Forced by back-pay $278,000 to workers

In July 2010 Cotton On back-paid 3289 of its employees more than $278,000 after it was discovered the company had failed to pay staff for attending training out of working hours. Cotton On Clothing Pty Ltd entered into an enforceable undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman whereby the company posted an apology on Facebook, sent Human Resources managers to workplace compliance training and agreed to provide 3 consecutive annual reports on its active compliance.

Source: Fair Work Ombudsman (2010)

Fined over product safety

In 2012 Cotton On was fined $1 million for selling children's sleepwear that was deemed so flammable it shouldn't have even been sold in Australia. Cotton On have also been at the centre of a number of controversies over the past few years including advertising bungles and an underpayment scandal. [Listed under Information due to age of court finding]

Source: news article (2012)

Breaching advertising codes

This company has been criticised for offensive advertising. In 2007 Ad Standards upheld complaints about a poster by this company on the grounds that it breached advertising codes. The ad was subsequently discontinued or modified.

Source: Ad Standards (2018)

Copyright infringement

The Full Federal Court of Australia ordered Cotton On Clothing Pty Ltd to pay damages of $280,000 to Elwood Clothing Pty Ltd after finding that Cotton On Clothing Pty Ltd had infringed the copyright of T-shirt and swing-tag designs belonging to Elwood Cothing Pty Ltd.

Source: Australasian Legal Information Institute (2009)

Political donations

The democracyforsale.net website, which aggregates data from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), reports that this company donated $21,000 to Australia's major political parties between 2018 and 2023. To view this company's entry in the AEC's Transparency Register, follow the link and click on "Named on the following annual returns as providing funds to:" to see the political donations made by the company.

Source: AEC (2024)

Uzbek Cotton Pledge signatory

This company signed the Uzbek Cotton Pledge with the Responsible Sourcing Network, signifying a public commitment to not knowingly source Uzbek cotton for the manufacturing of any of their products until the Government of Uzbekistan ends the practice of forced labor in its cotton sector. However the Pledge was lifted in March 2022 after the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, who monitored the annual cotton harvest since 2010, found no state-imposed forced labor in the 2021 harvest.

Source: Cotton Campaign (2022)

Angora ban

This company has taken angora items off the shelves and promised not to use angora again, following a PETA campaign launched in Dec 2013 which revealed the cruelty inflicted on angora rabbits in Chinese factory farms, where 90% of the world's angora is produced.

Source: PETA (2018)

Cotton On Foundation

The Cotton On Foundation raises funds through the sale of charity items, such as reusable shopping bags, in Cotton On Group stores. With these funds they assist several project and other charities.

Source: company website (2020)

Better Cotton Initiative member

This company is a member of the Better Cotton Initiative, a voluntary program which encourages the adoption of better management practices in cotton cultivation to achieve measurable reductions in key environmental impacts, while improving social and economic benefits for cotton farmers, small and large, worldwide.

Source: Better Cotton Initiative (2022)

Supplier Factory Disclosure List

This company is one of of a handful of major Australian fashion retailers to publish the names and addresses of their supplier factories.

Source: company website (2016)

Ethics claims

This company has ethics claims on its website under the headings of sustainability, community partnerships and ethical sourcing.

Source: company website (2021)

ACT participant

This company is a participant in the Action, Collaboration, Transformation (ACT) initiative, an initiative between international brands and retailers, manufacturers, and trade unions to address the issue of living wages in the textile and garment supply chain.

Source: IndustriALL (2021)

Modern Slavery statement

California, the UK and Australia have all enacted legislation requiring companies operating within their borders to disclose their efforts to eradicate modern slavery from their operations and supply chains. Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement.

Source: company website (2016)

2/4 for purchasing practices

In 2020 Oxfam evaluated several clothing brand's purchasing practices across seven categories: whether a brand provides accurate forecasts of upcoming work to factories; its price negotiation strategies; whether a factory's environmental and social compliance influences the brand's purchasing decisions; how a brand places orders with factories; what its payment terms are; commitment to pay a living wage; and the transparency of a brand's supply chain. This company was given a score of 2 with 4 being the highest possible score.

Source: Oxfam Australia (2020)

No Uyghur forced labour

In early 2017, China's Communist Party began a new incarceration campaign, rounding up, detaining and forcibly indoctrinating over 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minority ethnic groups in the far-western region. A coalition of more than 180 human rights groups is calling on apparel brands and retailers to stop using forced labour in the Uyghur Region and end their complicity in the Chinese government's human rights abuses. In 2019 the ABC reported that this company stopped buying cotton from the region over human rights concerns.

Source: ABC (2019)

BHRRC company profile

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre digital platform presents news and allegations relating to the human rights impact of over 20,000 companies. Their enhanced Company Dashboards also include financial information, key data points based on corporate policies, and scores from prominent civil society benchmarks. Follow the link and use the search function to view this company's dashboard.

Source: BHRRC (2022)

Modern Slavery disclosure quality

Human Rights Law Centre's 2022 report, "Broken Promises: Two years of corporate reporting under Australia's Modern Slavery Act", examines statements submitted to the Government's Modern Slavery Register by 92 companies sourcing from four sectors with known risks of modern slavery: garments from China, rubber gloves from Malaysia, seafood from Thailand and fresh produce from Australia. Modern slavery statements are analysed to see if they comply with the mandatory reporting requirements, identify or disclose obvious modern slavery risks, and demonstrate effective actions to address risks. This company's modern slavery disclosure statement received a rating in the 41-60% range. The average score was 44% and the highest score was 89%.

Source: Human Rights Law Centre (2022)

45/100 in Ethical Fashion Report

Baptist World Aid Australia's '2024 Ethical Fashion Report' assessed 120 companies on their efforts to mitigate against the risks of forced labour, child labour and worker exploitation in their supply chains, as well as protect the environment from the harmful impacts of the fashion industry. Assessment criteria fall into five main categories: policy & governance, tracing & risk, auditing and supplier relationships, worker empowerment and environmental sustainability. This company received a score of 45/100. The average score was 31.3 and the highest score was 90.

Source: Baptist World Aid Australia (2024)

Licensing agreement with Time Warner

In 2013 Cotton On Kids, the childrenswear arm of Cotton On, teamed up with Warner Bros Consumer Products Australia and New Zealand (part of media conglomerate Time Warner). Starting Jan 2014 Cotton On Kids selected baby and children's apparel and accessories will be sporting DC Comics' Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman designs. Time Warner is the world's largest media conglomerate.

Source: Ragtrader (2013)

22/100 in Fashion Transparency Index

The 2023 Fashion Transparency Index reviewed 250 of the world's largest fashion brands and retailers and ranked them according to how much they disclose about their human rights and environmental policies, practices and impacts. Brands owned by this company scored 22%, signifying it is doing a bit more than the others when it comes to having policies and commitments in place and auditing and reporting activities, but could be doing more. The average score was 26% and the highest score was 83%.

Source: Fashion Revolution (2023)