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We work to advance human rights by working to address exploitation and modern slavery risks, with an ambition of contributing to improve the livelihoods of workers in our supply chain.

 

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Our approach

 

Importance to Woolworths Group


Woolworths Group has a complex, geographically dispersed supply chain which includes over 16,000 direct suppliers, ranging from small family businesses through to multinational companies. We source products from multiple geographies with different inherent risks. No retailer is immune to the risks of modern slavery, and with an estimated 50 million people living in situations of modern slavery on any given day, this represents a significant global challenge.

As one of Australia and New Zealand’s largest employers, and with relationships that extend far beyond our direct team members, we are conscious of the welfare and workplace conditions of workers in our supply chain. We recognise business resilience is connected with ethical practices and therefore advancing human rights in our supply chain aligns with our purpose and contributes to our long term stability and success. 

Impact of prioritising this area 



Every product we sell is connected to a person, making protecting human rights in our supply chain non‐negotiable. Our ambition is to not only protect, but to contribute to improving the livelihoods of workers in our supply chain. This challenge will only be solved by partnership and collaboration at scale to lift the tide of what responsible supply chains mean across the board. Through our collaborative efforts, we want our work to address the grassroots causes of modern slavery so that we reduce our risk exposure, support our business resilience and streamline efforts to tackle a global problem.

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Our goals

 

Embed a human rights supplier scorecard to assess and track progress - strengthening transparency, accountability and rewarding performance beyond minimum compliance.
Improve visibility beyond direct (Tier 1) suppliers of our high risk supply chains to strengthen due diligence and embed respect for workers rights. 
Improve transparency and contribute towards closing the living wage gap in key high risk supply chains.
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Our journey to date


Our Human Rights Program has been in place for eight years. The first phase (2018-2020) of our work focused on the development and rollout of the Responsible Sourcing Program for own brand and fresh suppliers. The second current  phase (2021–2025) maintained the RS Program as a core operational control, whilst also expanding bespoke human rights due diligence to strategically address modern slavery risks. 

As we begin the third phase of our HR Program (2026–2030), we aim to move beyond risk mitigation to proactive risk prevention by advancing human rights to address exploitation and modern slavery risks, with the ambition of contributing to improve the livelihoods of workers in our supply chain.


What we've achieved sets the stage for what's ahead.

$2.1M

returned to 1,500+ workers in our supply chain through proactive supplier remediation F21-F25

#1 ranked retailer

in the KnowTheChain Food & Beverage benchmark rankings in 2023 and 2026

1st Australian retailer

to achieve Better Cotton traceability certification, giving BIG W customers farm-to-store confidence in responsible sourcing
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Find out more

In F23, we commenced work with third‑party human rights experts Pillar Two to conduct a Group‑wide Human Rights Saliency Assessment. Salient human rights issues are defined as the human rights that are at risk of the most severe negative impacts through a company’s activities or business relationships, based on potential impacts, scale (gravity of impact), scope (number of people impacted), irremediable character (how hard to make good the impact) and likelihood. The assessment included consultations with a number of internal and external stakeholders, including investors, a worker representative and supply chain due diligence partners.

This process has formalised how we identify and articulate salient human rights issues across the Group, beyond our Human Rights Program. As a result, whilst some of our salient issues remain the same (such as forced labour), this assessment acknowledges that work is already being done on some salient issues by other teams across the Group. It is important to emphasise that the Group is not looking to replace existing controls but rather reflecting that these areas feature human rights risks. Importantly, the UNGPs also recognise that it may not always be possible for a business to take effective action on all its human rights impacts simultaneously, which we consider in our risk prioritisation.

The following table describes our salient human rights issues and the part of the Group primarily responsible for managing them. We provide updates on our work and progress in our Annual Reporting Suite, including the Annual Report, Sustainability Reporting and our Modern Slavery Statement. You can read more in our full Saliency Assessment, available here.

Making nutritious food more accessibleOur Health and Nutrition team partners across the business to make healthier food more affordable and accessible to our customers
Protecting privacy and responsibly using data of customers and team membersWhile we embrace the use of new and innovative technologies, we are aware of risks to privacy, social impacts and intellectual property, as prioritised by our Data and Privacy teams, and our Cyber Security team
Creating an equitable, diverse and inclusive workplaceThrough our People team, we remain committed to respecting and celebrating inclusivity
Providing a work environment where team members and workers are safe, healthy and wellWhilst also led by our People team, at Woolworths Group health and safety is everyone's concern, and we acknowledge our responsibilities to the physical and psychological safety and health of our team
Combatting labour exploitation in our supply chainWe will continue to implement our HR Program to address modern slavery and labour rights issues in our supply chain, including through our RS Program and other HR Program pillars


A programmatic deeper dive on risks of modern slavery and worker exploitation in our supply chain

