Supplier Code Of Conduct

All of our suppliers are required to agree to and sign our Code of Conduct as part of our onboarding process. The Code establishes our expectations and standards regarding labour and employment practices, health and safety, environmental compliance, animal rights and transparency.

To ensure these standards are being upheld and our factories operate in compliance with national laws, international conventions and best practice industry protocols, we aim to obtain independent third-party audits of the factories producing for us. Our preference is the SMETA audit methodology; however, we accept audit frameworks of similar rigour.

At Stafford Group we recognise the importance of social compliance and whilst we acknowledge we have more to learn, we continue to make significant progress in this area and remain committed to further improvements.

Supplier relationships

We are committed to fostering a positive relationship with those who produce our products, ensuring they are respected and provided with dignified work.

We view our suppliers as partners and work with a small selection of factories, specialists in their field. We are actively mapping and auditing our factories using independent audits conducted to best practice methodologies such as SMETA.

iSO 9001

The Stafford Group is the first Australian owned clothing company to achieve the coveted AS 3901 (ISO 9001) rating, we have held this strict level of quality accreditation available in the world since 1993.

Modern slavery

All suppliers to the Stafford Group are required to agree to and sign our vendors Code of Conduct which establishes our minimum expectations and standards regarding employment practices, health & safety and environmental compliance. We also encourage suppliers to adopt behaviours, procedures and practices that go beyond the minimum requirements set out in this policy. 

The Labour Code is based on, and goes beyond, the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) Base Code and the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Fundamental Principles and Rights At Work and covers four main areas: 

Part 1 - Code of Labour Conduct

Part 2 - Code of Environmental Conduct

Part 3 - Animal Welfare

Part 4 - Transparency, Auditing & Agreement

Companies applying this Code are expected to comply with national and other applicable law. Where the provisions of law and this Code address the same subject, companies should apply that provision which affords the greater protection.

Should any supplier be found to be in contradiction of this code of conduct and/or relevant local laws The Stafford Group reserves the right to immediately terminate our supply agreement with this supplier where non-compliance is deemed serious enough, however wherever possible we will aim to work with that supplier to compile and manage a corrective action plan.

Environmental Policy

We pursue sustainability within our operations by striving to make our suppliers socially responsible, environmentally aware and economically viable. We engage with the communities in which we operate and live by actively contributing to causes and organisations that benefit these communities. While we make no claim to be perfect, we are very sincere in our efforts to do the right thing.

Areas of consideration :

1. Activity in professional networks & signatory to conventions 

2. Management & governance 

3. Specific actions & targets 

Corporate Social Responsibility

Stafford Group is committed to respecting all workers in our value chain and harnessing the power of our people to make any difference we can to our communities.

We recognise we play a role in carving a more sustainable and responsible future for the fashion industry. Whilst there are always incremental improvements to be made, we remain driven to making socially and environmentally sustainable choices throughout our chain of processes.

As a group we annually select a number of initiatives and causes to support, this is something our people take pride in, and relish the opportunity to make what ever positive difference we can.

Employee Code Of Conduct & Policies and Procedures

The success of the Stafford Group is dependant to a degree, on the integrity, contribution, teamwork and co-operation of our people. Each individual through efficient work co-operative attitude contributes not only to the growth and development of the company, but also to his or her own progress.

Our code provides our people important information regarding the policies and practices of the Stafford Group which affect every employee.

Whilst our code and accompanying policies and procedures cannot cover all situations, they aim to provide a framework to clearly set out suitable personal and professional behaviors in our workplace.

All of our people are required to confirm receipt and understanding of our Code of Conduct & Ethics and Company Policies and Procedures.