{"id":6741,"date":"2025-11-10T13:32:41","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T03:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/crime-and-justice-research-centre\/?p=6741"},"modified":"2025-11-10T13:32:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T03:32:41","slug":"news-new-documentary-follows-fast-fashion-trail-into-the-pacific","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/crime-and-justice-research-centre\/2025\/11\/10\/news-new-documentary-follows-fast-fashion-trail-into-the-pacific\/","title":{"rendered":"News: New documentary follows fast fashion trail into the Pacific"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Main image: Dr Zoe Mellick, Associate Professor Phoebe Hart and Associate Professor Tiziana Ferrero-Regis<\/em><\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s fast fashion consumption is increasingly causing a mountainous waste nightmare for countries like the Solomon Islands a new documentary by researchers from QUT has found.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Good Neighbours,<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>a film about the secondhand clothing trade between Australia and the Solomon Islands, was launched with a screening on Wednesday November 5 at the Design for a Just World<\/em><\/a>\u00a0symposium being staged by the\u00a0QUT Centre for Justice<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0QUT Design Lab<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A powerful, 11-minute expos\u00e9, it uncovers the complex and often unseen trade of Australia\u2019s secondhand clothing exports to the Pacific Islands – specifically to the capital city of the Solomon Islands, Honiara, which receives tonnes of used clothes from Australia every month.<\/p>\n

The result of an Australian-first research project led by\u00a0Associate Professor Tiziana Ferrero-Regis<\/a>, along with\u00a0Dr Zoe Mellick<\/a>, it takes viewers on a journey through the reality of our clothing donated and exported to other countries. While exposing the environmental toll of fast fashion, it also uncovers a story about the lives of local women who rely on secondhand trade for survival and betterment.<\/p>\n

Directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker\u00a0Associate Professor Phoebe Hart<\/a>, the film highlights the many layers and complexity of fast fashion from when we donate it, revealing how over production and over consumption, along with under-regulated disposal practices are polluting ecosystems, usually in low-income countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralians are avid consumers of fast fashion but there is a high cost to the environment and to our neighbours,\u201d Dr Ferrero-Regis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe buy 55 items of clothing each year on average, which equates to 27kg, and dispose of 23kg a year per capita. It is unsustainable.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Good Neighbours<\/em>\u00a0directs the viewers\u2019 gaze to neighbouring countries that receive up to 300 bales of used clothing a month, and each bale can weigh between 50 and 500 kgs. Australia exports 2.57 per cent\u00a0of its used clothing to the Solomons Islands, whereas 88 per cent of clothing imported in the Island comes from Australia.<\/p>\n

“While 2.57 per cent may seem like a small figure, its impact is overwhelming in the Solomon Islands. It\u2019s clear that Australia has a significant responsibility – and that responsibility starts with the individual\u201d,\u00a0Dr Mellick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people don\u2019t think about what happens to their clothes after they donate them, but those garments continue their journey, and that journey affects real people and real environments.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The film includes intimate interviews with shopkeepers and showcases the scale of waste, but also the human stories that emerge from it, uncovering a story of resilience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a focus on women entrepreneurs who rely on this secondhand trade to advance their children\u2019s education. Often, they are the bread winners in their families,\u201d Professor Ferrero-Regis said.<\/p>\n

Dr Hart said the issue was complicated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can see these clothes become devastating local waste. Low-income countries, like the Solomons Islands and other Pacific Islands need help to establish local infrastructures that help them to alleviate the burden of our waste,\u201d Dr Hart said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIdeally, this film can serve as both a wake-up call and a call to action, urging viewers to rethink their relationship with fashion and consumption. We must share responsibility; we must be good neighbours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Ferrero-Regis said the research project was a collaboration with Reverend Dr. Ben Wate, Head of the School of Humanities at the Solomons Islands National University, and community leader in Honiara.<\/p>\n

The project was supported by the Faculty Strategic Project Support Scheme of the Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice, the\u00a0QUT Centre for Environment and Society<\/a>, and QUT Centre for Justice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The research team now plan to enter\u00a0Good Neighbours<\/em>\u00a0in a range of film festivals and are seeking a platform for distribution.<\/p>\n

Viewing of the film is available on request.<\/p>\n

The project has been featured across various media outlets:<\/p>\n

ABC Radio ‘Pacific Beat’ 6 November 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Newsreel 4 November 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

The\u00a0 National Tribune, 4 November 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

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                        Main image: Dr Zoe Mellick, Associate Professor Phoebe Hart and Associate Professor Tiziana Ferrero-Regis Australia\u2019s fast fashion consumption is increasingly causing a mountainous waste nightmare for countries like the Solomon Islands a new documentary by researchers from QUT has found. Good Neighbours,\u00a0a film<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4341,"featured_media":6743,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,9703],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6741","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"category-our-research"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/crime-and-justice-research-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/crime-and-justice-research-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/crime-and-justice-research-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/crime-and-justice-research-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4341"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/crime-and-justice-research-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6741"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/crime-and-justice-research-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6744,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/crime-and-justice-research-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6741\/revisions\/6744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/crime-and-justice-research-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/crime-and-justice-research-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/crime-and-justice-research-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/crime-and-justice-research-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}