Indigenous Employment/Alliance

Outback Trees of Australia (OTA) have had a close involvement with Mining and Aboriginal communities dating back to 1959 with the arrival in Marble Bar of Denis O’Meara, a director and consultant to Outback Trees. This has led to a lifelong involvement with Indigenous people in the Pilbara region, covering exploration, mining & landscaping activities.

OTA has been a major employer of Indigenous people since our inception in 1990. (During the 1990’s, up to 15 Aboriginal people were employed during a 5 year Garden Maintenance & Landscaping contract for BHP at Port Hedland).

Owner / Manager, Damon O’Meara, has a Bachelor of Education Degree specialising in Aboriginal Education & has run a number of Indigenous training schemes in the Pilbara region for various groups/companies (including BHP) in the Pilbara region since our inception.

OTA has formed an alliance (by way of a MOU) with Ngarliyarndu Bindirri Aboriginal Corporation (NBAC) – Brida Pty Ltd, an Indigenous group based in Roebourne, with the aim of providing employment to Indigenous personnel on our Pilbara contracts, to provide them with training and skills in horticultural and irrigation techniques through working on major landscape projects.

The skills and knowledge involve many areas from all health, safety and environmental aspects of the project, through to plant ID, planting, designing and installing commercial irrigation systems through to machinery competencies and relevant certificates.

This alliance will help to solve some of our employee requirements, and provide real benefits for an Indigenous group that is looking to expand on its capabilities in the Pilbara region.