It's been a big year for TCF - Ethical Clothing Australia

26 Dec '11

2 min read

As 2011 draws to a close, we can look back on a busy and productive year. And with some big changes and new initiatives underway, it looks as though we're in for another fruitful year ahead.

Despite the difficulties currently being experienced by the Australian TCF industry, the past year has seen Ethical Clothing Australia more than double the number of applications for accreditation, and a record total of 63 clothing and footwear businesses are now accredited.

These are positive indicators that support for ethical manufacturing in Australia is increasing, which is perhaps consistent with the growing trend for ethical and sustainable products worldwide.

In addition to accrediting 19 new businesses during 2011, we also kept busy with several other new initiatives. Ethical Clothing Australia rolled out its first consumer awareness campaign Meet Your Maker, which has received a terrific response from both industry and media.

We have developed a new Award guide to help businesses understand how to comply with the Textile, Clothing, Footwear and Associated Industries Award 2010, which will also be translated into Vietnamese and Chinese, and will be launched early next year.

The year also saw several changes in both Ethical Clothing Australia staff and management committee members. New faces in the Melbourne office this year include Simon McRae as our new national manager, Sabina Crawley as a new accreditation advisor for Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, and Eloise Bishop who works in media and communications.

To our Committee we welcomed Australia's largest local manufacturer of women's fashion Cue Clothing. We also welcome new individuals representing existing members from the NSW Business Chamber and the Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia (TFIA).

Ethical Clothing Australia welcomed these newcomers, who bring with a diverse mix of skills and experience to their new roles.

Ethical Clothing Australia also bid a fond farewell to our long standing accreditation advisers Molly Williams who left in June and Laura Kent who will leave in early January. From the Committee we farewelled Jo Kellock from the TFIA and Elizabeth Kingston from Poppets Schoolwear.

Both Jo and Elizabeth have been great advocates for Ethical Clothing Australia. They have contributed enormously to the growth of and the success of the accreditation program, and we are very thankful for their efforts.

Ethical Clothing Australia

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