Oxfam Australia’s recent poll underscores the pressing need for clothing brands and retailers to enhance their sourcing practices. The study highlights shoppers’ strong desire for businesses to prioritise the safety and living standards of overseas garment workers.
Amid the pre-Christmas shopping spree, Oxfam points fingers at brands like Uniqlo, Jeans West, and Best & Less, highlighting their inaction in lifting women out of poverty in the garment-making process, resonating with consumers’ sentiments.
The poll reveals over 80 per cent of Aussie clothing buyers urge transparency regarding worker treatment and wages in brands’ supply chains, with a majority believing these companies either exaggerate or mislead consumers about the situation.
Key findings also indicate that 76 per cent of buyers are willing to pay more if it ensures fair wages for garment workers, with Australians estimating that 17 per cent of a garment’s cost should go to the workers, far higher than the actual 4 per cent previously discovered.
Oxfam Australia Chief Executive Lyn Morgain said, “This polling is evidence of what we have long known – that ethical considerations are increasingly a significant factor in consumers’ purchasing decisions. That’s why taking action now is not only in the interest of workers, but in the interest of these companies’ bottom lines.”
