Bunnings

OVERALL
Owned	AUS
Rating

Hardware retail

Australia's largest hardware retailer. Bunnings operate 211 Bunnings Warehouse stores and 63 smaller format Bunnings stores across Australia and New Zealand.

Company Ownership


Bunnings Group Ltd	AUS	website	email
Wesfarmers Ltd owns 100% of Bunnings Group Ltd	AUS	website	email	twitter
Retail, energy, insurance, chemicals Founded in WA in 1914 as a farmers' cooperative, today Wesfarmers operations include department stores; home improvement and office supplies; insurance; chemicals, energy and fertilisers; and industrial and safety products. Acquired Coles Group in 2007 for $20 billion in the biggest takeover in Australian corporate history. Coles was spun-off in November 2018. Wesfarmers kept Officeworks, Kmart and Target, which were part of Coles Group when it was acquired by Wesfarmers.

> About the Ratings

Company Assessment

PRAISE

CRITICISM

INFORMATION

Bunnings Group Ltd

Renewable energy use

Greenpeace's Reenergise campaign ranks Australia's biggest electricity using companies on their commitments and actions regarding renewable energy use. This company has: committed to powering their operations by 100% renewable electricity by 2030; signed at least one power purchase agreement (PPA) to buy power from a wind or solar project; invested in on-site solar.
Source: Greenpeace (2021)

Workplace injury

Southport District Court (QLD) awarded a Bunnings employee $269,647.70 after she broke here ankle playing tunnel ball during a team building exercise in 2008.
Source: Courier Mail (2012)

Selling bee-killing pesticides

Bunnings are still selling bee-poisoning neonicotinoids, despite evidence that they are a major contributor to the global bee die-off. The European Union have placed a two year ban on these pesticides.
Source: Sum or Us (2014)

Damages awarded against Bunnings

The NSW Court of Appeal held in Bunnings Group Ltd v CHEP Australia Ltd (2011) that the use by Bunnings of CHEP's wooden pallets for the delivery of goods from its distribution centres to its stores constituted an intentional dealing with CHEP's lawful property and resulted in the loss of potential hire revenue for CHEP. Bunnings were liable for damages of $9,375,798 plus interest of $4,100,002.
Source: Mondaq (2012)

Timber procurement policy

Bunnings has been working with Greenpeace and WWF for over 10 years to maintain a robust timber sourcing policy.
Source: WWF (2010)

APCO member

Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) is a not-for-profit organisation leading the development of a circular economy for packaging in Australia. Each year, APCO Members are required to submit an APCO Annual Report and Action Plan, which includes an overall performance level from 1 (Getting Started) to 5 (Beyond Best Practice). This company received a packaging performance level of 2 (Good Progress) in its 2022 APCO Annual Report.
Source: APCO (2022)

Fur free

This company has announced that they don't sell animal fur or are phasing in a fur-free policy.
Source: Humane Society (2019)

Previous GFTN participant

Bunnings is a founding participant of GFTN-Australia since 2008. The Global Forest and Trade Network seeks to mainstream the principles of responsible forest management and sustainable trade throughout the global forest products industry, by providing technical assistance and fostering linkages between committed companies. Independent forest certification is a key tool in this process.
Source: WWF (2019)

Sustainability claims

This company has a number of sustainability claims on its website, including reductions in the use of energy and water, sending less waste to landfill, a responsible sourcing policy (especially in relation to timber), and community programs.
Source: company website (2020)

Facial recognition technology in stores

In June 2022 CHOICE revealed Kmart, Bunnings and The Good Guys are using facial recognition technology in stores. Despite some limited signage in some stores, customers remain largely unaware of the practice. Privacy experts are raising the alarm and CHOICE says they may be in breach of the Privacy Act. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner is investigating. Bunnings has paused their use of the technology amid the controversy.
Source: Choice (2022)

Wesfarmers Ltd

Human Rights Benchmark

The 2019 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark assessed 200 of the largest publicly traded companies in the world from the Agricultural Products, Apparel, Extractives and ICT Manufacturing sectors on 100 human rights indicators. This company's score was in the 40-50 band range. The overall average score was a disappointing 24%.
Source: World Benchmarking Alliance (2019)

