Our Story
Woollahra Group is a 100% Indigenous Owned, Manufacturer and Distributor of Cleaning, Janitorial and Hygiene Products, located in Malaga, Western Australia.
Woollahra’s vision is to lead change passionately & innovatively, as an Indigenous Business, to empower social consciousness and provide a platform for businesses to make the best purchasing choices that are respectful of our communities and country to build a sustainable future for Australia.
Our mission is to lead with passion and respect, the empowerment and growth of Indigenous people and business through manufacturing and procuring Australia’s most innovative and highest quality product.
Underpinning Woollahra’s business are our 5 core values:
Respect: Always acting with care and humility while acknowledging all people, past and present, our shared land and environment, through developing our willingness for heightened knowledge, understanding and ownership of our history to help us shape our future
Empowerment: Presenting an honest pathway for Australian businesses to make purchasing choices that are respectful of our communities and country while also working to engage Indigenous communities & businesses to build sustainable futures and allowing employees to be motivated and connected to these outcomes
Growth: Powering the Indigenous economy by accelerating the movement towards more socially responsible decision making and working to deliver authentic and sustainable social and financial outcomes for Indigenous Businesses and the broader Indigenous Communities in which we operate.
Innovation: To passionately apply continuous learning by evoking wisdom from a 60,000-year-old culture and invigorating change by applying it to both modern technologies and creative thinking to provide exceptional value when solving problems for customers and ourselves
Quality: Ensuring that products manufactured and distributed are the most trusted and best in class for results, the environment and have the most meaningful social impact while guiding our employee’s actions to always reflect this.
What we do:
Woollahra Group was founded by Chris Schmid, a proud Mandandanji man from QLD who relocated to Perth in the early 2000’s and after a 15-year career in Sales & Procurement, identified an opportunity to improve the way Government Agencies and Major Corporations in the Mining, Civil Construction and Facilities Maintenance sectors procured goods and services that could lead to significantly better outcomes for First Nations People on the lands these companies operate.
The Woollahra Group “Social Enterprise” Business Model is revolutionising the way companies, both Locally and Nationally, procure goods and is resulting in tangible outcomes for Indigenous People and Communities across Australia.
At our core, Woollahra is a distribution business, focused on the supply of the highest quality, ethically sourced and sustainable products that meet the functional needs of companies operating in the Government, Mining, Civil Construction and Facilities Maintenance sectors.
Our product categories include (but are not limited to) an extensive range of Cleaning Chemicals, Janitorial Supplies, Paper Products, Hygiene Products, PPE & Safety Equipment.
Woollahra is an officially recognised distributor of suppliers such as Kimberley Clark Professional (Kleenex, Scott, Wypall), Freudenberg Home Solutions (Oates, Vileda), Rosche Paper, The Hygiene Co, Huhtamaki, Diversey & Zoono.
Woollahra is also the owner and operator of Australia’s only 100% Indigenous Owned, High Volume, Cleaning Chemical Manufacturing Company “Surekleen Products” which produces high quality, environmentally friendly chemicals from our local manufacturing facility in Malaga, WA.
How the Model Works:
What differentiates Woollahra from other distributors both locally and nationally, is our “Social Enterprise” Model.
As part of our commitment to our values, Woollahra creates meaningful joint venture partnerships with Traditional Landowner Corporations and NFP organisations on the lands we operate, and we share a % of revenue on every item sold to support Indigenous Community Initiatives including Health, Education, Employment and Building Business Capacity that actively aim to help “Close the Gap” on Indigenous Disadvantage.
Woollahra currently holds 15 Joint Venture Partnerships with determined Traditional Landowner Corporations or Businesses across WA as well as National Partnerships with NFP’s Maar Koodjal, Madalah Foundation, AIME, Fair Game & Soap Aid.
These partnerships involve Woollahra actively contributing a % of revenue for every item sold through our business to support our partners in providing better opportunities and pathways for Aboriginal People. Year to date, in 2022, Woollahra has contributed $120,000+ to our community partners to support initiatives that are creating better outcomes for First Nations People on the lands we operate.
The Woollahra “Social Enterprise” Model has been supported by our ever-growing customer base which already includes the supply of goods to over 75 mine sites Nationally and includes major customers such as Fortescue Metals Group, Rio Tinto, Civeo, Sodexo, ISS Facilities Services Australia & NZ, Compass Group, Alcoa, Mineral Resources, Westrac and Water Corp to name a few.
