ANTI-SLAVERY LIFESTYLE

What is an anti-slavery lifestyle?   

Living an antislavery lifestyle means making everyday choices that reject the exploitation of people.

What difference can adopting an antislavery lifestyle make? 

Every day, the ways in which we go about living our lives help to shape the world we live in. Our individual actions are powerful tools and can collectively help to shift consumption patterns and create systemic change which supports antislavery efforts.  

It's estimated that there are currently over a billion vegetarians worldwide. Can you imagine what we could change if the same number of people made antislavery lifestyle choices?

What can I do?   

Embed these three principles across all areas of your lifestyle:

  1. Reduce consumption: Before buying anything new, consider if you can reduce your consumption by reusing, recycling or buying something second hand.

  2. Shop locally: Although this doesn’t completely mitigate modern slavery risks, buying locally sourced and made goods and services means supporting businesses with complex supply chains and more traceability.

  3. Reward transparency and ethical practice: Support businesses with transparent supply chains that publicly share details of their entire supply chains and are committed to ethical sourcing practices.

What areas of my lifestyle can I focus on?

If you are wanting to adopt an antislavery lifestyle it’s a good idea to choose a specific area of your life to focus on first, such as what you wear, what you eat or what you drink. Then:

📖 Educate yourself: Learn more about the risks of modern slavery in that area. Find the resources that exist and the civil society groups that are working on this area to learn from.

🪞 Reflect: Think about how you want to change your life and what actions you want to take.

🔗 Take Action: Make one small change per week or month, the key to making change sustainable within your lifestyle is to start small but make it consistent.

Once you have made changes to this area of your life that have become habitual, you can move onto another area of your life. This way, you are more likely to be implementing changes that are sustainable (and not overwhelming yourself completely in the process!). 

Some of the areas of your lifestyle which you can make antislavery choices include:

WHAT YOU WEAR

Textiles is a high-risk industry for modern slavery so reducing your consumption by reusing and recycling as well as shopping ethically can help reduce demand for clothes made with exploited labour.  

  • Join the Slow Fashion Movement, which is increasing consumer awareness about the negative impact of fast fashion and encouraging the fashion industry to become sustainable and fair. 

  • Shop second hand in-person at op shops like Vinnies, Salvos, and Red Cross, or online through platforms such as Depop, Facebook Marketplace, and eBay. You can also visit local thrift markets, join clothing swap events or community wardrobe groups. 

  • When you need to buy something new, choose to invest in locally ethically made high-quality fashion items by shopping from Australian businesses accredited with Ethical Clothing Australia. 

  • Use the Baptist World Aid's Ethical Fashion Guide to assess fashion companies before you choose to purchase from them and only support high ranking ones.   

  • Use the Good on You app that uses publicly reported information to rate fashion and beauty product brands on the impact they have on people, the planet, and animals. 

WHAT YOU EAT

Chocolate, seafood, and fruits such as strawberries and tomatoes are all high-risk products and areas where you can choose ethical options.

  • Child labour and forced labour are widespread in the cocoa industry, a key ingredient in chocolate. Use the Be Slavery Free Chocolate Scorecard  to support chocolate companies and retailers who are taking steps to prevent child labour and pay farmers a living income, and avoid those who are not.

  • Buy fruits and vegetables directly from producers, for example at local farmers markets, instead of through major retailers such as large Australian supermarkets.

  • Seafood is considered one of the top 5 products imported into Australia at risk of modern slavery. Use the GoodFish Sustainable Seafood Guide, to make more ethical choices.

WHAT YOU DRINK

Tea, coffee, wine and citrus drinks from certain regions are also high-risk products to pay attention to where and how they are sourced and choose wisely.

  • When choosing your coffee, look for certifications like Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, or UTZ, which aim to ensure better prices, working conditions, and sustainability for farmers. You can also buy direct trade or locally roasted coffee, where roasters build direct relationships with growers and often pay above-market rates.

WHERE YOU INVEST

You might not think of yourself as an ‘investor’, but if you have money in the bank and a superannuation account, then you are indeed a powerful investor!

  • Research your current bank and pension (or superannuation fund), check if they have transparent supply chains, respect labour rights and are committed to investing your money ethically. 

  • Contact your bank and pension (or superannuation) fund to ask them if they have considered modern slavery risks in relation to your finances and investments. Ask them to consider modern slavery as a risk-factor in the future.  

  • Choose to invest your money in ethical or sustainable institutions that provide details on how their policies meet or exceed international standards related to business and human rights or how their ethical, sustainable or impact focused labelling translates into their business model. Utilising ethical investment platforms that specialise in responsible investing can make it easier to align your money with your values. 

  • If you hold shares, use your voting rights to push for better corporate behaviour or join investor advocacy groups.