Tetra Tech International Development is committed to maintaining business practices that honour and protect the dignity and integrity of everyone with whom we conduct business, employ, and serve.
As a leading international development managing contractor and key member of the international development community, Tetra Tech is committed to continuously improving our processes and practices to drive improvements in aid effectiveness.
We have taken action within our existing development activities to realise the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and embed the principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and Accra Agenda for Action within our systems and procedures, and are committed to continuing these actions in all our future development activities.
Tetra Tech is committed to proactively supporting equitable outcomes for indigenous peoples. We undertake all our business activities in accordance with the principles of:
- Recognition of and respect for indigenous people
- Recognition of and respect for indigenous identity and culture
- Recognition and protection of indigenous knowledge and intellectual property.
In particular, we are committed to advancing our engagement with Australia’s Indigenous peoples. Originally developed in 2018, our Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (2021-2023) sets out our commitments to reconciliation through collaboration, mutual respect and a responsibility to take action. It provides a road map to guide us through our responsibility to help close the gap of disadvantage between many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities and other Australians. Through our Plan we confirm our commitment to building strong and long-lasting relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities that, over time, change the way we work, the insights we bring, the communities we partner with, and the projects we work together on to generate a positive lasting impact for communities.
More broadly, through all our development activities across the Indo Pacific we aim to deliver meaningful cultural recognition, employment, education and training opportunities for indigenous people. This includes a focus on engaging with indigenous communities, building awareness and understanding within our workforce of indigenous culture, heritage and issues in the regions we work, and providing sustainable career and business opportunities for indigenous people.
From our corporate workplace through to our in-country program delivery, Tetra Tech is focussed on creating a more inclusive, and equitable world. We value diversity and are committed to providing access to sustainable opportunities for diverse peoples and businesses.
We commit to taking action across all our program delivery to ensure all people can participate in and benefit equally from our work. Groups that are marginalised because of their gender, disability, health status, ethnicity, race or age are the most vulnerable to the effects of poverty. Including these groups specifically in development activities is fundamental to eliminating poverty and to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. We also recognise the intersectionality of these issues and that to provide integrated solutions to issues of social exclusion we need to address social inclusion as a whole (rather than each issue separately) and tailor our interventions to context specific issues and challenges.
In line with these commitments, Tetra Tech is a first endorser of the Coalition for Racial and Ethnic Equity in Development (CREED), reflecting our commitment to racial and ethnic equity in the international development and humanitarian assistance sector advancing racial and ethnic diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within our own organizations and in our work is an inextricable part of our broad mission to build a more equitable world for all.
Tetra Tech is also a proud supporter of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) Report and project, and ambitious and necessary First Nations and female-led plan for structural change. Tetra Tech supports the Report’s principles, key findings, overarching recommendations and pathways forward. The structural inequalities, poverty, trauma and discrimination that First Nations women and girls live with in Australia today is unacceptable and must be addressed and overcome. Action is critical to respond to the priorities set out in Wiyi Yani U Thangani so together, all Australians can achieve First nations gender justice and equality”.
Tetra Tech proactively promotes a culture where people are treated with dignity and respect, irrespective of the country, project, or office they work. We support gender equality and challenge the gendered drivers of violence against women and children. This is reflected in our commitment to the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (PSEAH).
Our PSEAH Policy aligns with and supports Tetra Tech’s purpose: thriving people, thriving communities, thriving planet. It actively embraces our values that commit us to maintaining a safe work environment. This includes through the careful selection of our people and partners, and through setting clear expectations for their conduct.
Our people and partners must play an active role in addressing the risk of sexual exploitation, abuse or harassment in the delivery of our business activities. Our leaders are expected to set clear expectations and proactively address instances of gender inequality, gender-based discrimination, everyday sexism, sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, and violence against women.
We take reports very seriously, and support victim/survivors to choose how they want their report dealt with. Reports can be made by people directly impacted or others who observe or know of sexual harassment. If in doubt, suspected or alleged incidents should be reported.
Complaints or reports can be submitted using this form. There are no negative repercussions for those who report issues.
Tetra Tech is committed to proactively protecting children from abuse. We maintain a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of child exploitation and abuse, and seek to actively protect any children involved in our project delivery.
We operate in environments where there are many vulnerable people. This includes children and children with disabilities who live in remote or isolated locations, and who are experiencing poverty, who may be preyed upon. The human tragedy behind child abuse and exploitation, including child sex offences cannot be understated. As such, it is a fundamental moral and legal imperative of all Tetra Tech staff, contractors and downstream partners to be diligent in their adherence to our Child Protection Policy.
Our Child Protection Policy raises awareness but also provides a framework and tools that aim to create a culture where all our operations, activities, and planning considers risks to children. All our staff undergo comprehensive criminal record checks prior to employment and we will never knowingly permit a person to work with children if they pose a risk to their safety or well-being.
It is mandatory for all our staff and partners to immediately report any suspected or alleged case of child exploitation, abuse or policy non-compliance. Our child protection reporting process is confidential and impartial, with any reports taken very seriously.
Complaints or reports can be submitted using the below form. Please provide, in the box below, details of your complaint or report, including date/s, location/s and incident details. You can remain anonymous. We do not collect any personal data from this report.
All large international institutions can be affected by modern slavery issues. Only by engaging in honest, supportive and collaborative dialogue about these problems within and across industry sectors will we begin to fully understand the challenges we all face and be able to design sustainable solutions.
Reflecting Australia’s adoption of the Modern Slavery Act 2018, we have developed a statement outlining our commitment and actions towards ensuring the principles of the Modern Slavery Act are woven into our supply chains and business practices. This includes commitments to Prioritising business with suppliers who have embedded sustainable and ethical practices within their organisation and who drive such practices within their own supply chain.
Tetra Tech takes its responsibility to mitigate fraud and risk very seriously. We have a zero-tolerance approach to fraud, and have robust policies and procedures in place to manage, investigate, and report fraud incidents. Tailored approaches are developed for each of our programs, ensuring our practices reflect the specific contextual risk profiles of the places in which we work.
We offer an anonymous reporting tool that can be used to report suspected breaches of our fraud and ethical compliance policies. This is available through an external third-party provider using the link below.