Office Products News

Officeworks issues reminders on slavery and sustainability

Retailer updates on two supplier policy fronts.
 
Local and overseas suppliers to Officeworks have been reminded that the company is committed to upholding internationally recognised human rights. 
 
Officeworks said it expects everyone who works within the Officeworks group, including team members, directors, contractors, suppliers, and other business partners across its supply chains to “understand and respect human rights”.
 
In a detailed statement, Officeworks said that its ‘Ethical Sourcing and Modern Slavery Policy’ sets out the minimum requirements of all suppliers to work with the retailer. 
 
Updates to the policy include: 
  • Clauses relating to responsible recruitment to protect migrant workers and grievance mechanisms to support worker voice initiatives have been added. 
  • A remediation framework is now included for transparency of the Officeworks remediation process. 
The retailer is also committed to achieving its goal of zero deforestation in its supply chain by 2025 and this means that all products containing paper and wood in its product ranges must demonstrate they are free from deforestation. 
 
Updates to the policy include: 
  • Providing greater transparency on its governance and due diligence 
  • All paper and wood products must demonstrate they are free from deforestation. 
This can be done via FSC certification, being 100 per cent recycled, made from fast-growing fibres or via additional due diligence or responsible forestry initiatives that the supplier undertakes to ensure there is no deforestation. 
 
Date Published: 
11 July 2023