Events

Ethical Clothing Australia is calling on the Textile Clothing and Footwear industry to take part in an online survey to assess the feasibility of establishing a new Ethical Quality Mark for the Australian Textile Clothing and Footwear industry.

The Textile Clothing and Footwear (TCF) Innovation Council recently engaged Ethical Clothing Australia to undertake a feasibility study on introducing a voluntary Ethical Quality Mark (EQM). This study is being conducted by Ethical Clothing Australia in collaboration with sustainability consultants, WSP Environment & Energy, and Net Balance. The study is funded by the TCF Innovation Council.

The purpose of the study is to examine and assess the feasibility of establishing a voluntary TCF EQM for Australia. The study will consider the range of associated standards and certifications, which may be relevant to the development of an EQM. This includes an assessment of existing initiatives from Australia and overseas. Ultimately it will help provide an informed analysis and position for the TCF industries and Government to move forward in developing a new EQM, if this is the adopted direction.

In calling on the industry to take part in the survey, Jo Kellock, CEO of the Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia, said “this is a unique opportunity for stakeholders right across the TCF industry to express their views with regard to ethical certification and labelling, and ultimately help shape what happens next”.

The survey should take 15 to 20 minutes to complete and will remain open until Friday April 22. To take part, click here.



Interested people from the industry are also invited to attend the Ethical Quality Mark workshops in Sydney and Melbourne:

Sydney workshop: Friday 15th April, 1:30 - 4:30pm, at WSP Environment & Energy, Level 1, 41 McLaren Street, North Sydney

Melbourne workshop: Tuesday 3rd May, 1:30 - 4:30pm, at Net Balance, Level 4, 460 Bourke Street, Melbourne

Please RSVP directly to Kristy Riddell at WSP Environment & Energy: kristy.riddell@wspeonline.com



Project background
In 2008, the Federal Government conducted a review of the Textile Clothing and Footwear (TCF) Industries. The Review acknowledged growing consumer awareness and demand for products that have been designed and manufactured in accordance with ethical standards related to labour conditions and environmental sustainability.

In 2009, Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, announced the establishment of the TCF Industries Innovation Council. A specific action commissioned by the Minister was for the Council to provide advice on the feasibility of a voluntary Ethical Quality Mark (EQM). The review also recognised the contribution that the Homeworkers Code of Practice and its No SweatShop Label (recently renamed Ethical Clothing Australia) has made in providing consumer choice in relation to ethical employment standards in Australia.

As a result, the TCF Innovation Council recently engaged Ethical Clothing Australia (ECA) to undertake a feasibility study on introducing a voluntary EQM. This study is being conducted by ECA in collaboration with sustainability consultants, WSP Environment & Energy, and Net Balance. The study is funded by the TCF Innovation Council.

Purpose of the study
The purpose of the study is to examine and assess the feasibility of establishing a voluntary TCF EQM for Australia. The study will consider the range of associated standards and certifications, which may be relevant to the development of an EQM. This includes an assessment of existing initiatives from Australia and overseas. The study will help provide an informed analysis and position for the TCF industries and Government to move forward in developing a new EQM, if this is the adopted direction.

Purpose of the survey and instructions for completion
Thank you for taking the time to participate the survey. The deadline for completing the survey is Monday 18th April 2011.

The purpose of the survey is to engage with interested stakeholders in the TCF industries. It is an opportunity to inform future initiatives that might affect your business or area of activity. We are specifically interested in your views and the potential for a new EQM, including what should be done, why it should be done and who should do it. Your responses will be used to help assess the feasibility of establishing a voluntary EQM.

This survey should take approximately 15 – 20 minutes to complete depending on the length of your responses. We will be collecting responses via an online survey program. The survey can be accessed here:  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/EQMSS

We encourage you to further circulate this email and the survey link to your colleagues, member companies and other stakeholders potentially interested in the study.

You answers will only be viewed by the project team, and used solely for the purposes of this study. You may request that any personal information collected about you be deleted after the study.

If you have any queries about the survey, or require some additional project background, please contact Kristy Riddell at WSP Environment & Energy: kristy.riddell@wspeonline.com

Mandatory questions will be marked with an asterisk *. You can go back to previous pages in the survey and update existing responses until the survey is finished or until you have exited the survey. After the survey is finished, you will not be able to re-enter the survey. In order to progress through this survey, please use the following navigation buttons:

- click the ‘Next’ button to continue to the next page
- click the ‘Previous’ button to return to the previous page
- click the ‘Exit the Survey Early’ button if you need to exit the survey
- click the ‘Submit’ button to submit your survey

About the TCF Industries Innovation Council
The TCF Industries Innovation Council is one of eight Industry Innovation Councils that were established by the Federal government to help build an innovative culture amongst industry in Australia. The TCF Industries Innovation Council provides strategic advice on TCF innovation priorities to the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, champions innovation in the TCF industries and build connections with other organisations, including the Enterprise Connect network. Council members are made up of a number of major stakeholders in the TCF industry, who work closely with businesses, unions, researchers and the government to achieve a wide range of innovation goals.

About Ethical Clothing Australia
Ethical Clothing Australia is a voluntary accreditation and labelling system for textile, clothing and footwear businesses that manufacture in Australia. Ethical Clothing Australia is a joint business–union initiative. It is governed by an independent, not-for-profit committee of management, the Homeworker Code Committee Inc, with representation from major stakeholders in the textile, clothing and footwear industry. By registering with Ethical Clothing Australia, businesses are committing to take certain steps to keep their Australian-based supply chains transparent and ensure that they and any sub-contractors are compliant with all relevant Australian labour laws. Once compliant, accredited brands are licensed to display the Ethical Clothing Australia trademark on their Australian-made products, providing consumers and buyers with a way to identify and support ethical Australian-made products.

For more information about WSP Environment & Energy and Net Balance, refer to their respective web sites:

www.wspenvironmental.com
www.netbalance.com

Thank you for participating

On behalf of the project team:

Ethical Clothing Australia
WSP Environment & Energy
Net Balance