Since 2018, our Human Rights Program has focused on identifying, mitigating and remediating worker exploitation and modern slavery in our supply chain. We recognise, and our work with Pillar Two has validated, that labour rights and forced labour remain the most salient human rights issues in our supply chain. In F25, we conducted a more thorough examination of the issues experienced by workers in our supply chain to deepen our understanding and respond to the most material of these issues. We expanded upon our work with Pillar Two by overlaying supply chain data and trends, along with the application of our Guidance Framework for Meaningful Engagement with Affected Stakeholders to identify the most salient issues to workers based on their own lived experience. In F26, we partnered with external human rights experts, Humantics, to conduct a broader FLRA to identify where risks and potential control gaps are visible today. The assessment combined quantitative analysis of our responsible sourcing and grievance data with qualitative analysis of workforce and recruitment models, emerging human rights trends, and broader supply chain dynamics. This exercise pressure‑tested whether our current strategic priorities remain appropriately targeted to capture evolving risk profiles in our supply chain, and identified emerging areas where additional due diligence may be required. You can read more about this Deeper Dive into our Human Rights Program here’. Link to the document titled ‘Our Human Rights Program - A Deeper Dive

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Our Human Rights Program sets out our Group-wide human rights framework that is operationalised in partnership with each in scope business unit. We have developed an organisational structure and programmatic  framework to embed human rights management into our business. 

Governance oversight of human rights management is provided by the Board’s Sustainability Committee. Responsible sourcing and related human rights issues are raised to the Board through papers compiled by our Group Sustainability team, who have oversight of the Group approach to human rights. 

Our Human Rights Steering Committee comprises Executive and Senior leaders from across each of the Group’s business units. This Committee meets regularly throughout the year, and oversees our Group-wide approach for identifying key human rights risks and impacts in the supply chain, as well as setting and  monitoring our approach and progress. Senior management in each business is then responsible for managing human rights issues with their suppliers.

human rights governance

Our Group Human Rights team is responsible for developing our overarching human rights strategy and annual work plan, which includes our modern slavery work. Human Rights team members in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Thailand are supported by cross-functional working groups for specific prioritised work programs, as well as remediation of issues. Where appropriate, our team works with a number of external program partners to provide strategic advice and support in extreme risk areas.

The Human Rights Team is led by the General Manager of Human Rights and Sustainability Strategy, whose performance management is linked to the human rights policy commitments of the wider Group.

We are committed to maintaining effective systems to identify, assess, respond to and proactively manage modern slavery risks in accordance with relevant legislation, international human rights standards, regulatory obligations, shareholder expectations and good corporate governance principles.

We consider that an effective approach to modern slavery due diligence is one that enables us to identify actual or potential situations of modern slavery in our operations and supply chain, remediate these appropriately and take steps to address root causes.

Credibly tracking the effectiveness of our actions is complex, and we are committed to continuing to refine our approach to assessing effectiveness, including through collaboration with partners that enables us to tackle the root causes of modern slavery risk.

We are also committed to improving the transparency of our supply chain as a critical step in enhancing our due diligence and the overall effectiveness of our modern slavery risk management framework. Our BIG W business does this by publishing the details of factories that directly produce their own brand apparel and general merchandise quarterly on our website. The latest list is available here (as at July 2026) and represents 100 percent of our direct suppliers in these categories. Further information on direct suppliers in Bangladesh is available here in CSV format (note when the CSV file is downloaded this information is uncontrolled). This represents 100% of direct suppliers in Bangladesh as at July 2026.

Similarly, Woolworths Supermarket publishes the list of factories that directly produce our apparel and textile products here (as at July 2026).

We are working to map our suppliers beyond tier one (that is, our direct suppliers who produce the final product) to include tier two and three suppliers where possible. Tier two and three suppliers are our indirect suppliers who produce the components of a final product e.g. fabric suppliers.

Performance

Woolworths has been recognised by external benchmarks for our performance in human rights. 

In  the World Benchmarking Alliance’s 2022 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, which assessed 127 of the world’s most influential companies from the food and agricultural products, ICT and automotive manufacturing sectors on their human rights performance, we ranked 3rd of all companies assessed. When reassessed against a significantly changed methodology, we ranked 5th compared to our peers in the food and agriculture sector in 2025. 

In the 2023 and 2026 KnowTheChain Food & Beverage Benchmark, we were ranked 1st out of 45 global companies for our human rights program. Whilst we are incredibly proud of these achievements as indicators of our progress, we know there is much more to do.

Educating our teams and our suppliers is part of our approach to continuous improvement. We take a targeted approach to training and capacity building to ensure that our teams and suppliers receive the information that is relevant to their roles.

Team

Woolworths Group's approach to human rights and modern slavery training is that relevant team members are aware of the risks and their responsibilities as appropriate to their role. In this way our training program is based on policies and procedures and our team's exposure to these. Examples of our bespoke training include: 

  • Team members: Woolworths Group’s team members are required to undergo training during onboarding including familiarising themselves with the Woolworths Group Code of Conduct. In this Code of Conduct team members are directed to, and required to familiarise themselves with, Woolworths Group’s policy commitments to responsible sourcing including the Human Rights Policy and Responsible Sourcing Standards. Both policies are available in Mandarin for the benefit of our team members based in China. Our Procurement Policy also references the need to source in line with the Human Rights Policy.

