Workplace injury

Southport District Court (QLD) awarded a Bunnings employee $269,647.70 after she broke her 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)

Facial recognition technology in stores

In 2024 Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind found Bunnings breached Australians' privacy by collecting their personal and sensitive information through a facial recognition technology system. The system, via CCTV, captured the faces of every person - likely hundreds of thousands of individuals - who entered 63 Bunnings stores in Victoria and New South Wales between November 2018 and November 2021. Commissioner Kind found Bunnings collected individuals' sensitive information without consent, failed to take reasonable steps to notify individuals that their personal information was being collected, and did not include required information in its privacy policy.

Source: Australian Govt (2024)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

The democracyforsale.net website, which aggregates data from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), reports that this company donated $5,584,455 to Australia's major political parties between 2018 and 2023. To view this company's entry in the AEC's Transparency Register, follow the link and click on "Named on the following annual returns as providing funds to:" to see the political donations made by the company.

Source: AEC (2024)

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)

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 their tier one suppliers,and has made a public commitment to pay a living wage within a set timeframe. Kmart has implemented ring fencing wages in their supply chain, but Target has not. Neither retailer has committed to measuring the difference between current wages and a living wage.

Source: Oxfam Australia (2024)

30% in Gender Benchmark

In 2023 and 2024, the World Benchmarking Alliance assessed 2,000 companies on their efforts to drive gender equality and women's empowerment across their entire value chain. Companies are assessed on governance and strategy, representation, compensation and benefits, health and well-being, and violence and harassment. This company scored 30 out of 100. The average score was 15.3 and the highest score was 51.

Source: World Benchmarking Alliance (2023)

22.2% in Nature Benchmark

The Nature Benchmark ranks 816 companies across 20 industries on their efforts to protect our environment and its biodiversity. Companies were assessed in three phases between 2022 and 2024 using three measurement areas: governance and strategy; social inclusion and community impact; and ecosystems and biodiversity. This company was assessed in 2024 and is ranked #207/816, with a total score of 22.2/100.

Source: World Benchmarking Alliance (2024)