In Australia and in other countries, some people in the fashion and textile industry work in modern factories for legal pay. More often however, they work in a cramped sweatshop or in a room or garage at home for substandard wages. People who work at home, away from the employer’s premises, are known as outworkers or homeworkers.

Because home-based labour is a ‘hidden’ or ‘invisible’ workforce, it is impossible to say exactly how many outworkers there are in Australia. Research conducted by the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia approximates that there is a pool of around 300,000 outworkers in Australia with around 75% of companies in the clothing sector having production performed in private homes. Various research projects and Senate inquiries agree that outwork is now so prevalent in the fashion clothing sector that it is not just a characteristic of the industry - the entire industry is actually structured around it.

Being isolated and with very little bargaining power, homeworkers are in an extremely vulnerable position. The vast majority of homeworkers are women from non-English speaking backgrounds.

The low piece rates that homeworkers are usually paid, translate to very low hourly wage rates, which fall well below legal industry standards.

In addition to experiencing poor working conditions and unreasonable or improper terms from employers, homeworkers very rarely receive industrial entitlements such as paid annual leave, superannuation, or sick leave.

Due to the high number of parties usually involved in the production of garments, manufacturers find it easy to pass responsibility on to another person or company in the production chain. The growing influence of retailers further up the supply chain has the capacity to increase pressure on price and response time. The price of garments is usually set at the top of the chain and then successively eroded, often by non-production parties, as the work moves further down the chain.

Due to poor working conditions and inferior machinery, homeworkers are three times as likely to have work related injuries, both acute and chronic, than their counterparts who work in factories. However, numerous studies show that homeworkers simply do not make workers’ compensation claims. There is a widespread reluctance from homeworkers to speak up about their maltreatment, due to fear of jeopardising their work supply. Such concerns are exasperated by the extremely low incomes that most homeworkers live on.

Homeworkers face irregular work and an insecure income. Homeworkers are often given unrealistic deadlines to meet and children and other family members have to help finish the work. Receiving no payment or less than what was originally agreed on, is also a common problem.

Although disturbing levels of exploitation have plagued the fashion and textile industry for many years, we can all contribute to the efforts to end the injustices experienced by homeworkers. The HWCP asks manufacturers to take responsibility for the entire production process of their garments and not to ‘pass the buck’. Application forms to become Accredited to the HWCP can be downloaded from the Resources section of this website.

Consumers can support the HWCP by purchasing garments that display the No Sweat Shop Label, by asking retailers if they are signatories to the Code and by encouraging labels and manufacturers to become accredited to the Code.