ALDI Australia has become the first Australian member of the Slave-Free Alliance and has published its annual Modern Slavery Statement outlining actions to mitigate modern slavery.
ALDI and Slave-Free Alliance will conduct a Human Rights Risk Assessment and roll out Modern Slavery Awareness Training for Aldi employees and business partners.
The Modern Slavery Awareness Training Program will ensure all employees with sourcing responsibilities, as well as merchandise suppliers, are equipped with the skills they need to understand risks, identify the signs of modern slavery, and take action to address them.
ALDI’s Human Rights Risk Assessment will look into important local supply chains such as fresh produce, fresh meat and goods not for resale.
ALDI Australia corporate responsibility director, Daniel Baker said the partnership with Slave-Free Alliance will support ALDI’s proactive approach to prevent modern slavery and work towards ensuring fair and safe working conditions.
“Modern slavery is a complex issue requiring thorough and progressive action. We understand the significant impact we can have on intercepting the exploitation of workers within our supply chain and our partnership with Slave-Free Alliance will help to ensure modern slavery continues to be identified and addressed,” he said.
Slave-Free Alliance director for Australia, Lynnette Kay said it is critical to take a holistic approach and work closely with all parties in a supply chain to properly mitigate the risks of modern slavery.
“We are delighted that ALDI Australia is leading the way in Australia’s fight against modern slavery, and we are looking forward to working together to achieve our shared goal; a slave-free supply chain,” she said.
“As an international company with suppliers in Australia and across the globe it’s wonderful to see ALDI putting in place robust programs to prevent worker exploitation. We hope that other businesses will follow its example so that we can tackle modern slavery collectively.”
Slave-Free Alliance, part of the global anti-slavery charity Hope for Justice, is a social enterprise that supports businesses to protect their supply chains and operations from modern slavery.