For more information on team training of specific business partners please see our latest Modern Slavery Statement. 

 

Suppliers

Woolworths Group communicates its Human Rights Policy and related Standards, and performance expectations to its supply chain and other business partners in a number of ways:  

  • Established and documented specific Policy and Standards (including anti-slavery standards) are communicated to all suppliers and since 2018.

  • Published guidance for suppliers to assist them in implementing the Human Rights Policy and Standards, including Guidance on Addressing Overtime Hours and Guidance on Developing Grievance Mechanisms.

  • Targeted training and capacity building of suppliers related to human rights and modern slavery is carried out through annual supplier Roadshows, targeted capacity building sessions and an online supplier academy.

  • Supplier training is available and recommended by Woolworths Group's Responsible Sourcing team through third party audit scheme platforms to educate suppliers and factory managers.

  • Suppliers are regularly engaged on key human rights and modern slavery risk topics through newsletters and supplier updates.

  • Current and potential suppliers can also access training, resources and guidelines on Responsible Sourcing through the Group’s online Supplier Academy portal.

 

Assessing the effectiveness of our actions

We are committed to maintaining effective systems to identify, assess, respond to and proactively manage modern slavery risks in accordance with relevant legislation, international human rights standards, regulatory obligations, shareholder expectations and good corporate governance principles. 

The below table outlines how we assess our effectiveness of our Human Rights program pillars.

Pillar 1: Own Operations (Manufacturing)

How we assess our effectiveness:

  • Identifying and remediating instances of human rights risks in our own operated manufacturing facilities
Pillar 2: Responsible Sourcing Program

How we assess our effectiveness:

  • Identifying instances of modern slavery, or otherforms of worker exploitation, in our supply chain and where possible working with supplier to remediate those issues
  • Monitoring trends in audit results to identify where there have been changes and whether our interventions led to those changes
  • Periodic reviews of the RS Program, including reviews by third parties, to assess whether the RS Program remains fit for purpose
  • Examining findings to determine what root causes are controbuting to repeated issues
Pillar 3: Bespoke Interventions

How we assess our effectiveness:

  • Periodical review of risk identification tools to make sure we are considering the dynamic nature of human rights risks
  • Ongoing review of whether our frameworks to manage bespoke areas of risk are fit for purpose
  • Incorporating worker perspectives into our HR Program
Pillar 4: Grievance Mechanisms

How we assess our effectiveness:

  • Monitoring the number of human rights complaints received to understand if grievance mechanisms are trusted and accessible
  • Reviewing the operation of Supplier Speak Up, including through testing the hotline and provided feedback to third-part host
Pillar 5: Partnerships

How we assess our effectiveness:

  • Considering feedback from suppliers, investors and other stakeholders to identify opportunities for improvement

Respecting the human rights of our team members

People are the core of our business, and our commitment to respect the human rights of all workers starts in our own operations. We work across the diverse entities that undertake our retail operations, e-commerce, supply chain and logistics and property development to create better experiences for a better tomorrow. 

Paying our team correctly and on time

Australia’s national minimum wage is set each year by an expert panel of the Fair Work Commission (FWC). The panel invites submissions from a wide range of organisations and also commissions research to inform its decision. In addition to the national minimum wage, there are also higher minimum wage rates and significant penalty rates and allowances contained in the 121 Modern Awards that cover specific industries and occupations.

Woolworths Group follows the law and applies the required minimum wage benchmarks as required, however in the majority of cases our enterprise agreements and employment contracts provide for higher wage rates than the national minimum wage or Award minimum rates (plus penalty rates and allowances).

Woolworths Group has controls and processes in place to ensure that any changes or updates that have occurred in the pay period are captured to ensure accuracy of pay so that we can pay on time and in full. We pay our team on a weekly or monthly basis depending on the nature of the role. The pay period is in line with our obligations under the applicable Industrial Instrument/Award and/or Contract as well as our obligations, which include providing team members with payslip and ensuring pay slips have required information (including the amount paid and tax withheld), under the Fair Work Act. Further, we comply with the applicable legislation in relation to withholding tax and superannuation.

Protecting young team members

At Woolworths Group, we have a commitment to ensure that we are not using child labour in our operations or supply chain. 

In our own operations, we have controls in place during the recruitment process (including verifying age of candidates) to ensure that we are compliant with legislative requirements regarding the legal age of employment in each territory and state. Equally, we comply with all applicable licensing requirements, where we ensure team members who operate machinery that requires a license must provide proof that they are 18 years or older as well as be licensed to operate the Machinery (i.e. Forklift).

Young workers in our supply chain have similar protections such as our Child Labour Addendum. This is detailed more in our Responsible Sourcing Program. 

Communicating our human rights commitments to our team

Woolworths Group communicates its commitment to respecting human rights through our Human Rights Policy and Standards, and associated supporting documents. To reflect these commitments to our team members, team members are required to complete the Code of Conduct training upon commencing in the workplace. 

