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We are committed to:

• Taking a leadership role in sustainable supply chain management
• Screening suppliers for their performance in social, ethical and environmental issues management
• Working with suppliers to improve sustainability performance
• Setting minimum performance standards
• Consulting with stakeholders
• Monitoring compliance to agreements
• Terminating business relationships if performance remains below standard or suppliers are unable or unwilling to work towards performance targets

For more detail read:

• Sustainable Supply Chain Management Policy (PDF 52kb)
• Our Stakeholder and Social Impact Reports
• How we validate a supplier's SSCM response

Our requirements of Suppliers:
At Westpac, we cannot contract out our responsibilities and nor do we seek to. Instead we are asking our suppliers the same questions we ask ourselves. Suppliers who can't answer these questions satisfactorily can pose as much a risk to Westpac as if they were part of our company. Gaps in a supplier's performance must be rectified if Westpac is to minimise risks to it's own sustainability.

From 1st January 2008, suppliers are required to be compliant with the standards set out in our SSCM Code of Conduct. The SSCM Code of Conduct and compliance process information are provided below.

Required reading and process information for all Westpac suppliers:

• SSCM Code of Conduct (PDF 1.07MB)
• The SSCM Process for suppliers

Only suppliers formally notified by the SSCM Team are required to complete the additional steps for identified higher risk/ high spend suppliers.


How we validate a supplier's SSCM response

We validate – or confirm the practices of – our suppliers by:

• Setting out the minimum standards we require of suppliers (our SSCM Code of Conduct), and requiring suppliers to provide a written Certificate of Compliance with these standards
• Asking our high spend and higher risk suppliers specific questions about their policies, practices, reports and targets (the SSCM Questionnaire), which they must answer in writing
• Requiring suppliers to give a contractual undertaking that their responses to these questions are 'true and correct', and that they will advise Westpac of material changes to their sustainability performance
• When a supplier amends a statement of their sustainability performance - either by saying they now meet additional requirements of the SSCM Code of Conduct or changing an answer to the SSCM Questionnaire - requiring evidence of the change
• If a supplier has agreed to a continuous improvement action (in a Remedial or Sustainability Action Plan), requiring evidence of how that action has been met before it can be closed
• Annually selecting - at random – suppliers to participate in an audit on their SSCM performance. Audits may be 'desk-top' (with copies of reports or policies provided to Westpac) or improvement focussed, involving an independent auditor paid by Westpac.

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