About Sustainable Assurance Solutions
Sustainable Assurance Solutions is a boutique Corporate Social Responsibility Australian Company working with corporations across the Asia Pacific region to meet their ethical and sustainable sourcing obligations, locally and globally.
SAS provides valuable services to a number of high-profile clients, including audits for SEDEX, the ethical supply chain trade membership organisation, and Fair Farms, an industry-led initiative aimed at fostering fair and responsible employment practices in Australian horticulture.
LRQA is acquiring SAS - Sustainable Assurance Solutions. The acquisition will further strengthen LRQA’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) assurance proposition to meet the rising demand for data-driven ESG supply chain assurance solutions.
SAS and LRQA’s complementary product portfolios and geographic footprints will offer an enhanced range of risk management solutions to meet the fast-growing need for more transparent and technology-led ESG solutions, bridging gaps in clients’ processes, policies and procedures with sustainable best practices.
SAS holds full membership with APSCA, and our CSR Auditor training is recognised by APSCA as part of the Auditor's annual CPD (Continuous Professional Development).
Businesses lacking focus on their sourcing practices to ensure ethics and sustainability run the risk of massive consumer backlash as well as breaching their regulatory obligations. Legal requirements are intertwined with Ethical Sourcing and Corporate Social Responsibility. These areas only govern part of best practice, but they can easily segway into inter-related legal risk in the areas such as Australian Consumer Law and the Trade Practices Act.
Compliance with legal obligations may not satisfy a Senior Managements’ social obligations in respect of ethical sourcing best practice. For example, it is not a legal obligation for most companies to produce an ethical sourcing report. However, such a report may provide guidance for best practice, alignment with community expectations and significantly reduce reputational and potentially related legal risk. To proactively manage these risks, we always recommend the creation of robust corporate social responsibility and ethical sourcing policies to ensure they align with the company’s overall strategic objectives and risk management practices. This means the procurement process respects international standards against criminal conduct and human rights abuses, responding to these issues immediately if identified.
Savvy consumers keep themselves informed. Increasingly, they demand organisations adhere to ethical sourcing programs in delivering their products and services. They want to know the businesses where they are spending their money are ethical.
They don’t want to support:
- Inequality
- Under-age labour
- Forced labour
- Harrasment & abuse practices
- Discrimination practices
- Under payment issue
- Unsafe workplace
- Illegal workers
- Environmental vandalism
- Human trafficking
- Or any of the vast range of violations that fall under Corporate Social Responsibility.
Assurance that protects brand reputation.
Corporate Social Responsibility practices provide that level of assurance, which in turn protects brand reputation and enables consumers confidence and are underpinned by international legal legislation, including the California Transparency in Supply Chain Act of 2010, the Modern Slavery Act Australia 2018, Declaration of Human Rights, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, Executive Order 13627 – Strengthening Protection Against Human Trafficking in Persons in Federal Contracts, International Labor Organization and Ethical Trade Initiative Base Code.
Ethical sourcing should be easy, visible and sustainable. With almost two decades of experience in delivering exemplary Corporate Social Responsibility services, we are the leaders in best practice ethical sourcing. Our affiliations with APSCA and Sedex drive our solutions that help businesses best comply with their regulatory requirements and have confidence that their practices, policies and procedures are compliant and responsible.
Ethical sourcing should be easy, visible and sustainable.
We’ve worked with local and global clients including Coles, Woolworths, Wal-Mart, Nestle and Amazon. We have a deep understanding of international ethics and sustainable landscapes and their impact on local business.
Bottom line- we help business navigate the minefield that is ethical sourcing.
We want to help you future proof your business with ethical and sustainable strategies. Find out more by contacting us.