Further, Woolworths Group clearly defines expectations through policies, of creating a respectful workplace that is free from unlawful discrimination and protecting workers rights, including those team members who are part of a union, as prescribed under the Fair Work Act. Our Line Managers are required to monitor the workplace and raise and address any behaviour that is deemed to be inappropriate, equally our team members are made aware of their obligations and avenues to raise any behaviours that they have witnessed or have experienced, including but not limited to raising concerns in line with our Complaints Handling framework and/or raising an anonymous complaint through SpeakUp. Team Members may also choose to raise concerns through their union which is addressed in accordance with our Complaints Handling Standards.

We publish information about our grievance process in terms of the Speak Up process on our Woolworths Group website, which includes details on how team members and suppliers contact the service to raise any concerns. The business reports on the nature of complaints to the board of directors on a quarterly basis.

Our team is a top priority at Woolworths Group. This is why we strive to create a supportive environment that ensures everyone can feel valued, respected and have the opportunity to thrive. 

As part of this commitment, our Team Member Speak Up service offers an independent avenue (external to Woolworths Group) where you can confidentially raise matters if you ever feel that a concern you have can’t be dealt with internally.  

To raise a team member concern online, please go to the Speak Up website.

Or via the following toll free phone numbers:

  • Australia - 1800 334 319

  • New Zealand - 0800 393 76736

To review our Speak Up policy in English, please click here.

Suppliers

At Woolworths, we are committed to open and positive relationships with all of our suppliers. 

We recognise, however, that a situation may arise where a supplier feels an important concern can’t be dealt with directly with us, and where the supplier would prefer to use an independent and confidential avenue for raising the concern. We have created the Supplier Speak Up Service for this purpose.

Suppliers (or their workers) can contact Supplier Speak Up online or by the toll-free numbers below. If required, interpreters are available in other languages in addition to those countries listed below.

To raise a supplier concern online, please go to the Speak Up website.

Or via the following toll free phone numbers:

Speak Up policies in Arabic, Vietnamese and Korean.

Our program


Our Human Rights Program is the way in which we seek to identify, prevent and mitigate key risks to people across Woolworths Group’s operations, businesses, sellers, and all suppliers. Recognising that one size does not fit all in terms of how we manage human rights risks, our Human Rights Program comprises five operational pillars, summarised below, which are designed to act as complementary and compensating controls.

While our operations and supply chains are complex, our aim is to ensure that human rights are understood, respected and upheld. We expect our business partners to adhere to ethical business conduct consistent with our own, and we are committed to working with them to fulfil this common goal, and proactively address human rights risks.

Our Responsible Sourcing Program provides the governance for how we manage social compliance of our own brand and fresh products. Our Responsible Sourcing Program is anchored by two main documents: 

These are supported by our Responsible Sourcing Program Guidelines (for suppliers in our Trade supply chain).

Trade

Trade products span an array of categories, including apparel, long life food, fresh food and general merchandise. During onboarding, suppliers are segmented into four risk categories with corresponding due diligence requirements. This segmentation will determine the activities suppliers are required to complete in order to verify compliance with the Standards. These include, but are not limited to: 

  • Attending training and education sessions 

  • Completing a supplier self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) 

  • Submitting an audit under our third-party social compliance ‘Mutual Recognition’ scheme 

  • Agreeing to and implementing a corrective action plan 

  • Demonstrating continuous improvement 

  • Announced and unannounced factory or site visits. 

The third party audit for moderate, priority and specialised risk-segmented suppliers includes checks on key forced labour indicators. All audits are graded against four possible outcomes – zero tolerance (ZT), critical, moderate, and minor – and forced labour indicators, among others, are considered a ZT issue. Moderate or minor non-conformances (NCs) are addressed during the audit cycle as part of the scheme follow-up, while our team prioritises ZT and critical NCs for follow up.

Non-Trade

Human rights risks are dynamic, and we continue to review our program to make sure our interventions remain fit for purpose. We source products, equipment and services from a number of non-trade suppliers. Examples of non-trade products include those that may feature a Woolworths Group brand, such as shopping baskets, trolleys or uniforms. It also includes products that are not branded such as packaging materials, IT equipment and construction materials. 

The majority of non-trade services operate in facilities that are owned and operated by the Group across Australia and New Zealand including our retail stores, DCs and CFCs. Examples of non-trade services include cleaning, trolley collection, security services, warehousing and logistics.

In F23 the Group identified an opportunity for a programmatic uplift to our Responsible Sourcing Program to provide a consistent approach to managing labour rights risk across our trade and non‑trade supply chain. 

In F24, we developed a risk segmentation approach for non‑trade suppliers to determine which suppliers will be in scope of the Responsible Sourcing Program, and how to further risk‑segment in‑scope suppliers. The Human Rights team partnered with third party human rights experts LRQA to identify inherently extreme and high risk non‑trade categories based on our F23 forced labour risk assessment and LRQA’s social risk scores. Non‑trade suppliers in these categories have then been assessed to determine their connection to the Group. Consistent with our approach to in‑scope trade suppliers, in‑scope non‑trade suppliers will be subject to further risk segmentation, with proportionate human rights due diligence depending on their risk segment. 

