Corporate Social Responsibility

At Designworks, we are proud of our Ethical Sourcing Program, which is an integral part of our business. Due to our unique business structure, Designworks is exposed to a large range of different Ethical Sourcing Programs. Therefore we have created our Ethical Sourcing Program using a mix of the highest levels of external programs as our foundation. Our Ethical Sourcing Program strives to exceed all requirements from each of our retailing customers and licenses.

Ethical Code of Conduct

At the very core of our ethical sourcing program is our robust Ethical Sourcing Code of Conduct:

Labour:

• Child Labour must not be used in any form.
• Employment must be freely chosen; forced, bonded or involuntary labour is strictly prohibited.
• No cotton is to be knowingly sourced from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan for their use of forced labour and child labour.
• A zero tolerance policy on unauthorised subcontracting is upheld
• Workplaces and sponsored accommodation must be safe and hygienic for workers.
• All Bangladesh factories to be signatories to the ACCORD
• Workers must not be forced to work excessive hours or excessive overtime.
• Harassment or abuse in any form within a workplace is strictly prohibited.
• Discrimination on the basis of personal characteristics is prohibited.
• Workers must be paid fair wages and benefits which satisfy all applicable laws.
• Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are to be respected, to the extent permitted by applicable law.
• Regular employment is provided

Business Practices:

• Management systems are enacted to ensure integrity and anti-corruption methods to stamp out bribery and corruption.
• All national and local laws are met, through legal compliance and management standards.
• Brand and customer confidentiality and integrity are upheld.

Customer Safety:

Suppliers must take all reasonable steps to ensure their products are safe and not harmful to consumers or the environment.

Environment:

At a minimum, all environmental protection laws and standards within the manufacturing country must be met.

Animal Welfare:

• Angora, real animal fur and mulesed wool must not be used in any Designworks product.
• Any leather used must be sourced in accordance with world best practice on animal welfare.

Our ethical sourcing code of conduct is also paired with a suite of standalone policies in the areas below:

Labour:

• Child Labour
• Forced labour and modern slavery
• Excessive overtime
• Zero Tolerance to unauthorised subcontracting
• Regular employment
• Freedom of association
• Gender equality
• Raw materials

Business Practices:

• Business license
• Intellectual property and confidentiality
• Sanctioned countries
• Integrity and anti-corruption

Customer Safety:

• AZO dyes
• Hazardous chemicals and materials

Environment:

• Water
• Emissions

Animal Welfare:

• Angora, real animal fur and mulesed wool
• Leather

For the Ethical Sourcing Code of Conduct, Ethical Sourcing Standalone Policies or other information please see the documents below:

For a full version of the Ethical Sourcing Code and the related policies, please follow this link. For Designworks' full supplier list, please follow this link. For the Modern Slavery Policy, please follow this link. For the Living Wage Statement, please follow this link.

As part of the Designworks Ethical Sourcing Program, all factories which supply products to Designworks must undertake regular ethical and technical audits. These audits are both announced and unannounced to ensure that the specifications of our Ethical Sourcing Program are met.

Supplier Ethical Auditing

Designworks utilise a range of different auditing programs to ensure that all facilities comply with our high standards. These audits are undertaken by accredited 3rd party auditors, who conduct audits for the following auditing programs:

• BSCI
• WRAP
• SEDEX SMETA
• SA8000
• Fair Labour Association
• Better Work
• Customer specific ethical audits
• License specific ethical audits

Technical Auditing

In addition to the ethical audits, all of Designworks facilities are audited on their technical processes. These audits ensure that every facility meets the minimum technical requirements around metal and needle control, quality testing requirements, garment inspection and document control.

On-Boarding Process

Designworks has a strict sourcing and factory on-boarding process to ensure that only factories which comply with the Designworks program can be used. Before any order is placed with a new factory, a valid ethical and technical audit must be submitted and at least one Designworks staff member will survey the site. Our internal order placement system blocks the ability to place orders with any factory which hasn’t passed our Ethical Sourcing Requirements.

Supplier Education

At Designworks, we regularly provide training to our suppliers on the expectations of Designworks’, Retailer partner’s or Licensor partner’s sourcing programs to ensure that our suppliers fully understand the ethical requirements. This education is undertaken by our dedicated ethical sourcing team in Melbourne or our team based in China. Our China team regularly visit all of our factories to provide support, ensure processes are followed and inspect goods. In addition, we regularly update our supplier bases with any possible changes or the start of any new projects via our quarterly newsletter. When the changes or programs are ready to be launched, we work directly with the suppliers it impacts.

