Mongrel Boots
On Track. Pays or is working towards a living wage, with gaps still to close.
Last researched 2 November 2026 · 4 sources
Family-owned Sydney maker of leather work and safety boots.
Mongrel Boots makes its leather work boots in its own factories in Australia, where labour laws are strong and legal wages are about a living wage.
Also worth knowing
It carries the Australian Made label.
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Why it's graded On Track
- Not met: Meets 5 of 7 Good requirements.
- Met: No red flags.
Good requirements 5 of 7
- Met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certificationLiving wage: presumed because legal wages in Australia are about a living wage, not checked at the company
- Met: Respects worker rights
- Met: Supply chain independently audited or certified, or at least 80% made in countries with strong labour standardsPresumed from where it's made, not audited
- Not met: Shows where its earlier production stages happen, not just the final oneA "Made in" claim can cover only the final stage. Earlier stages to show: yarn, fabric, dyeing and, for shoes, uppers
- Met: No child or forced labour findings or links
- Met: Names the factories or farms that make its products, or is fully certified by a scheme that holds and audits that listMakes its products in its own factories
- Not met: High-risk raw materials (leather) traced or certified, or not a major part of its rangeNot traced or certified: leather
Red flags 0
None found.
Stars it would earn as Good
None yet. Stars only show on Good companies. About stars
Accreditations 1
Estimates for its products
Our rules applied to one kind of product at a time, using Mongrel Boots's evidence and, where it has product lines, that line's countries. They're estimates: we don't know which factory made any single item.
Boots, Workwear: On Track, the same as Mongrel Boots overall, because nothing we know differs between them.
Holding one? Scan its barcode for an estimate that uses its care label or ingredients.
Where it's made
From Mongrel Boots's own disclosure: it makes its products in its own factories.
| Country | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | Strong protections | About a living wage | Low |
Evidence
What we found
- Owns or runs its own production
- Uses little or no cotton (e.g. wool, linen or leather products)
- "Made in Australia" only means the last major stage happened there: under customs and consumer law, yarn, fabric, dyeing and, for shoes, uppers can be made elsewhere. It hasn't shown where those earlier stages happen, so where it's made counts towards On Track but not Good. Source
- Doesn't show where its leather comes from. Leather is linked to hazardous tannery work and forced labour on some cattle ranches, so it can't be graded Good until it traces or certifies it.
Research notes Mongrel says its boots are made at its own factory in Western Sydney, and it holds an Australian Made licence, so the people who make them work under Australian award wages and Fair Work protections. It publishes no supplier list, modern slavery statement or information on where its leather and other materials come from, and it is not rated in the Ethical Fashion Report. No labour abuses linked to its products have been reported.
Sources and actions
Sources 4
Show all 4 sources
- Mongrel Boots - Australian Made licensee · search the archive · Australian Made licensee; family-owned bootmaker founded in Sydney in 1930; boots made in its Western Sydney factory
- Mongrel Boots - Business NSW member history · search the archive · Family-owned, run by Bill Cloros and family; boots made in Western Sydney and exported
- Mongrel Boots product catalogue (PDF) · search the archive · Sold by Victor Footwear Pty Ltd, Auburn NSW; made in Australia since 1930; new Sydney manufacturing facility
Published by Mongrel Boots or its owner
- Mongrel Boots official website · search the archive · Still manufacturing boots at its factory in Western Sydney; no ethics or modern slavery statement
Company details
- Headquarters
- Australia
- Last researched
- 2 November 2026
- Cite this page
- Labour Lens, "Is Mongrel Boots ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/mongrel-boots, last researched 2 November 2026, accessed [date].
- Method
- Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What On Track means
Better-graded footwear
Second-hand and refurbished goods create no new factory work, so they're Good by rule and come first.
Something missing or wrong?
Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Send us evidence, or a right of reply if you represent Mongrel Boots.