BUYCOTTING

What is buycotting?  

'Buycotting' is when consumers buy from specific brands and companies because of their ethical performance. It is the opposite of ‘boycotting’, which is a refusal to buy, use, or support a product, service, or organisation as a form of protest or pressure for change. Like boycotting, buycotting is also a powerful way to live your values. 

How is buycotting used in antislavery activism? 

By choosing to support companies that ensure fair wages and safe working conditions, you can help to drive demand for ethically produced goods. Corporate transparency laws in countries like Australia, the United Kingdom and America have been designed on this premises.  

What can I do? 

💰By choosing products from companies that ensure fair wages and safe working conditions, you can help to drive demand for ethically produced goods. 

🚫 By choosing not to buy something at all, you can also help to address the overconsumption crisis which is massively harming people and the planet. 

There are lots of high-risks modern slavery products. You can make conscious choices to reduce your consumption of these products and shop from ethically minded businesses when you need to buy them.  

Few areas & brands you can support:

Clothing/Fashion

Fashion production often relies on exploited labour in low-income countries, where workers endure long hours, low pay, and unsafe conditions. However, some fashion retailers are committed to tracing and being transparency about their entire supply chains, and committed to paying workers a living wage and implementing sustainable buying practices. 

Who should I shop from?  

  • Mighty Good Basics was the highest scoring band in the 2024 Ethical Fashion Guide and is ranked as ‘great’ by Good on You  

  • Outland Demin, Etiko, The Anjelms Project, dk active, Ciganka - Artforms from Nature, 

Blue Wren Collective, The Common Good Company, Lost in Paris, The Glade, Bhumi, Holly Ryan, The Social Studio, SPELL, RŪPAHAUS, Citizen Wolf,Charlee Swim, Elle Evans, Bon Label, kekai Swimwear, The Very Good Bra, Carlie Ballard, Treekid, autark 

are all Australian brands that are ranked as ‘great’ by Good on You.   

  • Patagonia and AS COLOUR scored well in the 2024 Ethical Fashion Guide and are ranked ‘good’ by Good on You. 

  • Any of the Australian businesses certified by Ethical Clothing Australia (which you can find in their online directory here)   

Check out these resources to learn more about the highest scoring brands and know who to support with your purchasing decisions:

Sources:  

Ethical Fashion Guide: Baptist World Aid Australia conduct annual research into fashion brands and give them a score out of 100 based on how they’re going at protecting workers and the environment. 

Good On You founded in Australia, Good on You is a global platform (and downloadable app) that uses publicly reported information to rate fashion brands on the impact they have on people, the planet, and animals. 

Ethical Clothing Australia: ECA is an accreditation body who map Australian business’s supply chains from design to dispatch including initial design, pattern making, cut, make, trim and all value adding services to ensure that all workers are being paid appropriately, receiving all their legal entitlements and working in safe conditions. 

Chocolate  

Worker exploitation, including child and forced labour has been ingrained within the cocoa industry since the globalisation of cocoa supply chains and despite industry promises, progress in eliminating these abuses has been slow. However, some of the largest chocolate companies are doing better than others and several smaller companies are committed to making ethical chocolate.  

What chocolate should I buy?  

  • Tony’s Chocolonely is a Dutch company with a mission to end worker exploitation in cocoa and has won several awards for their ethical (and delicious) chocolate, which is available in major Australian supermarkets and service stations. They have won the Chocolate Scorecard 6 years in a row, achieving a score of 91% in the 2025 edition, including a ‘green’ ranking for addressing child labour & paying a living income. 

  • German company Ritter Sport came in 4th place in the 2025 Chocolate Scorecard with a score of 83% including a ‘green’ ranking for addressing child labour & paying a living income. 

  • New Zealand company Whittakers came in 6th place in the 2025 Chocolate Scorecard with a score of 68% including a ‘green’ ranking for addressing child labour, and their chocolate is widely available in Australia.  

  • Of the world’s major chocolate companies, Mars Wrigley and Nestlé are being the most transparent and showing the greatest commitment to eliminating child labour and paying a living income.  

Source: Chocolate Scorecard Be Slavery Free work with universities, consultants and civil society groups to survey and rank chocolate companies and retailers on key sustainability issues including child labour and worker exploitation.