Responsible Business

The way we do business is important to us. We are committed to acting responsibly and being transparent and accountable, wherever we operate. The social, economic and environmental expectations placed on us continue to evolve as the world in which we operate changes, and we are determined to meet these expectations. We are working to ensure we’re a globally trusted company that people want to work for, and with.

Human rights

Across our value chain, we aim to ensure that we and our business partners operate with respect for human rights. Since 2011, we have been a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, which commits companies to 10 guiding principles on human rights labour rights, environmental protection, and measures to fight corruption. Our commitment to respect and support human rights is aligned to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and is outlined in our Code of Conduct (PDF, 4.7MB) and Human Rights Policy (PDF, 163KB).

Industry associations

Telstra maintains memberships with a number of industry and broader business associations that we believe provide value to our business, industry and the wider economy. Our Principles for engaging with key industry associations (PDF, 74KB) outline the principles we use to guide and inform our membership of industry associations.

Metadata and transparency

As digital technology becomes increasingly central to our lives, we are generating more data than ever before. Some of our customers and the broader community are also increasingly interested in who has access to this data.

Consequently, we have transparency measures in place aimed at providing our customers with greater understanding of and access to the data we hold.

We offer customers the same access to their metadata as we are required to offer to law enforcement agencies without a warrant. This approach is aimed at providing our customers with a clearer picture of the data we provide in response to lawful requests. It builds upon our Transparency Report which can be found at Law enforcement. The report outlines our legal obligation to assist national security and law enforcement agencies, as well as the types of law enforcement requests we receive each year.

In 2014 Telstra implemented a Supplier Code of Conduct which outlines our expectations in the areas of labour and human rights, health and safety, environment, ethical dealings and supply chain diversity. The Supplier Code of Conduct applies to all suppliers to Telstra. Learn more information about supplying to Telstra.