The Policy and Standards

The Human Rights Policy outlines our overarching commitment to upholding respect for the human rights of the workers in our supply chain. The Policy applies to all of our suppliers globally and is a part of doing business with the Group. 

The Responsible Sourcing Standards are a key way that we implement our Policy commitments and they outline our expectations for suppliers in scope of the Responsible Sourcing Program. They include comprehensive criteria on business integrity, labour rights, fair and safe working conditions and environmental compliance.

As part of the rollout and ongoing due diligence, we are committed to supporting suppliers with relevant information sessions, guidance documents, training materials and, in higher-risk categories, establishing communities of practice.

We regularly review our Human Rights Policy and Standards to maintain best practice and to align with our communities and customer needs, detail regarding our verification and audit framework, clarification on the role of our Guidance notes, and recognition of our extended Speak Up program for management of grievances. Our 2020 Policy enhancements included explicit endorsement of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; acknowledgement of our human rights governance via the Board Sustainability Committee; further emphasis on the expectation for suppliers to cascade requirements into their own supply base; and recognition of our internal responsibility (e.g. Responsible Purchasing Practices) as a vital factor in promoting respect for human rights. Our 2021 update was paused due to COVID-19 disruptions, and our 2022 update included the following enhancements:

  • Language updated to clarify scope of the policy and standards 

  • Structure and narrative updated to reflect greater clarity on implications when standards are breached

  • Updated to reflect program maturity, including with reference in particular to guiding principles

 

Our 2023 update included changes to include non-trade suppliers and majority owned businesses in scope of the Responsible Sourcing Standards.

Our 2025 update focused on integrating recommendations from both an internal review and an independent external governance review which were conducted to identify key gaps and opportunities for improvement in our Human Rights Program. Key updates included:

  • Renaming our Responsible Sourcing Policy to Human Rights Policy in order to provide greater clarity of the full scope of the Human Rights Program

  • Providing greater clarity on which suppliers and categories are in scope of our Responsible Sourcing Program

Additional requirements | Addendums to the Standards

A number of additional requirements are referenced within the Responsible Sourcing Standards which outline specific requirements that suppliers should be aware of. These stand alone as separate documents in addendum to the Standards but must be read in conjunction with the relevant sections in the Standards.

1. Woolworths Group Labour Hire Addendum

In February 2019 we released an Addendum to the Standards, Requirements for Labour Providers in our Australian Supply Chain. The Addendum outlines specific requirements relating to the engagement of labour providers by participants in our horticulture supply chain.

Safeguarding responsible employment practices by labour providers involved in our supply chain is a key component of Woolworth Group's responsible sourcing commitments. Our approach to responsible recruitment is aligned with industry standards and underpinned by three core principles known as the Priority Industry Principles:

  • every worker should have freedom of movement;

  • no worker should pay for a job; and

  • no worker should be indebted or coerced to work.

Information on labour providers currently used by our recognised third party programs can be found below: 

  • Queensland Government's Register of Labour Hire Licences here  

  • South Australia Register of Labour Hire Licences here

  • Victorian Register of Labour Hire Licences here

  • Seasonal Worker Program Listing of current Approved Employers here

  • The Registry of StaffSure Certified Workforce Service Providers here

For more information please read the supplier checklist and  guidance requirements.

2. Woolworths Group Child Labour Addendum

In July 2022 we released specific requirements for the prevention and remediation of Child Labour as an extension of guidance that previously existed on Child Labour within the Standards. These requirements must be read and understood by all suppliers and upheld in conjunction with Standard no. 6 | Child Labour. 

3. Woolworths Responsible Recruitment Addendum

In April 2022, Woolworths Group further strengthened our position on responsible recruitment when we joined the Consumer Goods Forum Human Rights Coalition (the Coalition). 

The Responsible Recruitment Requirements should be considered by all suppliers engaging foreign migrant workers either directly or indirectly in their operations. However, Woolworths Group will take a proactive, risk-based, and phased approach to rollout and supplier verification, therefore Thailand and Malaysia are prioritised for implementation. 

Bespoke Interventions 

Whilst our Responsible Sourcing Program includes ongoing due diligence of in-scope suppliers, we recognise that modern slavery risks are also present in lower supply chain tiers. These risks - including risks based on geographies or commodities - require tailored interventions to seek to better manage these risks. For these situations, we develop bespoke interventions to address modern slavery risks.

For more information click here

 

Whilst our Responsible Sourcing Program includes ongoing due diligence of in-scope suppliers, we recognise that modern slavery risks are also present in lower supply chain tiers. These risks - including risks based on geographies or commodities - require tailored interventions to seek to better manage these risks. For these situations, we develop bespoke interventions to address modern slavery risks.

