Unintended consequences of legitimising Australian ready-made garment industry

Abstract

The Rana Plaza factory accident and Australian Modern Slavery Act 2018 has compelled the read-made garment (RMG) industry to scrutinise, overhaul their supply chain practices. Thirdparty accreditation services audit and legitimise supply chains and propagate ethical sourcing practices amongst RMG businesses. However, the process of implementing legitimacy can bring about some unintended consequences. This paper explores the unintended consequences of legitimising supply chain using third-party accreditation services. Using multi-stakeholder data of procurement managers, suppliers and consultants we report four themes on unintended consequences ― “added burden”; “resistance to change”, “shift..