Should you buy their super-cheap jeans? Most cheap jeans are produced in Asia, usually in China. AUSTRALIA'S biggest discount stores are locked in fierce price-cutting wars, slashing the cost of jeans to as little as $7. But how do Kmart, Target and Big W make their clothes so cheap? And should you be buying them? Customers are increasingly questioning where their clothes are from. Despite recent steps forward, the three retail giants are still not completely transparent about the factories that make their garments. Australian companies remain well behind those elsewhere in the developed world in terms of ensuring their products are ethical. Cheap garments like our $7 jeans are manufactured in Asia, usually China, at factories that pay far below a living wage for those countries. Hours are long and conditions can be dangerous, with workers not having the rights or representation to change their situation. So what needs to be done? Kmart has published a list of its Asian suppliers on its website. Oxfam says the fact these firms are "talking about transparency" is a positive step, and a first for Australian companies. But global brands are well ahead: Levis, Adidas and Nike have all released full lists of suppliers and UK firms including Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's started the process towards sourcing more ethical clothing 20 years ago. Avoiding sweatshop-made goods doesn't necessarily meaning paying high prices. Affordable brands Ikea and H&M are also leading the industry in ethical sourcing. Kmart published a list of its suppliers on its website in May, although it is not clear whether it is comprehensive. Just one of its listed Cambodian factories is identified as compliant on all critical issues on the Better Factories database. Denim jeans strewn over rubble from the collapsed garment factory building near Dhaka, Bangladesh in May 2013. Target told news.com.au: "Our $10 jeans are produced by a single factory in China, which has been audited to meet all our ethical sourcing requirements around worker pay, safety and conditions. Placing large order volumes with a single factory means the supplier benefits from economies of scale, and can give our customers a great quality product at a terrific price, without compromising Target's ethical sourcing standards. It has published a list of its Bangladesh factory partners, and says a global list will be released by the end of 2015. Big W has also revealed its Bangladeshi suppliers, but not a global rundown. A Big W spokesperson told news.com.au: "Our Emerson jeans, currently on special at $7, are sourced from a supplier in China that has been audited against Big W's ethical standards." Kmart has not yet responded to requests for comment. Big W sells well-known brands, as well as its own stock, at low prices. The fashion industry was rocked in April last year by the death of more than 1000 Bangladeshi workers in a collapsed factory complex used by major multinational brands. After the scandal, all three retail giants signed up to the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord, designed to make the country's notoriously dangerous factories safe. But six months later, nine people were killed in a fire at Aswad Mills in Dhaka. Neither Kmart or Target contributed to the compensation fund, while Big W contributed an undisclosed amount. Target, Kmart and Big W now all have their own publicly available Ethical Sourcing Codes, outlining minimum standards. But choice.com.au says ethical sourcing policies often fail to go far enough to meet basic living standards. Target says it will publish its full supplier list by the end of 2015. Kmart and Target have committed to paying minimum wage, while Big W has committed to paying living wage, according to choice.com.au. But Oxfam spokesperson Kelly Dent told news.com.au that national minimum wages are often not enough to live on. "I worry when I see a T-shirt for $3, or asparagus for a dollar," she said. What was the worker paid? If you look at a country like Cambodia, a third of all of women working in these factories - and it's usually women - are malnourished. Cambodian workers typically earn $AU100 per month, or just over $3 a day. A report by the Clean Clothes campaign has said $450 per month would be a living wage in Cambodia. In Bangladesh, garment factory workers earn 32c per hour. Sainsbury's and M&S are conducting studies into living wages, and campaigners are calling on Australian stores to do the same. A Chinese factory worker slipped a note into Kmart decorations in June 2013 describing horrific working conditions. Garment workers in Asia face long hours, few holidays or free weekends and all in sweatshop-like conditions, according to Oxfam. Some have complained of workplace abuse by supervisors, with one Chinese factory worker slipping a haunting note into Kmart Halloween decorations in June 2013 describing working 15-hour days, seven days a week under sadistic guards. Target says it conducts independent regular, scheduled and unannounced factory audits throughout the year; Kmart audits every 6-24 months and Big W's auditing process is unknown, choice.com.au reported in February. Unlike Target and Kmart, Big W contributed to the compensation fund after the Aswad factory fire in Bangladesh. It has not said how much. All workers should have the right to question the conditions of their employment. "We've seen other brands make big inroads into contracts," said Ms Dent. Adidas signed a protocol with Indonesian unions and workers around the right to organise. It's not like there are no examples. Cotton On invited a women's group in Bangladesh to attend a buyers" meeting with suppliers. "These are all small steps but they lead to results," said Ms Dent. Target says it conducts scheduled and unannounced factory audits throughout the year. There has been an increase in consumer awareness following the Bangladeshi fires, but campaigners say we need to keep questioning where our clothes come from. Australians should be asking what is happening throughout the global supply chain. "When we see stories about price and quality of clothes, we need to also ask about conditions, and whether the companies are paying adequate unit prices so factories can pass that on," said Ms Dent. Even if we pay more, there's no guarantee that will be passed on, but the chances of exploitation do increase as items get cheaper. While factories will still need to be rigorously checked, asking the right questions means there is a chance that our clothes can be produced without detriment to those who make them. A Bangladeshi rescue volunteer climbs a section of the collapsed garment factory in April 2013.