Environmental advocates are calling on Australia to introduce a fast fashion tax, following news that France will implement a levy on brands like Shein and Temu by 2030.
ICYMI, French lawmakers unanimously passed a bill last month that seeks to penalise products sold by ultra-fast fashion brands like Shein and Temu, to offset their environmental impact. The bill means individual items that fit the definition of fast fashion will, over the next six years, incur a tax of up to €10, or around $16 AUD.
Also included in the bill was a ban on advertising around ultra-fast fashion brands and items, which would certainly clear up those bizarre Wish ads on my Facebook feed. While the bill still has to reach the senate before it becomes law, France’s game-changing anti-fast fashion efforts have shone a harsh spotlight on Australia, especially given the statistics around our own online shopping baskets.
Late last month, data from the Australia Institute revealed that Australians buy more clothes per person than any other country, surpassing the US as the world’s biggest consumer of textiles per capita.
According to the paper, Australians purchase an average of 56 new garments annually — 200,000 tonnes of which ends up in landfill — ahead of the US and the UK, who buy 53 and 33 new items per year, respectively.
What’s more, Australians were found to be paying far less for their garments, forking out an average of just $16 per item compared to the US ($24) and the UK ($40).
Co-author of the Australia Institute study, Nina Gbor, is leading calls to reverse these findings, saying our fast fashion habits are “harming our health and the environment”. Gbor has been joined in her efforts by multiple sustainable fashion advocates and organisations, including Amanda Butterworth of Fashion Revolution.
“What we’re seeing now is companies that are producing 7,000 to 10,000 items per day,” Butterworth said in an interview with the ABC on Wednesday. Butterworth added that the low prices of Shein and Temu products create “buying impulses” that have detrimental “environmental consequences”.
While the Australian government addressed these concerns in 2023 with the ‘Seamless’ scheme — which introduced a four cent levy on fast fashion garments — advocates say it isn’t enough.
“The levy is too low to change brand behaviour,” Gibor said. “It should be increased drastically to at least 50 cents per item. This, coupled with measures like a fast fashion tax, is needed to put the industry on notice.”
A growing chorus of Australians seem to agree, with the Australia Institute report finding that nearly 63 per cent of those polled are concerned or very concerned about the environmental impact of textile waste.
Statistics like these became a reality in 2022, when a group of environmental activists took to Melbourne’s Bourke Street Mall during Black Friday sales to protest against the fast fashion industry, saying brands like H&M and Zara are “promoting excessive buying” and contributing to a “throw away culture”.
The verdict is still out on whether Australia should follow suit with France’s fast fashion tax, but voices like Gibor’s may only grow louder.
Image Source: Marc Asensio/NurPhoto and Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg
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