Leading Western Australian Indigenous contractor, NPJV, has won the 2018 AMMA National Indigenous Employment and Retention Award, in recognition of its impressive employee retention rate and innovative business model.
AMMA is the national representative for Australia’s resources, energy and supply industry employers.
The award recognises an organisation that has embraced training and employment initiatives resulting in the successful engagement of Indigenous Australians.
NPJV is less than 2 years old and started with only three employees and an ambitious plan to introduce a new concept in Native Title contracting.
The company now employs 60 people and has secured more than $15 million in contracts.
It has also helped establish four businesses run by Njamal families with the aim of each company eventually being a stand-alone enterprise.
The Njamal People partnered with highly respected Pilbara Resource Group Pty Ltd (PRG) to help make their vision of a professional, financially astute contracting business a reality.
They formed the unincorporated Njamal People Joint Venture (NPJV) with a focus on continuous, rigorous training, and a robust management framework to support Indigenous workers to deliver quality services to Western Australia’s mining and construction sectors, now and in the future.
A team of technical and governance professionals drive the company with specialist knowledge and insight into what it takes to meet the demands of major miners and contracting firms based in the mineral-rich Pilbara region.
Managing Director, Scott Dryland, who travelled to Melbourne alongside Njamal Traditional Owner Elizabeth Walker to accept the award at AMMA’s Centenary celebration said it was a significant acknowledgement for the Njamal People and their aspiration to be industry leaders.
“In a very short period of time NPJV has demonstrated that a strategically operated business which recognises the values of Indigenous people and strives for optimum professionalism can be commercially and culturally successful,” he said.
AMMA chief executive Steve Knott said the NPJV journey was truly remarkable.
“NPJV now employs a high percent of local Njamal People and it competes forand wins work based on its professional business model.”
“These employers are vitally important to providing jobs in local, remote communities, while also developing much-needed skills and offering important capability and training opportunities.”
It’s important that the resources industry continues to develop opportunities for Indigenous people in remote areas and NPJV is leading the way with its initiatives to give them the skills and opportunities needed for a future in the sector,” he said.
Pilbara Resource Group has also been approached by other Title Owner Groups requesting help to replicate their business model through Indigenous Contracting.