In order to respond to the dynamic nature of human rights risks, we regularly review our interventions to make sure they remain effective. Our approach may take a variety of forms, examples of which include:

  • Category specific due diligence where we have identified material risks particularly due to greater inherent risks and limited visibility over working conditions (e.g. beyond our direct supplier relationships at lower supply chain tiers such as tier 2 and 3). We have established targeted workstreams to address specific modern slavery risks in Seafood, Commodities and Cotton.

  • Guidance frameworks where we have identified locations or sectors where human rights risks may be particularly severe, making remediating issues harder to influence. Examples of such frameworks include:

    • an extreme-risk due diligence framework which uses bespoke technology and tools to conduct screenings to identify network connections and extreme-risk exposure through trade or company ownership; and

    • a guidance framework for meaningful engagement with impacted stakeholders which involves engaging with affected stakeholders to learn from their experiences and inform our ongoing strategies.

  • Responsible recruitment initiatives in high-risk regions (e.g. Thailand and Malaysia) and implementing Responsible Purchasing Practices with the aim of embedding responsible business throughout key areas in which we can have the biggest impact on working conditions.

  • Worker voice activities to gather sentiment, concerns and grievances directly from workers as we recognise that audits are not a silver bullet and benefit from the addition of compensating controls.

  • Programs to enhance supply chain transparency beyond tier one in inherently higher risk categories across our trade and non-trade supply chain.

 

Effective grievance mechanisms 

The fourth pillar of our Human Rights Program reflects our commitment to providing accessible grievance mechanisms that enable workers in our supply chain to directly raise complaints with us about adverse human rights impacts in our operations and supply chain. Providing access to trusted and effective grievance channels, such as our Supplier Speak Up channel, is integral to achieving this.

For more information click here

Woolworths Group is committed to providing access to channels through which adversely affected people or communities, including external individuals and communities, can raise complaints or concerns without fear of retaliation, intimidation, harassment, discrimination or victimisation. This commitment extends to the work of human rights defenders, and the expectation they can operate in a safe and respectful environment across all our operations. The Group provides a Speak Up service for our team members and suppliers (and their workers) as a mechanism by which responsible sourcing and human rights concerns can be raised confidentially and, if desired, anonymously.

Supplier Speak Up can be accessed by workers in a number of different languages and we provide suppliers with communication tools to reach workers in a language they understand. The following posters have been designed for suppliers in different countries with key messages translated into the languages of key migrant worker groups. 

  • Australian suppliers can download the poster for their sites here>

  • Malaysian suppliers can download the poster for their sites here>

  • Bengali suppliers can download the poster for their sites here>

  • Thai suppliers can download the poster for their sites here>

  • Chinese suppliers can download the poster for their sites here>

  • Vietnamese suppliers can download the poster for their sites here>


We are committed to working with our suppliers to ensure appropriate grievance mechanisms are made available within their own supply chains. You can read more information on the Speak Up website and in the Supplier Speak Up FAQs.

With suppliers in many countries, we acknowledge there are different socio-cultural barriers that may prevent vulnerable workers from raising concerns, either directly with their employer (our supplier) or the Group. We know there is always more work to do to strengthen our grievance response. We will continue to review our grievance mechanisms and processes to strengthen them and improve their effectiveness. At the same time, we will continue to raise supplier awareness of the eight characteristics of an effective grievance process outlined by the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (known as the UNGPs). 

It is important to us that effective remedies are available for affected people and communities where it is identified that our activities or business relationships have caused or contributed to adverse impacts. These remedies may be provided through direct engagement with affected people and communities, or in collaboration with our suppliers or other third parties.

Our Human Rights Grievance Process provides further detail on our approach to conducting investigations and is based on international best practice for managing human rights grievance investigations, specifically UNGP 31.

Partnerships and advocacy 

The fifth fourth pillar of our Human Rights Program recognises the importance of working collaboratively to create change that addresses modern slavery risks. We seek partnerships where we can collaborate to drive strategic initiatives, add value to existing approaches, leverage collective action and learn from others. We also acknowledge that the insights from our Human Rights Program can help play a role in understanding and advocating for changes or enhancements to policy settings.

For more information click here

Human rights and responsible sourcing challenges do not occur in isolation. They are embedded in complex socio-economic systems of migration, gender, under-employment, weak rule of law and low wages. Woolworths Group seeks to work in multi-stakeholder partnerships that both scale impact and promote a coordinated approach to tackling complex issues. We regularly engage with key external stakeholders to understand their expectations in relation to human rights. This includes civil society, government, workers and unions. 

Communicating with our Stakeholders

We seek to make the form of the information available about our Human Rights program accessible to stakeholders across our supply chain.

We review our approach to how we address grievances periodically, including updating our grievance mechanism Speak Up to include access to relay services for people with disability, as well as QR code access so people could scan and do online rather than call, as well as translation to multiple languages.

Where needed, we translate certain information and documents into languages other than English. These include our Human Rights Policy, Standards and some supporting documents translated into Mandarin as well as country-specific requirements such as our Responsible Recruitment Addendum which is available in Thai. To see all relevant documents visit here.

