The industry body said that a number of positive outcomes have been achieved, so far:

1. Retailers and QSR companies intend to apply their own systems and processes to assess labour hire risks and where risks are deemed to be high, supplier audits may be requested;

2. Retailers and QSR companies will mutually recognise full ethical audits to each other’s standards to minimise the impact of suppliers being required to undertake multiple audits;

3. The Working Group supports initiatives to improve government oversight of contract labour hire companies;

4. The Working Group will open future meetings to other industry stakeholders who wish to participate in the development of these (and other) tools;

4. The Working Group’s focus going forward will be the development of tools to assist suppliers, such as:

• A contract template suppliers can use with Labour Hire Contractors;
• Providing information about existing resources for managing contractor risks (pay calculators, worker hotlines, VEVO checks, etc) to suppliers;
• Learning tools for suppliers, incorporating key gaps identified by the Working Group.