"‘First of its kind’ case brought against Kmart over risk of forced labour in supply chains", 6 August 2025

The Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women’s Association (AUTWA) has filed an application in the Federal Court to compel Kmart to produce documents demonstrating what it knows about two suppliers listed on its 2024 and 2025 factory lists with links to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where – according to a joint statement – “systemic state-sponsored forced labour and other atrocities against Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim people are well-documented”.

In a statement, the AUTWA, national plaintiff firm Maurice Blackburn, and the Human Rights Law Centre said that the association is seeking the documents to determine whether Kmart has adequately implemented its ethical sourcing procedures regarding these suppliers, and whether Kmart’s public statements about this have been misleading or deceptive.

AUTWA is represented by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers and the Human Rights Law Centre.

“If the documents show that Kmart has not rigorously monitored the risk of the use of forced labour in its supply chain, it may pave the way for a legal claim that Kmart has breached Australian Consumer Law by engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct,” the statement read. ...