Our program requirements are communicated to new suppliers during the onboarding process, with regular updates and communications provided via emails, newsletters, in-person events.

We participate in biannual worker forums held under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Retail Supply Chain Alliance (RCSA). The forums are held across Australia, and provide an opportunity for us to engage with workers in our horticulture supply chain. The format is unstructured, and includes a presentation on workers’ rights in Australia by the union which allows workers to freely raise questions and provide feedback.

UN Global Compact Network Australia (GCNA) Modern Slavery Community of Practice 

Woolworths Group is an active member of the UN Global Compact Network Australia, with our team participating in numerous events throughout the year and contributing to the Human Rights Leadership Group. Building on our contribution, Woolworths Group is now represented on the GCNA Modern Slavery Community of Practice. The purpose of this community of practice is to share emerging best practices to build common capability in addressing modern slavery and human rights risk management among Australian businesses. 

Action Collaboration Transformation (ACT) on Living Wages

To accelerate the living standards of workers in the apparel and footwear supply chain, BIG W joined ACT in February 2020. ACT is an agreement between global brands, retailers and trade unions to achieve living wages for workers through collective bargaining at industry level linked to brands’ purchasing practises. BIG W is an active participant in ACT’s Bangladesh country group meetings, a tripartite dialogue between ACT brands, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and trade unions. After an initial two years focused on COVID response, in F22 ACT participants made progress on a number of key commitments known as the ACT Global Purchasing Practices Commitments. See the sustainability section of the BIG W website for more information on progress to date.

International Accord

Woolworths Group is a founding signatory of the Bangladesh Accord. We support ongoing efforts to ensure robust, transparent and industry-wide mechanisms to deliver safe working conditions for all factory workers in Bangladesh. 

In F22 our BIG W business signed the International Accord and joined the Brand Association along with 170 other brands and retailers globally. We continue to support the International Accord by participating in business volume surveys, attending caucus meetings and following up on factory remediation. The Bangladesh Accord is now operationalised by the Ready-Made Garment (RMG) Sustainability Council. 

In March 2023 BIG W became a signatory to the Pakistan Accord. The Pakistan Accord is more expansive than the original Bangladesh Accord; it includes the RMG sector, but also all Cut-Make-Trim (CMT) facilities, including home textiles, fabric and knit accessories suppliers (such as hats, scarves, gloves and bags). 

The program of work will include independent inspections and remediation of fire, electrical, structural and boiler safety hazards, an independent compliant mechanism, and joint capacity building with the local government. 

Cleaning Accountability Framework (CAF)

CAF is a labour rights assurance scheme that places cleaners at the heart of compliance certification. Woolworths Group was a founding retail partner of CAF, and has invested $100,000 to assist CAF build a retail specific framework. A multi-retailer working group has been established to conceptualise how the CAF model can be adapted for a retail environment.

Retail Supply Chain Alliance

In May 2022, Woolworths Group signed the Ethical Retail Supply Chain MOU (Australian Horticulture Industry) with the Retail Supply Chain Alliance (RSCA), composed of the Australian Workers Union, Transport Workers Union and Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Union. The goal of the MOU is to build on the work towards ending worker exploitation in the supply chain by running pilot programs to promote lawful employment practices. These programs will be based around worker education initiatives and research.

As part of this MOU, we participate in biannual worker forums held under a joint RCSA MOU. The forums are held across Australia, and provide an opportunity for us to engage with workers in our horticulture supply chain. The format is unstructured, and includes a presentation on workers’ rights in Australia by the union which allows workers to freely raise questions and provide feedback.

In collaboration with the RSCA, in F24 we funded research by the McKell Institute to explore key elements for consideration in the development of a national labour hire licensing regime that both protects workers and assists horticulture businesses to manage risk. The report – Licensing Labour Hire: Promoting a National Labour Hire Licensing Scheme – was released in F25 and recommends that, in order to prevent labour hire regulation loopholes, a National Labour Hire Licensing Scheme should be implemented by the Federal Government. We support the recommendations of the report.

Consumer Goods Forum - Human Rights Coalition

In F22, Woolworths Group joined the Consumer Goods Forum Human Rights Coalition (CGF HRC). and in F23 assumed a role as Co-Chair. The HRC is a collective of 30 global retailers and manufacturers committed to eradicating forced labour from their operations and consumer goods supply chains. HRC members commit to implement the CGF’s human rights due diligence maturity framework for operations, with the goal that all members reach the ‘Leadership’ level by 2025. We continue to work with the CGF to improve human rights due diligence in our own operations. 

In F25 we also began work with the HRC on the Ethical Recruitment Marketplace, an initiative bringing together CGF member companies with shared supply chains as well as a multitude of programs and partners in the Asia Pacific region to create a sustainable system that promotes ethical recruitment as the norm, not the exception.

The goal is to create a virtuous circle where ethical recruitment is supported by supply and demand principles, becoming the new standard for the entirety of the migrant recruitment journey.