Modern Slavery disclosure quality

Modern slavery disclosure is a critical step in mitigating the risk associated with modern slavery practices in companies' operations and supply chains. The quality of the disclosure signals the level of commitments and efforts that the companies have put in managing these risks. In 2021 the Monash Centre for Financial Studies analysed and ranked the disclosure quality of the modern slavery statements submitted by the 300 largest listed companies on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX300). This company's modern slavery disclosure statement received a grade of A.
Source: Monash University (2021)

Efforts to pay a living wage

Oxfam Australia's Company Tracker compares the big clothing brands on their efforts to pay a living wage to the women working in their factories. This company has released the names and addresses of at least 70% of their supplier factories, has taken some action towards paying a living wage within a set timeframe in the supply chain, and has made a commitment to ringfence wages.
Source: Oxfam Australia (2021)

62/100 S&P Global ESG Score

This company received an S&P Global ESG Score of 62/100 in the Retailing category of the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices (last updated 23 Sep 2022). The rankings are based on an analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, environmental reporting, climate strategy, human rights and labour practices.
Source: S&P Global (2022)

Underpaying workers

In 2023 seven subsidiaries of Wesfarmers Industrial and Safety Pty Ltd (WIS) back-paid more than $4.8 million to more than 3,400 underpaid employees nationally and signed an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) with the Fair Work Ombudsman. The company was also ordered to make a $100,000 contrition payment.
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman (2023)

Supply chain sourcing

This 2013 report by The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) investigates the labour and human rights risks in supply chain sourcing. This company is identified on page 21 as a company which sources products from countries with known systemic labour and human rights concerns.
Source: ACSI (2013)

35.3% in Newsweek Green Ranking 2017

This company received a score of 35.3/100 in the Newsweek Green Ranking 2017, which ranks the world's largest publicly traded companies on eight indicators covering energy, greenhouse gases, water, waste, fines and penalties, linking executive pay to sustainability targets, board-level committee oversight of environmental issues and third-party audits. Ranking methodology by Corporate Knights and HIP Investor.
Source: Newsweek (2017)

Political donations

According to the democracyforsale.net website, this company donated $638,000 to Australia's major political parties between 2012 and 2018, as disclosed to the Australian Electoral Commision (AEC).
Source: Democracy For Sale (2018)

Climate action commitments

As listed on the We Mean Business website, this company has committed to the following climate action initiatives: put a price on carbon; responsible corporate engagement in climate policy; report climate change information in mainstream reports as a fiduciary duty.
Source: We Mean Business (2021)

Tax paying in Australia

Between 2015 and 2018 this company paid $3 billion tax on a total income of $199 billion, earning the number 8 spot on Michael West's Top 40 Tax Payers 2020. West calculated which of Australia's largest companies have paid the most tax using three years of tax transparency data published by the Australian Tax Office.
Source: Michael West (2018)

Sustainability claims

This company has sustainability claims on its website in the areas of sourcing, community, environment and indigenous engagement.
Source: company website (2019)

Previous involvement with coal

This company used to operate coal mines, but sold off its last coal asset in 2018.
Source: Reuters (2022)

Modern Slavery statement

California, the UK and Australia have all enacted legislation requiring companies operating within their borders to disclose their efforts to eradicate modern slavery from their operations and supply chains. Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement.
Source: company website (2021)

> About the Icons

Company Details

Type	Wholly-owned subsidiary
Revenue	7.3 billion AUD (2012)
Employees	33,000+ (2012)

Contact Details

Address	16 - 18 Cato St, Hawthorn East, VIC, 3123, Australia
Phone	03 8831 9777
Email	customer_service@bunnings.com.au
Website	www.bunnings.com.au

Products / Brands

Bunnings

Bunnings Hardware Stores
Click Heating & Cooling

Bunnings

OVERALL

Company Ownership

Company Assessment

Company Details

Contact Details

Products / Brands

About Us

Get Informed

Get Involved

Connect