Ak diocese releases business ethics guide

The Catholic Diocese of Auckland has released a new guide which limits its business transactions to companies and organisations that share its “commitment to good ethical standards and social responsibility”. 

Auckland diocese general manager James van Schie, who recently released the guide, said it is “a positive statement and a step in the right direction”.  

“Good commercial partnerships are built on clear expectations and a good understanding of what outcomes we are trying to achieve. Ultimately, the Diocese is not here to simply ‘transact’ in ‘services’, and all our work should be directed to our mission to live and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The procurement guide helps give our business suppliers and partners a better sense of who we are in a simple and accessible format,” Mr van Schie explained. 

The new policy stated that the diocese’s business partners should be comfortable associating their name and brand with the Catholic Church and the Catholic Diocese of Auckland. 

It also stated that the diocese will only invest in businesses with ethical values. 

Another highlight of the guide is the commitment to work against modern slavery “in all its forms”. 

Mr van Schie acknowledged it will take some time to implement this policy, but added that many of the diocese’s business partners are already practising these standards.   

“Many of our commercial relationships are long established, and the guide will just re-affirm what our partners hopefully already know,” he said. 

Mr van Schie said there are tools available in relation to investment partners like mindfulmoney.nz and www.asyousow.org .  

“In other supplier relationships, they are very able to readily demonstrate or confirm their understanding and acceptance of these standards,” he said.  

“In higher risk areas like building and construction, there are not always robust tools, particularly in global supply chains. For these areas, we will need to assess the risk in procurement decisions,” he added. 

He said they are looking to develop these tools, particularly for major projects like the construction of  

St Ignatius College, a new Catholic year 7-13 secondary school in Drury in south Auckland. 

“For new suppliers and partners, we can now begin to integrate this guide into procurement documents. Demonstrating compliance will be the most challenging part of implementing the guideline. We will not always get it right, but we need to try,” he said.