Darren Green works at Bardi Ardyaloon Store in One Arm Point, a small community of around 300 people on the Dampier Peninsula, in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Originally from the inland community of Looma, Darren enjoyed school. His favourite subjects were science and social science. As well as excellent spoken English, he also speaks Mangala, Nyinka, Walimjarri.

Darren had been working at the store for ten years when Outback Stores started assisting the community in 2018. Soon he saw positive changes at the store, such as a greater variety of products and cheaper prices on household items.

As a registered training organisation (RTO), Outback Stores was also able to offer Darren the opportunity for certified training. He appreciates the opportunity to study while also working full-time at the store. Darren is in the process of completing his Certificate IV in Retail Management, the highest certificate provided by Outback Stores.

Working at the shop gives me a lot of intel into how to run a business.

– Darren Green

Soon the store will include a takeaway kitchen, which Darren is keen to help manage using the skills he has learned during his Retail Management certificate.

One day he intends to run his own takeaway shop and says he will combine all the best practices from the different managers he’s worked with over the years.

“Darren has a patient, happy nature and is willing to help other staff members. His years of experience and knowledge of the store is often helpful when trying to problem-solve and fix store issues,” says Francine Sneath, manager of Bardi Store.

Darren says that that he enjoys “pretty much everything” about his job, but adds that “interacting with the community is what I enjoy most about the work, and helping people.”

In his spare time Darren enjoys fishing, listening to his favourite band ‘Scrap Metal’ and spending time with family. He’s looking forward to seeing his daughter finish her postgraduate studies in Medicine at the University of Western Australia, and hopes his grandchildren enjoy school and go on to find work that interests them.

This story was first published in the Outback Stores Annual Report 2022-23

Outback Stores is currently hiring remote store managers! Click here for more info.

Training Officer Tammy Stephens features in the latest newsletter by the Ngurratjuta/Pmara Aboriginal Corporation, alongside trainee Lornie Multa who was the first to complete her Certificate II in Retail as part of the Ngurratjuta Training Project.

Store manager Dee Micallef has observed the benefits of this certified training.

“Because of the knowledge through this program Lornie is more confident and is an asset to the store. She uses her initiative and is a team member I can depend on,” says Dee.

This project is an initiative of the Ngurratjuta/Pmara Aboriginal Corporation who partnered with Outback Stores to improve Indigenous employment and training outcomes in the remote communities of Papunya, Nyirripi, Haasts Bluff and Mount Liebig.

“I look forward to training Lornie in the future and watching her achieve her goals,” says Tammy.

Lornie has been a pleasure to train. She is dedicated to her job.

– Tammy Stephens

Stella, Katherine, and Julie Kantilla work at the Nguiu Club on Bathurst Island, 80 kilometres north of Darwin, on the Tiwi Islands.

Outback Stores began working alongside the community to manage the club in 2015. Stella joined soon afterwards. Nguiu Club is next to the community football oval, in a community of about 1,500 people who speak both Tiwi and English.

Stella is the eldest sister and her enthusiasm persuaded two of her sisters and two brothers to join her.

“We live together and that’s why I wanted them to work alongside me because we’re very close. We crack jokes and make each other laugh,” says Stella.

Since starting work at the club, the sisters have steadily worked their way through the accredited training certificates offered by Outback Stores.

In July 2023, the Kantilla sisters proudly received their Certificate IV in Retail Management. Friends and family celebrated the occasion with traditional singing and dancing.

We felt proud to receive our certificates in front of our father and the rest of our family.

– Stella Kantilla

“It was enjoyable for me and my sisters to do the training, because we want to become managers in the future, or join the board of directors,” says Stella.

Stella likes to keep busy. Her favourite tasks at the club are working on the tills, checking identification, and serving at the bar.

The sisters work on the days when the club is open, from 4-8 pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

This is Stella and Julie’s first job but their sister Katherine also works as a school bus driver.

For Stella’s 30th birthday the sisters pooled their savings and bought a four-wheel drive, which they use to take their family fishing and hunting. They especially enjoy looking for mud mussels, periwinkles and crab.

Katherine is the family’s best chef. Her specialty is steak, or cooking the bream and snapper that her family catch in the waters around Bathurst Island.

This story was first published in the Outback Stores Annual Report 2022-23

​When someone thinks of an Outback Stores employee – they probably think of a store manager, merchandise assistant or training officer. But the unsung heroes of Outback Stores are to be found in our accounts department, providing transparent accounting services for the benefit of locally-owned remote community stores across the country.

Outback Stores recently congratulated two members of our accounts team who have worked with the company for fifteen years.

Louise Edwards and Troy Criddle both started working at Outback Stores in 2008, when the office was located in the Darwin city centre. At that time the company was less than two years old and was servicing eleven communities across the Northern Territory.

Louise says that when she started there were only around five people in the accounting department, and each person looked after 2-3 stores.

“There was more manual work in those days, for example entering the daily sales from dockets, then scanning and saving each receipt,” says Louise.

Seeing the company grow over the past fifteen years has been a highlight.

– Louise Edwards

​Troy says that the remote nature of the business contributed to particular challenges for the accounts team in the early days.

“Depending on the mail plane, sometimes there would be a lag of up to two weeks on the mail bags to be inputted manually, which was a big challenge when it came to reporting deadlines,” says Troy.

Fifteen years later and now the company is providing services to 54 communities across the NT, WA, SA, NSW and QLD.  The accounts departments now consists of 21 people, with each accounting officer managing between 4-5 stores. This difference in workload reflects the move to automated systems, which was spurred on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reflecting on her fifteen years, Louise remembers when the accounts team used to visit communities to help with stocktakes. She enjoyed the opportunity to visit communities during this period such as Groote Eylandt, Bardi, Ngukurr, Beswick, Barunga and Bulman. Another highlight for her has been seeing the growth of the company over the past fifteen years and how it has kickstarted the careers of so many people, such as Troy.

Every week is different, so there is always a new challenge that keeps the role interesting. 

– Troy Criddle

Troy Criddle was just nineteen years old and still in university when he first started working at Outback Stores as an accounts payable officer. This year he became the Chief Financial Officer of Outback Stores, realising a personal goal he’d held since high school.

Looking back over his time at Outback Stores, he recalls the particular highlight of his first promotion to accounts payable team leader, when he began managing a team for the first time. He also recalls the satisfaction of merging all three accounting functions in the one role in 2016. Now accounts payable, accounts receivable and cash management are all done by the one person, allowing for clearer communication between stores and the finance team. Troy enjoys the diversity of the work at Outback Stores, and that each week brings a new challenge.

Congratulations to both Louise and Troy for their invaluable contribution over fifteen in ensuring transparent accounting for store directors!

It is thanks to the commitment of our team that Outback Stores is able to deliver on our purpose of maintaining food security to remote Indigenous communities across Australia.

Outback Stores’ training team in Darwin has recently grown to include two new training officers, Carmel Geia and Josephine Baker.

Carmel went to boarding school in Townsville but has family living in Numbulwar, a remote community in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Josephine is from Milingimbi Island, off the coast of Arnhem Land.

“It’s good to have started here at the same time as Josephine, because we can learn from each other,” says Carmel.

They join training team leader Dotty Repu, to support her in the compliance and data entry needed to satisfy the certified training requirements of the Australian Skills Quality Authority.

“It has been a huge help having them join the team. We’re ticking our compliance boxes much quicker now,” said Dotty.

Carmel and Josephine’s roles are based in the Darwin Support Office, but they also travel to community occasionally to support the in-person training. Since starting in August they have visited Ngukurr community in the Roper River Region, and they hope to visit some communities in Western Australia soon.

This year the training team have helped 25 trainees to successfully complete either a Certificate II, III or IV in retail qualifications. Those students who have completed the highest qualification are now taking more responsibility in store and providing support for new team members.