1. INTRODUCTION
International Standards + Guidelines
Instyle is committed to upholding human rights as recognised by international standards, including the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This policy aligns with the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework, emphasising our commitment to respect, support and promote human rights across our operations and business relationships. Additionally, Instyle is dedicated to ethical and responsible business practices, including the elimination of modern slavery and human trafficking in all aspects of our operations. We acknowledge the importance of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 in Australia and are committed to complying with this legislation.
Definition of the Modern Slavery Act
The Modern Slavery Act is an Australian federal law that requires businesses with an annual turnover of $50 million or more to report on the risks of modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. The legislation aims to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking in all forms, including forced labour, debt bondage and child labour.
Scope
This policy applies to all Instyle employees, contractors, suppliers and business partners globally who are involved in our operations and supply chains. We expect all individuals and organisations that we work with to share our commitment to ethical and responsible business practices and to comply with the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act.
2. OUR COMMITMENT TO HUMAN RIGHTS
Instyle’s Corporate Position
At Instyle, we recognise that modern slavery is a significant and pressing issue in the global supply chain. We are committed to respecting and promoting human rights in all our business activities, ensuring that our operations and supply chain are free from modern slavery and human trafficking. This includes ensuring that our operations do not cause or contribute to human rights abuses and addressing any adverse human rights impacts directly linked to our operations, products or services through our business relationships. We believe that it is our responsibility to work proactively to identify and address any risks of modern slavery in our business operations.
Fair Labour Practices
We uphold the principles of fair labour practices, including:
- Prohibition of forced labor, child labour and human trafficking
- Ensuring fair wages, working hours and conditions in line with national laws and international standards
- Respecting the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining
Non-Discrimination + Equal Opportunity
We promote diversity and inclusion and prohibit discrimination based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, disability or other status.
Health + Safety
We are committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment for all employees. This includes taking appropriate measures to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses and promoting the physical and mental wellbeing of our workforce.
3. IMPLEMENTATION + GOVERNANCE
Risk Assessment
We conduct regular risk assessments to identify and evaluate the risks of modern slavery in our operations and supply chains and ensure we are conducting our business ethically. This includes identifying high-risk areas in our supply chains, evaluating the labour practices of our suppliers and contractors, developing mitigation strategies, as well as continuous monitoring and reporting.
Due Diligence
We undertake due diligence on our suppliers to ensure they comply with our requirements for ethical and responsible business practices. This includes the requirement for all suppliers of product to Instyle to complete our Modern Slavery Questionnaire, which addresses their own fair labour policies, third-party audits, staff training, workplace safety and anti-discrimination policies. Suppliers must be able to provide evidence of human rights due diligence (HRDD) in their own operations.
Our full HRDD process includes:
- Identifying + Assessing Impacts: We assess actual and potential human rights impacts through regular risk assessments, stakeholder consultations and impact studies
- Integrating + Acting: We integrate our findings into relevant internal functions and processes, taking appropriate action to prevent and mitigate adverse impacts
- Tracking + Monitoring: We track the effectiveness of our actions through key performance indicators, audits and regular reviews
- Communicating: We communicate how we address human rights impacts both internally and externally, ensuring transparency and accountability
Certifications
We certify our products through schemes such as Cradle to Cradle and Global GreenTag, which have strict criteria for human rights due diligence (HRDD) and corporate social responsibility (CSR). These standards require suppliers to provide evidence of operational transparency, efficacious human rights policies, ethical labour practices and responsible sourcing, all of which reduce modern slavery risk.
Stakeholder Engagement
We actively engage with stakeholders, including employees, suppliers, customers and communities, to understand their perspectives and address their concerns regarding human rights. This engagement helps inform our due diligence processes and improve our human rights practices. Due to the high-risk nature of complex supply chains, we engage more deeply with our product suppliers to raise awareness of modern slavery as it varies based on the region, and encourage them to take steps to prevent it. This includes increasing transparency around their own operations and product supply chains, capacity building, encouraging deeper monitoring and auditing, and ensuring there are legitimate prevention measures in place such as grievance mechanisms and anonymous surveys.
Training + Awareness
We provide training and awareness programs for our employees, contractors and suppliers to ensure they understand the risks of modern slavery and how to report any concerns. This includes understanding regional legal frameworks, forms of modern slavery and their indicators, and responsibility in mitigating risks.
4. REPORTING + ACCOUNTABILITY
Transparency
We are committed to transparent reporting on our human rights performance. This includes disclosing our human rights impacts, the measures we take to address them, and the outcomes of our actions. We report annually on our progress in line with the reporting requirements of the Modern Slavery Act 2018.
Continuous Improvement
We strive for continuous improvement in our human rights performance. We regularly review and update our policies and practices to reflect evolving standards and stakeholder expectations.
Governance
Instyle Management oversees the implementation of this policy. Our Sustainability Manager is responsible for the day-to-day management and execution of our human rights commitments.
