It has been my privilege over the last 13 years to lead Pilbara Meta Maya Regional Aboriginal Corporation through its growth and development, with a particular focus on its financial health, through the GFC and the COVID 19 pandemic.
Pilbara Meta Maya Regional Aboriginal Corporation (“PMMRAC”) is a 100% privately owned, not for profit, Western Australian Aboriginal organisation based in the Pilbara.
It's an honour and a privilege for our organisation to support the Aboriginal people of the Pilbara. We appreciate the rich cultural heritage and the wisdom these communities bring to our organisation, so our commitment is to ensure that our services align with the needs and aspirations of these communities.
My journey with the organisation commenced in the Pilbara some 16 years ago, with an office in Wedgefield, Port Hedland and a handful of employees. The organisation now boasts over 100 employees in four different locations: Port Hedland, Karratha, Meekatharra and Perth and two commercial entities in Meta Maya Services Pty Ltd and Meta Maya Environmental Pty Ltd.
Global challenges of an unprecedented nature have been navigated by my team and I over the last decade, which have included, in addition to the GFC and the pandemic concerns, disruptions to the supply chain and evolving environmental impacts. As an organisation, we have navigated these 21st century complexities whilst striving to maintain the core of our personnel, keep smaller entities resilient and deliver essential community focused services.
At the core of our business is our greatest asset, our people. Acquiring quality personnel has been a mission and the organisation is now seeing the benefit of “getting it right” when recruiting. I personally, am deeply passionate about nurturing and caring for our people, recognising the immense value they bring to our organisation. It is our people’s dedication that fuels our progress, and their well-being remains a top priority.
One of our key strengths is flexibility which has been pivotal in adapting our operations whilst adhering to Governmental guidelines safeguarding both our team and the communities we serve.
My own commitment to the organisation extends beyond its financial health, for me it is about Governance and Compliance, which is the foundation of our operations and which is embedded in every process and procedure. This foundation has enabled the organisation to operate in a transparent and ethical manner, which, in turn, is supported by the organisation’s core values of Respect, Ownership, Continuous Improvement, Contribution, Integrity and Teamwork.
Under my remit, the organisation has continually invested in its people, its accreditations and its systems. To enable the investment to continue and develop in a structured fashion, a new department was formed to drive compliance in Quality, Work Health & Safety, Environmental and Risk/Governance requirements across the organisation. The department provides training, advice and support to the organisation in meeting our compliance requirements, it leads, models and actively promotes a culture that strives for and values continuous improvement and to assist with this we have implemented a new integrated system to support the business to meet its compliance requirements.
I am also delighted to share with you all that PMMRAC has $1,000,000 of its own money to share with our communities on a grant basis to fund community improvement projects with a particular focus on school scholarships as we invest in our youth.
I would like to take this opportunity of thanking our clients, our partners, our suppliers and our staff (past and present) for their support of our organisation over the last 30 years.
Watch this space as I lead Pilbara Meta Maya Regional Aboriginal Corporation and its associated entities into the next decade with expansions in Regions, States and Services to name but a few of the exciting projects on the horizon.