The Australian Packaging Covenant

Designworks is a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant through their parent company, The PAS Group. Designworks has engaged in checking all packaging within the business and changing the materials to more sustainable options and ensuring that all packaging has the ARL (Australasian Recycling Logo) symbols on the packaging. Designworks will ensure that all of their packaging is Reusable, Recyclable or Compostable in line with the Australian Governments 2025 commitment. For more information please visit: https://www.packagingcovenant.org.au/.

Baptist World Aid

Designworks engages closely with the team at Baptist World Aid and supports the work that they have done in progressing and shaping the Australian fashion industry in terms of corporate social responsibility. Designworks completes the annual Behind the Barcode Ethical Fashion Report survey.

Oxfam

Designworks is working with Oxfam on our living wage journey. Living wages is an exceptionally complex issue, which can’t be solved by simply paying more for a product. For more information on our living wage policy and commitment, please see the link to this policy here.

Open Apparel Registry

The Open Apparel Registry is a transparency program which offers a collective grouping of fashion company factories. Designworks’ full factory list is on the registry under Designworks’ parent company, The PAS Group.

Bangladesh Fire and Safety Accord

Designworks is a proud signatory to the Bangladesh Fire and Safety Accord. After the Rana Plaza Factory Collapse, Designworks was quick to become a signatory to support safety of all garment factory workers in Bangladesh. Designworks provides its continued support to this important cause, as it ensures that all workers have the right to work in safe workplaces.

Textile Sample Recycling

Designworks donates our fabric samples, garment samples and damaged samples to Mums Supporting Families in Need based on the Mornington Peninsula. These samples are converted into rags for a profit for the charity. We are proud to partner with Mums Supporting Families in Need, who are undertaking important local action. For more information please follow this https://www.msfin.org.au/

Designworks and itis parent company, The PAS Group is committed to tailoring change in our business. Launched in July 2019 the program focuses on the areas of Environmental, Auditing and Traceability, and Transparency over the next 5 years. Below is a summary of the areas in which we will be strongly focused on.

Environmental Sustainability

The PAS Group is committed to the preservation of the environment. Through the Tailoring Change program The PAS Group is focusing on reducing our businesses impact on the environment. Through a range of focused goals, The PAS Group is able to mitigate its impact through the categories below:

The use of sustainable materials

We are committed to using more sustainable materials in our products. The key fabrics we are focusing on are our cotton, polyester and man-made cellulosics.

The Use of Sustainable Packaging

The PAS Group is part of the Australian Packaging Covenant, and will work to optimise all packaging in line with the covenants Sustainable Packaging Guidelines. We aim to ensure all packaging is reusable, recyclable and compostable by 2025.

Reduction in Business Operation Impacts

The PAS Group is committed to reducing our footprint in terms of our business operations. We aim to reduce the waste to landfill from our head offices, stores and warehouses; along with the carbon emissions from our head offices, stores and warehouses.

Reduction in Supply Chain Impacts

The PAS Group recognises that our supply chain also has its own footprint and we aim to reduce it through programs around chemical use, waste water, waste to landfill, and emissions through transport and manufacturing.

Circular Principles

PAS has a keen interest on the circular economy and circular principles. PAS will introduce circular elements and systems into our business across the group.

Traceability

The PAS Group is committed to ensuring the human rights of all workers are protected in our supply chain. Through the Tailoring Change program, The PAS Group is focusing on tracing deeper into our supply chain, training suppliers on key human rights issues and ensuring that our workers in our supply chain are treated fairly.

Tracing Our Supply Chain

At PAS Group we are dedicated to working closely with our supply partners to have greater visibility of all of the facilities and workers which are directly and indirectly involved in the creation of our products. We wish that all of these workers are treated fairly and ethically.

Training our supply chain

The PAS Group is dedicated to improving the knowledge of our supply base, and educating our suppliers in key areas of ethical risks, gender equality, and modern slavery. This knowledge sharing will allow for the improvement of workers conditions and a reduction in ethical sourcing risks.

Living wage

The PAS Group is committed to improving the lives of the workers within their supply chain, and working towards the complex issues surrounding the Living Wage. The PAS Group’s living wage policy can be found on the ethical and responsible sourcing page.

Transparency

The PAS Group is committed to providing transparent information about our ethical business practices and our production base. It is important to freely offer information about our business practices, suppliers, and the way in which we source.

Publishing Information

The PAS Group will publicly publish and report information about our business, its sourcing and the outcomes of this program to increase our transparency in the market.

Working in Partnerships

The PAS Group will work with a range of different stakeholders to continuously build and improve this tailoring change program to ensure that the best possible outcomes are reached.