InterMondo Cultural Consulting

19/07/2022

Greg Tucker earns $2.50 per hour.
Is this legal? Absolutely.
Australian Disability Enterprises (formerly known as 'sheltered workshops'), provide supported employment for people with moderate to severe disability. They remain separate from the mainstream workforce.
Mr Tucker's wage will shortly be raised to $8.13 per hour.
But let's be real. This is extreme exploitation. The lack of choice and pathways to the mainstream workforce place it effectively in the realm of modern slavery.
This has to stop. It begins with public awareness, discussion and strategic action.

The disability royal commission is examining the experiences of people who have worked in Australian disability enterprises, as advocates raise concerns about low wages.

15/06/2022

Excellent article from Nikkei Asia about the EU's declaration of 'war' war on fast fashion.
This throwaway culture has dominated our consumer habits for decades and powered global businesses and entire economies, with grim environmental and human rights outcomes.
What will this mean for local economies dependent on "cheap and fast" production and global supply chains?
We heartily welcome the shift. Yes, it will be complex and difficult. It will hurt economies and livelihoods, and greenwashing will abound. But we welcome the innovations and new technology that it will stimulate. We welcome regulation teeth around it, and appreciate that businesses are preparing for these changes.

Supply chains may have to shift to recyclable, durable clothes -- with uncertain consequences

12/02/2022

Incomprehensible that in 2022 we can't manage 'So Australian. So chic'.

12/01/2022

It's true, as the lovely Myer assistant jokingly said, that my Myer card looks like it's been dipped in coffee ("Before").
She offered a replacement.
I said: "No thank you. If it works, no need to send it to landfill!'
I don't know the provenance of this card.
Were the producers of the raw materials exploited, perhaps enslaved?
What about the factory workers, the truck drivers, the maritime workers?
If I don't know there's a clean supply chain, at least I can respect this card and the many people involved in its supply chain by not throwing it out when it works perfectly well.
I cleaned it with eucalyptus oil ("After"). But it still bears the venerable marks of many wallet adventures and treasured purchases.
That's good for workers and good for the environment, too.
MYER

01/09/2021

The price of meat: Systemic fraud, extreme exploitation, slavery and corruption in the tough processing sector that Australians don't deign to work in and whose vulnerable employees they don't trouble themselves to care about.

Australia’s immigration department is putting hundreds of foreign meatworkers on notice that they need to verify their visa status or leave. But many say they are the victims of unscrupulous practices.

01/08/2021

The grim reality of employment loss here (yes, we know these technologies do beget new high skilled jobs) is that this drives whole groups of people into increasingly exploitative work where they slip under the radar.
Our world of surveillance is fostering a shadow world where people's activities don't formally exist, are trackless. Hidden and hiding in plain sight is the opposite end of the surveillance spectrum, driving modern slavery, other forms of extreme exploitation and shoddy practice.

There are no check-outs and no cashiers. If you didn’t know better, you’d think the customers were shoplifting.

06/01/2021

Australia must cut its reliance on supply chains “over which we had little to no sovereign control”: top Australian envoy to UK.
One powerful potential benefit of shorter supply chains could be greater ability for businesses to address extreme exploitation in their systems, including enslavement of workers.
Slavery 'hidden in plain sight' in our own communities can't, of course, be addressed by shorter supply chains. Slavery and other worker exploitation are systemic and cultural malaises that exist at the heart of business models and operations here in Australia.
But given that businesses face legal and reputational consequences for not addressing slavery in their systems, and with competitive advantage to gain from clean supply chains, the benefits from shorter supply chains and greater sovereign control over them are surely numerous.

The high commissioner in London offers sharp observations on the dispute between Canberra and Beijing

12/10/2020

For a bit of cultural stereotyping fun.

03/09/2020

Check out this brilliant 'palm oil free' add from Aussie confectionery company Darrell Lea. It rightly features an orangutan...but vitally talso he palm oil industry is strongly associated with slavery and other extreme exploitation. Slavery and habitat destruction go hand in hand.
Props to Darrell Lea.👊💪🏆

When we say we ‘Make It Better’ we really mean it. It’s taken almost two years, but we can now proudly say that all Darrell Lea products are 100% palm oil fr...

24/07/2020

Has Melbourne's Covid19 explosion in connection with poorly trained & paid, under-the-radar hired hotel security workers made you realise just how bad exploiting workers is for your health, everyone's health, your bottom line and everyone's financial well being? Then you need to know about our states' labour hire authorities.
Here in Victoria, if you contract hire your workers, you're legally required to do it through an approved labour hire firm (see link below).
Unfortunately, not every state & territory has them. Unfortunately, having a jurisdictional labour hire authority has become policiticised as somehow anti-enterprise.
This is rubbish. They benefit good enterprise.
Every state should have them, and there should be corresponding enforcement with support for businesses to get properly on board - carrot and stick.
https://labourhireauthority.vic.gov.au/

16/05/2020

Our favourite fashion vlogger Justine Leconte shares home truths on what fashion brands are doing while they think our backs are turned during Covid19. Remember: most are required to tackle slavery in their systems. We must understand and call out misleading PR.

Fast Fashion brands like Primark, ASOS, Walmart, H&M or Zara have been taking advantage of the current crisis. In this video, I explain what is happening, wh...

07/05/2020

What picture do you have in your head when you think of modern slavery, or extreme exploitation?
We photographed this group of car washers down the street in our hipster neighbourhood. 4 men, 1 car, $69 for full detailing, inadequate protection against toxic chemicals.
Slavery looks as banal as this. The deception, coercion and violence that keeps people in slavery and other extreme exploitation are usually hidden.
The fantastic article attached explores the dangers of using artistic perceptions rather than reality to depict complex problems blighting us today. Reenactment photography can mislead us. Its sensationalism can cause compassion fatigue.
Survivors and respectful truth-tellers must use originality and creativity to replace stereotypes and tired cliches.
https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/imagery-and-anti-slavery-report