Doing what's right; speaking up

At BlueScope we aim to act fairly, ethically and with integrity, helping to create lasting benefits for our customers, people, shareholders and community. We expect this of our people and business partners, including our third party and agent representatives, suppliers and contractors.

Business Conduct

The following foundational documents assist our people and business partners working with us to make ethical, well-judged decisions consistent with our values and expectations of business conduct:

• Our Purpose & Our Bond: a statement of commitment to four groups very important to us - our customers, people, shareholders and communities. The words in Our Bond reflect the characteristics of honesty and integrity that we value and aspire to live by. Our word is Our Bond.
• Code of Conduct: sets the principles that govern how our people should behave when conducting business on BlueScope's behalf.  
• Modern Slavery Statement: in accordance with requirements of the Australian Modern Slavery Act, BlueScope reports on the activities we have undertaken to identify and manage the risk that we may cause, contribute or be directly attributable to modern slavery within our operations and our supply chains. Statements from previous years can be found in our reports archive.
• Responsible Sourcing Policy: outlines our commitment to embed and promote ethical and responsible sourcing across BlueScope and our supply chain.
• Supplier Code of Conduct:  sets out BlueScope’s minimum standards for suppliers. We expect our suppliers to meet the expectations in this Code themselves and to share these expectations with their own suppliers so that they are communicated through the supply chain.

Industry Associations

BlueScope is an active member of various industry associations, which allows it to be better informed about public policy that has the potential to affect the Company, to share knowledge about policy, and contribute its views and experience.

• Industry Associations Governance Standard: details the principles which guide our membership of industry associations, and the processes to assess the alignment between the public policy positions of the industry association and BlueScope’s position.
• Industry Associations Position paper: details information on BlueScope’s membership of industry associations and approach to public policy advocacy.

Political Contributions

BlueScope does not endorse any political party, politician or candidate for public office.  Political contributions may be made for the purpose of attending a briefing, or to have a dialogue with political figures to advance public debate of policy issues that may affect BlueScope.  This includes payment to attend events organised or hosted by a political party or an organisation associated with a political party, and payment for membership to an organisation associated with a political party.

A payment of cash or in kind for no consideration, or a gift to a political party or political candidate, is prohibited.

Any payment which might be considered a political contribution must be approved by Corporate Affairs, recorded in BlueScope’s accounts and, if required by law, disclosed to the Australian Electoral Commission and relevant State or Territory bodies. 

All political contributions are reported annually to the Board Risk & Sustainability Committee.

Speaking Up

We encourage our employees and other stakeholders to speak up if they become aware of or reasonably suspect that something is not right at BlueScope. Our people and external parties should refer to the following guidance to report business misconduct:

• Speak Up Policy: reflects our commitment to encourage a workplace culture in which our people and others working with us feel confident to speak up when something is not right, and to protect those who do.
• Speak Up Policy Additional Protections may apply under Australian law for misconduct concerns reported in Australia, or which relate to our Australian operations.
• Reporting suspected business misconduct:  information on how external parties can report suspected business misconduct.

Other key policies

These policies also reflect our commitment to ethical business practices:

• Alcohol and Other Drugs Policy: safely performing duties free from the effects of alcohol or other drugs.
• Inclusion and Diversity Policy: having a workplace where differences are respected and valued.
• Fitness for Work Policy: sustaining our people and workplaces through a holistic approach to well-being.
• Health, Safety, Environment & Community Policy: responsibilities integral to the way we do business.
• Social Media Policy: using social media channels lawfully and in line with our business conduct policies.