operations including head office(s), any in-house manufacturing operations and all outsourced locations in Australia, from design to dispatch, to ensure that local TCF workers, including outworkers, are being paid appropriately, receiving all their legal entitlements and working in safe conditions.
Support local
Ethical Clothing Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout the lands now known as Australia and recognise and celebrate their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples today.We are a place free from discrimination, where diversity is celebrated and everyone belongs. We are committed to creating a safe and welcoming space for all.