The Australian fashion industry manufactures and imports over 1.4 billion units of new clothing into Australia every year, more than half of which will end up in landfill.

Australia has a thriving reuse sector, predominantly through charitable donations, however much of what is donated is either not saleable in Australia or is unwearable. This costs the charities millions of dollars in sorting and landfill fees.

Despite the significant harmful environmental and social impacts of the clothing industry, there is little financial incentive or regulatory requirement for clothing businesses to change their practices. Regardless, due to consumers’ growing demand for ethically manufactured products as well as global trends and regulations requiring the same, many businesses are in the process of actively shifting to more sustainable operations.

The purpose of this report is to set out the recommendations of the scheme Consortium, along with the detailed design of the Seamless scheme: its scope, objectives, benefits, revenue and expenditure, as well as stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities.