Mornington Island is the largest of the North Wellesley Islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Food and supplies are delivered via a weekly barge freight service from Kurumba. With a population of about 1000 residents, 80 per cent are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders.

The island’s only grocery store and takeaway outlet had operated successfully since 1974 but began experiencing financial issues due to mismanagement. After a tender process was conducted, Outback Stores was selected on 17 August 2023 and awarded a three-year management agreement to lift store standards.

Deputy Chairperson of Gununamanda Limited, Roxanne Thomas, said “Outback Stores was selected as the successful tenderer due to its retail expertise and successful track record.”

Specialising in complex logistics, Outback Stores now operates 58 remote stores in the Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales and now Queensland.

Outback Stores’ initial priority was ensuring the community of Mornington Island had access to healthy food and a good range of produce at affordable prices, reducing the cost of staples such as milk, bread, fruit and vegetables.

We can already see an improvement in the store performance since working with Outback Stores.

– Kyle Yanner

“Governance has improved and there are proper controls in place, which has seen increased sales in the last 12 months,” says Kyle Yanner, chairperson of Gununamanda Limited.

The store directors are prioritising paying off debts and are hoping to improve the affordability of food with the assistance of Outback Stores. The cost of freight to the island is a significant factor to food affordability, with freight costing approximately $20K each week. The store’s directors are thankful for the recent subsidies offered by the Queensland Government that will result in discounted prices on essential goods such as milk, bread and fresh produce.

Kyle says “With this freight subsidy and Outback Stores, we are looking forward to cheaper prices and better outcomes for the whole community.”

This story was first published in the Outback Stores Annual Report 2023-2024.

Hermannsburg, also known as Ntaria, is a community lying in the traditional lands of the Western Arrarnta people. Situated in the scenic MacDonnell Ranges, tourists today are welcomed to its historic precinct, with church buildings, tearoom, and art gallery.

After staff and management changes in 2021, the local owners of Ntaria Supermarket decided to strengthen and stabilise their business by approaching Outback Stores.

Upgrades soon started on the Ntaria Supermarket, with new refrigerators, a new computer system, a greater selection of fruit and vegetables, and more household items and appliances offered. Soon afterwards came refreshed paint for the interior and exterior walls and new flooring.

The adjacent cafe is now a separate business providing takeaway food and a small range of groceries, allowing the community to stock up on supplies until 7 pm, even on weekends.

Nicholas Williams is the chairperson of Kasey Pty Ltd, the local company that owns the store, takeaway cafe and campground.

As directors, we have a better understanding of how the business is doing.

– Nicholas Williams

After three years working with Outback Stores, Nicholas says, “as directors we have a better understanding of how the business is doing.” He appreciates the transparency of working with Outback Stores, thanks to its stock control, accounting services, and regular meetings.

Nicholas has also seen his staff grow in confidence and capability due to the certified retail training available to all store employees, saying “on-the-job training is best for our people.” Over the past three years, four local store team members have completed certified training.

This story was first published in the Outback Stores Annual Report 2023-2024.

Balgo is a community within the Halls Creek Shire of Western Australia, connected to the Great Sandy Desert and the Tanami Desert. The main language spoken is Kukatja and the community is managed by the Wirrimanu Aboriginal Corporation.

Outback Stores has a long history of working alongside the community, first managing the store from 2008 – 2019. The community was suffering from a lack of food security due to difficulties in running the store effectively. The store’s directors approached  Outback Stores and together they decided to prioritise strong governance practices and efficient operations.

After 8 years, all existing debt had been paid and impressively the store had accumulated $2 million in profit. The directors decided to put the profit towards building a new and improved supermarket for the community, and successfully applied for a  commercial loan of $2 million to complete the development. It was the first time an Aboriginal community had initiated and funded its own new store.

We have seen a lot of improvements already and the community is very happy. 

– William Mandijarra

The new supermarket opened in 2016 and included a larger range of food and general merchandise, with a new kitchen and takeaway facility focused on providing nutritious meals for the community.

In 2023 Outback Stores were again approached by the corporation to assist the community with the difficult logistics of maintaining food security and profitability in such a remote location.

