Modern Slavery Statement

With Architecture Studio Pty Ltd (With Studio) is an architectural design practice based in Perth, Western Australia. With Studio is not a reporting entity, as outlined in section 5 of The Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act 2018 (The Act), and this document has not been submitted to the Australian Border Force.

Although With Studio is not required to formally report under The Act, we acknowledge that opting to prepare a public statement improves the integrity and quality of our supply chains as well as ensuring we are demonstrating transparency and leadership within our industry.

This statement reflects With Studio’s commitment to ensure to the best of our ability that there is no modern slavery in any part of our business operations. We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all business dealings and relationships, and where possible, to ensure modern slavery is not taking place in our own business or supply chain.

Definitions
The term ‘modern slavery’ describes situations where coercion, threats or deception are used to exploit victims and undermine their freedom. Coercion, threats and deception can be explicit or implicit.

The Act defines modern slavery as including eight types of serious exploitation; trafficking in persons, slavery, servitude, forced labour, forced marriage, debt bondage, the worst forms of child labour and deceptive recruiting for labour or services.

Structure, Operations and Supply Chain
Established in 1985, With Studio have over 35 years of commissions that span the disciplines of architecture, urban design, master planning, interior architecture, and public art.

Our team consists of approximately 25 staff members, all operating from a single studio space in William St, Perth. The Directors of With Studio are Geoff Warn, Daniel Aisenson and Jane Wetherall.

With Studio commits to high standards of ethical conduct and operates in compliance with and under the guidelines of all international laws and regulations. We acknowledge the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the common standard of achievement for all peoples of all nations.

We adopt the best-practice initiatives as outlined by the Fair Work Ombudsman Australia to ensure that our workplace is not only in compliance with ethical practice, but also to strive to achieve a happy, fair, and productive workplace.

Our supply chain is comprised of

Subconsultants who support us in providing our professional services
Support services and product suppliers providing, for example, facilities management, office equipment and supplies, legal and financial advice, and travel services.
Organisations that provide services to support the delivery of our projects. The architectural documentation that we produce includes specifications for building materials and products.
As a certified carbon neutral organisation, we also purchase carbon offsets each year.

Risk Identification
We acknowledge that Modern Slavery is occurring in industries today. While we believe our current operations are considered low risk regarding Modern Slavery, we are mindful that there is potential for further increased risk. These potential risks include:

The sourcing of materials and samples from both Australia and overseas
The sourcing of furniture and textiles from both Australia and overseas; being particularly mindful of countries which have been noted of high concern regarding Modern Slavery
The use of subcontractors and/or subconsultants that are operating in countries which have been noted of high concern regarding Modern Slavery
The use of support services in industries that potentially have jobs connected with lower pay rates and/or lower working conditions, i.e. cleaning staff

Risk Mitigation
With Studio is led under one management system that all staff must comply to and operate under. All staff are inducted to our operations and policies, inclusive of, but not limited to Code of Conduct, Employee Management and Work Health and Safety.

We consciously engage with subconsultants, subcontractors and suppliers, opting to work with those who hold values similar to our own. We share the responsibility of operating consciously within the industry with subconsultants/subcontractors/suppliers in an effort to minimise the risk of modern slavery in our supply chain. We ask questions. We endeavour to learn about a company’s values before entering contract with them.

All carbon offsets meet the highest integrity requirements, certified under the Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard.
Measures that are currently being implemented studio wide include:
Rolling out our Modern Slavery policy
Implementing a supplier code of conduct, requiring counterparties to put in place strategies to identify and address modern slavery risks
Continued staff training to raise awareness of potential modern slavery risks and our associated policies and procedures
Review of our procedures to include supplier screening

Effectiveness of Approach
We strive to regularly assess and quickly identify any new risks as they may arise, acting accordingly to mitigate these risks. Continued relationships and contact with subcontractors, subconsultants and suppliers allows us to regularly monitor the services they provide. We continue to monitor our employment and procurement processes, making improvements as they arise. Third-party audits ensure our quality standard practice is maintained at a high level and verify it complies with Australian and international quality standards.

With this statement With Architecture Studio affirms our commitment to take meaningful action to end Modern Slavery. We will continue to regularly review and amend our practices to the betterment of our approach to eliminating Modern Slavery, including better systems to vet our suppliers, subcontractors and subconsultants.

This statement was approved by the Directors of With Architecture Studio

September 2022