Billabong International Limited has a direct global workforce of in excess of 3500 people, with the majority located in the key surf destinations of Australia's Gold Coast, Orange County in southern California and Hossegor in south-west France. The Company also has an understanding that, while not directly employed by the Group, we have the capacity to influence the work practices of third-party contractors within our global supply chain.

The work practices and employment conditions of these third-party contract workplaces is reviewed by Billabong International Limited to ensure they move towards compliance with internationally-accepted standards. This is a challenging task for our Group to oversee given the complexity and diversity of statutory requirements and cultural attitudes that exist across the range of countries within the Group's global supply chain.

It was this challenge that prompted Billabong International Limited to work towards the adoption of Social Accountability 8000 as the global standard by which the Company would measure the performance of its supply chain. There is no finish line to this task. Rather, it is an initiative that requires ongoing development, awareness and execution