The Issara Institute

In F24, Woolworths Group joined the Issara Institute Strategic Partners Programme, a non-profit organisation based in Thailand. As a Strategic Partner, we work with Issara towards empowered worker voice, data and analytics, and a collaborative approach to operationalise ethical supply chains. We have started engagement with suppliers in Thailand, and will look to expand to other regions where Issara has a presence. Issara conducts worker-driven monitoring through its network, which includes local experts that engage communities to identify and address emerging issues. Issara is committed to building worker-validated and community-validated ethical supply chains from the bottom up. The partnership with Issara gives us an opportunity to provide suppliers with local expertise and grassroots support to implement responsible recruitment practices.

Issara also receives worker-reported issues and identifies systemic challenges that may be difficult to identify in social compliance audits. Some examples of worker-reported issues that Issara was able to surface include:

  • Pregnant workers facing issues with workloads and working conditions

  • Poor treatment by line managers/supervisors

  • Substandard living conditions and privacy in dorm/bathrooms/living space

  • Lack of professional conduct of recruitment agency and/or employer

Issara drives remediation of these issues through their Inclusive Labor Monitoring Action Network and validates remediation with affected workers through worker voice.

Respecting Child Rights

Woolworths Group takes a proactive approach to protecting children and their rights. The following section serves to highlight examples of partnership and stakeholder engagement that support this.

We are committed to continuing to learn and innovate and one way we can do this is by regularly participating in various benchmarks. We recognise the value of a number of benchmarks in helping to promote, educate and inform, and in highlighting both opportunities and areas for growth. The Global Child Forum benchmark is one of these. 

Preventing Child Labour in our supply chain

In addition to our Responsible Sourcing Program and related Responsible Sourcing Standards, suppliers are also required to meet the requirements laid out in Woolworths Group's Child Rights Addendum. 

Our Child Labour Addendum, developed in collaboration with The Centre for Child Rights and Business, outlines our approach, and aims to clarify our expectations of supplier partners for the prevention and remediation of any child labour cases should they be identified in Woolworths Group’s supply chain. We will review and update this Addendum at regular intervals to ensure it remains fit for purpose.

Caring for all Australians

Woolworths Group works to support our community, including families and children, through a number of programs from food security to disaster relief and disability. 

Find out more here.

Our children’s charity partners

Woolworths Group has a longstanding history of working with Australian children’s charities. Some of these partnerships date back more than 30 years, and in this time millions of dollars has been raised to support our work to help children who may be sick or in need in other ways. Read more here.

Fresh Food for kids, inspiring the next generation

Our customers tell us that health is important and want us to make healthier easier for them and their families. Read more about Making Healthier Easier, and in particular about Woolworths Group’s commitment to helping kids eat healthier with our Fresh Food Kids program. 

Gender equity and parental leave

In November 2020, we became signatories to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). Woolworths Group, from the top down, is committed to working collaboratively within multi‑stakeholder networks to foster business practices that empower women, and their children.

Family is an important part of our team members’ lives, our customers’ lives and our community. At Woolworths Group, we want to make things better for families - including supporting our team members while they are growing their families. Read more about our paid parental leave for primary and secondary carers on our Inclusive Workplace page here.

Marketing to children

As a member of the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA), Woolworths Group adheres to the AANA Food & Beverages Code and the Marketing to Children's Code. This outlines protections for children through advertising, and ensures a high sense of social responsibility is maintained.

Responsible service of alcohol and tobacco, and restricted products

We take the responsibility of selling alcohol, tobacco and sharp objects seriously and want to make sure that we only sell these items to people of the proper legal age (18+). We have a range of policies complying with legislative requirements, including verifying age in-store and online. See Countdown’s Liquor and Tobacco Policy here.

Read more about our commitment to the responsible service of alcohol and tobacco here.

Future Generations

Agriculture is the backbone of our business and we are committed to working with our partners to encourage sustainable and regenerative practices for future generations to come. 

Read more about our principles, initiatives and partnerships related to the responsible stewardship of natural resources in our latest Sustainability Report here, and follow our progress in subsequent reports as we seek to better understand the impact and dependency of our supply chains on nature.

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Our initiatives

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Our partnerships


Woolworths Group seeks to work in multi-stakeholder partnerships that both scale impact and promote a coordinated approach to tackling complex issues. We regularly engage with key external stakeholders to understand their expectations in relation to human rights. This includes civil society, government, workers and unions.

cleaning accountability framework
issara
LRQA
DIGNITY IN ALL FOR WORK
global impact



We also enter into multi-party agreements where we identify strategic opportunities to work towards delivery agreed objectives with different stakeholders.

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pakistan accord
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Accepted audit schemes


Within our Human Rights Program, third-party social compliance audit schemes continue to play a fundamental role in supplier risk management. Built on the principle of mutual recognition, we accept audits or findings from the following social compliance industry programs across our global supply chain:

LRQA
sedex
amfori
fair farms
global gap
LRQA
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NZ GAP
sa 8000
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For progress against our goals, see our annual Reporting Suite.