We have a responsibility to operate with the highest level of ethical and sustainable conduct across our supply chain, within the communities we serve, and as an employer of approximately 800 people across Australia and New Zealand.
There are several layers in this strategic pillar which guide the way we do business across Australia and New Zealand – all fundamental to our success as a global business, employer, supplier, customer and community member.
First Nations communitiesWe are committed to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia, and Māori and Pasifika communities in New Zealand. We are proud to have commenced the next phase of our reconciliation journey with the launch of our Reconciliation Action Plan (2023-2025), and our team has undertaken Te Reo training in New Zealand amongst a number of other key actions. In our latest 2020 Sustainability Stories we include a Te Reo acknowledgement, which is roughly translated here:
Tangata Whenua - local people, hosts, indigenous people
Te reo – the language
Me – a joining word
ōna - used when the possessor has, or had, no control of the relationship or is subordinant, passive or inferior to what is possessed
Tikanga – the customary system of values and practices that have developed over time and are deeply embedded in the social context
Mihi - to greet, pay tribute, acknowledge, thank
Rau – to place into
To learn more about our commitments in this space read our Sustainability Stories, or our Reconciliation Action Plan .
We also have a number of initiatives underway such as Te Reo language classes in our Auckland office; an increased focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Māori and Pasifika communities when giving financial or product donations through our social impact partners (as they often represent one of the most marginalised and vulnerable communities in ANZ); an effort to lift up Indigenous voices in internal and external events and storytelling where we can, and our new commitment to launch our first Reconciliation Action Plan, to further outline our journey towards Reconciliation in Australia.
Responsible Supply ChainKimberly-Clark’s high ethical standards and our Code of Conduct provides guidance for dealing with customers, suppliers, other employees, competitors and the public with integrity and in an ethical and appropriate manner. As a global business, we adhere to a range of best practice international standards, more detail on which can be found here. As part of this, we strive to only work with the safest ingredients, and we’re proud of our supply chain which is built on transparency and safety, and includes compliance with standards for human trafficking and forced labour.
Health and SafetyWe are a safety first business meaning the health and safety of all of our people and those we work with in our supply chain is crucial. We work within a strict framework so that all of our people remain safe at work every day.
The mental health of all of our people is also extremely important to us and as such, we offer our people access to several health and wellbeing resources and services both at work and at home. We are a proud partner of Beyond Blue in Australia and the Mental Health Foundation in New Zealand and together we are focusing on rolling out additional programs so that our people have access to more help if they need it.
Diversity and InclusionAs a global company that employs over 40,000, diversity is one of our greatest attributes but we can only take full advantage of this if we provide an inclusive environment for everyone. That’s why we have dedicated diversity and inclusion teams and in 2020, we held our first Global Inclusion Week dedicated to discussion about fostering a more inclusive culture. We have also set gender targets and whilst our number of men and women across manager levels is almost equal, our goal is to see gender equity across all leadership positions in Australia and New Zealand.
CommunitiesAs a business we work to give back to communities through philanthropy, volunteering, advocacy and partnerships like our social impact program. Learn more in the Making Lives Better section.