Shortly afterwards a problematic wet season saw the community cut off from road transport for over four months.

During this time, Outback Stores coordinated the delivery of 20 tonnes of food via air freight, with the help of the Department of Fire and Emergency Services, WA.

“We have seen a lot of improvements already and the community is very happy. The shelves were a bit empty but now it’s looking good. We’ve got more fresh food and vegetables,” says William Mandijarra, Chairperson of Wirrimanu Aboriginal Corporation.

The directors are looking forward to purchasing a community bus for funerals and sorry business, once the store starts making a profit again.

This story was first published in the Outback Stores Annual Report 2023-2024.

Outback Stores remains committed to providing meaningful employment, career pathways and an opportunity to complete nationally accredited training for local people while remaining on country.

Outback Stores’ annual goal is not only to eliminate barriers to employment, but also to provide significant career pathways for those in remote communities. Last year, we had 342 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people employed in community stores, making up 85% of all store staff. This achievement demonstrates our dedication to Indigenous employment and its positive impact on our communities. We are proud to offer these employment opportunities and equally committed to empowering local store staff to pursue a nationally accredited qualification through our training program, fostering personal growth and professional development.

We are proud to see many young aspiring retailers making progress through our retail management pathway. Over 30 store team members have completed either a Certificate II, III, or IV in their retail qualification. This demonstrates a positive trend towards engaged and committed staff in remote communities who are creating a career pathway through on-the-job learning and vocational education and training (VET).

As directors, we have a better understanding of how the business is doing.

– Nicholas Williams

This year, Outback Stores is working together again with the Ngurratjuta/ Pmara Ntjarra Aboriginal Corporation to provide valuable training and mentoring opportunities to residents in remote communities such as Papunya, Mt Liebig, Nyirripi, and Haasts Bluff. We received an excellent response from the four community stores last year. This program delivers positive employment and training results for the communities.

The training department is establishing  connections with third-party stakeholders including the Department of Education, GTNT Group Organisation, the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade, as well as the Western Australia Department of Training and Workforce Development. Our focus for the next 12 months is to increase VET capacity within our registered training organisation (RTO) and boost Indigenous training and employment numbers. Outback Stores remains committed to providing meaningful  employment, career pathways and an opportunity to complete nationally accredited training for local people while remaining on country.

This story was first published in the Outback Stores Annual Report 2023-2024.

Carmel Geia works in the nutrition team of the Darwin Support Office as the Health Promotion Coordinator.

Carmel grew up between Numbulwar community in the Gulf of Carpentaria and Darwin, before going to boarding school in Townsville. Her favourite subject was social science because she enjoyed learning about history and social change, such as the  legacy of Eddie Mabo.

After graduating high school in 2010, she got a traineeship with the Cowboys football club in the community relations department. Five years later she moved home to Numbulwar to work as a community development program mentor and then as an employment consultant.

Carmel joined Outback Stores in August 2024 as a Training Support Officer, and in that role completed a Certificate IV in Retail Management.

“I don’t come from a retail background, so I enjoyed learning about the operations of a store thanks to the training certificate,” says Carmel.

In April 2024 Carmel moved into the nutrition department and since then has visited eight stores across the Northern Territory as part of Outback Stores’ tobacco-reduction project.

“It is exciting to be part of the tobacco project, because no one has done anything like this before from a retail perspective,” Carmel explains.

It is exciting to be part of the tobacco project.

– Carmel Geia

Outback Stores’ nutrition team assists store directors in thinking of ideas to reduce smoking in their communities. She hopes that perhaps some store directors might be inspired to implement tobacco-free days of the week, following the success of ‘No Sugar Days’ that certain communities have implemented. 

“I’m looking forward to getting out into communities a bit more – visiting different places,” says Carmel. Carmel had never visited Central Australia before working with Outback Stores. It was a special moment to visit her grandmother’s home community of Yuendumu for the first time earlier this year. 

Carmel enjoys travelling and saving for overseas holidays. So far she has visited Bali, Thailand and Singapore, with New York City the next on her list.

This story was first published in the Outback Stores Annual Report 2023-2024.