David Jones
OVERALL |
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Owned |
AUS |
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Department store retail
Founded in 1838 by David Jones, today they operate 45 stores around Australia. Owned by South Africa's Woolworths Holdings from 2014 until Dec 2022, when Anchorage Capital Partners took over ownership.
Company Ownership
David Jones Ltd | AUS | website | ||||
Anchorage Capital Partners ![]() owns 100% of David Jones Ltd |
AUS | website | ||||
Private equity firm Medium sized private equity firm operating in the Asia-Pacific region. Previous investments include Dick Smith Electronics, Brand Collective, Burger King NZ and Golden Circle. In Dec 2022 Anchorage acquired David Jones from South African retail company Woolworths Holdings for an undisclosed sum. |
Company Assessment
PRAISE | CRITICISM | INFORMATION | ||
David Jones Ltd | ||||
This company received a packaging performance level of 3 (Advanced) in its 2023 APCO Annual Report. 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).
Source: APCO (2023)
In 2020 Baptist World Aid Australia released The COVID Fashion Report, a special edition of their Ethical Fashion Report. The report is framed around six COVID Fashion Commitments that ask companies to demonstrate the steps and measures they are taking to protect and support the most vulnerable workers in their supply chains. This company showed evidence of actions that cover ALL areas of the COVID Fashion Commitments.
Source: Baptist World Aid Australia (2020)
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)
This company has signed the Cotton Pledge with the Responsible Sourcing Network, signifying a public commitment to not knowingly source Turkmen cotton for the manufacturing of any of their products until the Government of Turkmenistan ends the practice of forced labor in its cotton sector. Each cotton season, Turkmen public sector workers are forced by the government to fulfill cotton picking quotas and private businesses are forced to contribute to the efforts financially or with labor. This places a huge burden on the health, education, and general well-being of Turkmen citizens.
Source: Responsible Sourcing Network (2021)
Human Rights Law Centre's 2022 report, "Broken Promises: Two years of corporate reporting under Australia's Modern Slavery Act", examines statements submitted to the Government's Modern Slavery Register by 92 companies sourcing from four sectors with known risks of modern slavery: garments from China, rubber gloves from Malaysia, seafood from Thailand and fresh produce from Australia. Modern slavery statements are analysed to see if they comply with the mandatory reporting requirements, identify or disclose obvious modern slavery risks, and demonstrate effective actions to address risks. This company's modern slavery disclosure statement received a rating in the 61-80% range. The average score was 44% and the highest score was 89%.
Source: Human Rights Law Centre (2022)
This company is a signatory to the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile & Garment Industry. The International Accord was established in 2021 as the successor to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which was established in 2013 in the wake of the Rana Plaza building collapse that killed more than 1,000 workers and seriously injured thousands more. Company signatories to the International Accord commit to: Disclosing all factories producing for them in countries with International Accord programs; Ensuring all listed factories participate in the inspection, remediation, and safety training programs; Supporting factories to ensure remediation is financially feasible; Contributing to the operational costs of International Accord programs.
Source: International Accord (2023) |
In 2023 this company back-paid employees about $1.9 million and entered into an enforceable undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman. David Jones underpaid about 2800 employees a total of around $480,000 in wages, plus around $1.4 million in superannuation to about 6100 employees, between April 2014 and September 2020. The company was also ordered to make a $130,000 contrition payment.
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman (2023)
This company owns brands rated 'Not good enough' by Good On You, whose rating system considers the most important social and environmental issues facing the fashion industry to assess a brand's impact on people, the planet and animals.
Source: Good On You (2020) |
Be Slavery Free's 2023 Chocolate Scorecard rates all the major chocolate companies on their labour and environmental policies and practices. Companies were asked questions in six areas: traceability and transparency; living income; child labor; deforestation and climate; agroforestry; and agrichemical management. This retailer received an orange rating: "Relying entirely on certification".
Source: Be Slavery Free (2023)
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, and invested in on-site solar. However they have not signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) to buy power from a wind or solar project.
Source: Greenpeace (2021)
Brands owned by this company are listed in Human Society International Australia's Better Wool Guide as using 100% non-mulesed wool from a robust certification scheme, or has a time-bound commitment to do so. Mulesing is the controversial practice of removing strips of the skin of a lamb's rear and is often done without pain relief. In Australia, the only country where mulesing still occurs, an estimated 10 million merino lambs are subjected to mulesing each year - equivalent to 19 lambs per minute.
Source: HSI Australia (2023)
This company has taken angora items off the shelves and promised not to use angora again, following a PETA campaign launched in Dec 2013 which revealed the cruelty inflicted on angora rabbits in Chinese factory farms, where 90% of the world's angora is produced.
Source: PETA (2018)
This company is a member of the Textile Exchange, a global non-profit that works closely with its members to drive textile industry transformation in preferred fibres, integrity and standards and responsible supply networks. They identify and share best practices regarding farming, materials, processing, traceability and product end-of-life in order to reduce the textile industry's impact on the world's water, soil and air, and the human population.
Source: Textile Exchange (2019)
This company has a number of social responsibility & sustainability claims on its website under the headings ethical sourcing & raw materials; energy, waste & water; social development; health & wellness; and people & transformation.
Source: company website (2020)
Baptist World Aid Australia's '2022 Ethical Fashion Report' assessed 120 companies on their efforts to mitigate against the risks of forced labour, child labour and worker exploitation in their supply chains, as well as protect the environment from the harmful impacts of the fashion industry. Assessment criteria fall into five main categories: policy & governance, tracing & risk, auditing and supplier relationships, worker empowerment and environmental sustainability. This company received a score of 42/100.
Source: Baptist World Aid Australia (2022) |
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Anchorage Capital Partners | ||||
UNPRI is a set of six principles direct institutional investors may adopt to consider environmental, social and corporate governance issues when investing. UNPRI is a voluntary agreement.
Source: UNPRI (2022)
This firm prefers to invest in companies based in Australia, NZ or South-East Asia across all sectors with the exception of high-tech, bio-tech, direct mining or direct property.
Source: company website (2015) |
Company Details
Type | Wholly-owned subsidiary |
Founded | 1838 |
Revenue | 2.1 billion AUD (2021) |
Employees | 7,134 (2021) |
Contact Details
Address | 86-108 Castlereagh St, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia |
Phone | 02 9266 5544 |
Website | www.davidjones.com.au |
Products / Brands
David Jones
Agenda Womens Fashion Alta Linea Menswear (casual) David Jones Womens Fashion David Jones Department Stores David Jones Clothing Stores David Jones Electronics Stores |
David Jones Homewares Stores Milana Womens Fashion Milana Hats Milana Womens Shoes |