Diageo Australia

This company has signed the ABAC Responsible Alcohol Marketing Code, which is designed to regulate alcohol advertising and marketing within Australia.
Source: ABAC (2017)

This company makes voluntary contributions to DrinkWise Australia, a not-for-profit organisation established in 2005 by the alcohol industry, whose stated goal is to help bring about a healthier and safer drinking culture in Australia.
Source: DrinkWise (2020)

This company is listed by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) as a Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation holder. The citation is designed to encourage, recognise and promote active commitment to achieving gender equality in Australian workplaces.
Source: WGEA (2019)

This company has been criticised for irresponsible advertising. In 2016 the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld complaints about a television ad by this company on the grounds that it breached advertising codes. The ASA concluded that the ad implied that drinking alcohol could enhance personal qualities and was therefore irresponsible. The ad was subsequently discontinued or modified.
Source: Advertising Standards Authority (2016)

This company is a partner of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, which claims will lift 50 million people in Africa out of poverty by 2022. But according to a 2015 report by ActionAid, the scheme will benefit multinational companies at the expense of small-scale farmers and is likely to increase poverty and inequality in Africa. Launched in 2012, the New Alliance provides aid money from rich countries like the US and the UK, and helps big business invest in the African agricultural sector. But in return, African countries are required to change their land, seed and trade rules in favour of big business. The New Alliance will: Make it easier for big corporations to grab land in Africa: Prevent farmers from breeding, saving and exchanging seeds: Heavily promote chemical fertilisers and pesticides, which increase farmers’ risk of debt as well as damaging the environment and farmers' health: Replace family farms with low paid, insecure jobs; and Prevent countries from restricting crop exports, even at times of domestic shortage.
Source: Action Aid (2015)

Criticisms include Lobbying, Diageo's policy on 'Responsible Drinking' and Diageo's links with government [listed under information due to age of report]
Source: Corp Watch (2005)

In February 2009 it was reported in the Guardian that the company had restructured itself so as to avoid paying tax in the U.K., despite much of its profits being generated in the U.K.
Source: news article (2009)

In 2011 Diageo agreed to pay more than US$16 million to settle charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding widespread violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act stemming from more than six years of improper payments to government officials in India, Thailand, and South Korea. [Listed under Information due to age of court finding]
Source: US SEC (2011)

This company is a signatory to the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, whose goal is to eliminate plastic pollution at its source.
Source: New Plastics Economy (2019)

As listed on the We Mean Business website, this company has committed to the following climate action initiatives: adopt a science-based emissions reduction target; report climate change information in mainstream reports as a fiduciary duty; commit to 100% renewable power; remove commodity-driven deforestation from all supply chains by 2020; develop low carbon action plan, improve water security.
Source: We Mean Business (2017)

This company appears on the 2020 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, signifying a commitment to supporting gender equality through policy development, representation, and transparency.
Source: Bloomberg (2020)

The Female FTSE Board Report 2015 examines the percentage of women on the UK's FTSE 100 boards of directors. This company was one of 41 in the FTSE 100 with at least 25% female directors. In fact Diageo was in first place with 45.4%.
Source: Cranfield University (2015)

This company was recognised as a leading organisation in the Diversity Best Practices Inclusion Index. Participants are scored on three areas: Best practices in recruitment, retention and advancement of people from under-represented groups - women, racial/ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people; creating an inclusive culture through leadership, accountability, communications and employee engagement; and transparency in willingness to share workforce demographic data.
Source: Working Mother (2018)

This company is a member of the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform, the main food industry initiative supporting the development of sustainable agriculture worldwide. Created by Nestle, Unilever and Danone in 2002, the SAI Platform is a non-profit organization to facilitate sharing, at precompetitive level, of knowledge and initiatives to support the development and implementation of sustainable agriculture practices involving the different stakeholders of the food chain.
Source: SAI Platform (2019)

This company is a member of the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (Sedex), a not-for-profit, membership organisation that leads work with buyers and suppliers to deliver improvements in responsible and ethical business practices in global supply chains. Tens of thousands of companies use Sedex to manage their performance around labour rights, health & safety, the environment and business ethics.
Source: Sedex (2018)

The United Nations Global Compact asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of 10 values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment, and anti-corruption. However it's non-binding nature has been widely criticised, and many signatory corporations continue to violate the Compact's values.
Source: UN Global Compact (2020)

As You Sow's 2020 report, Waste and Opportunity, ranks companies on plastic packaging pollution. The study measures the progress of 50 large companies in the beverage, quick-service restaurant, consumer packaged goods, and retail sectors on six core pillars where swift action is needed to reduce plastic pollution: 1) Packaging Design, 2) Reusable Packaging, 3) Recycled Content, 4) Packaging Data Transparency, 5) Support for Recycling, and 6) Producer Responsibility. This company received a grade of C
Source: As You Sow (2020)

Diageo uses Second Life, the online networking website, as marketing tool and have set up virtual bars in the created world.
Source: news article (2007)

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: Modern Slavery Registry (2018)