We’ve been clear about our intention to grow the Remote Laundries Project from the start, but with growth it’s normal for doubt to creep in. Will the laundry work so well in other communities? Will locals want to work there? What if people don’t use it?
In June this year our third laundry was launched in Angurugu on Groote Eylandt, and it turns out our concerns were completely unfounded – talk about popular!! Within its first five weeks of operations there have been over 1,000 cycles completed at the laundry. To put that into perspective, the machines can only do 56 cycles during the opening hours if all machines are running constantly. To have reached the milestone of 1,000 cycles that quickly means all machines were running for up to five hours out of every six hour day the laundry was open.
Those on the ground were never in doubt
Groote Eylandt Aboriginal Trust (GEAT) own the laundry, and Remote Laundries manage operations. Keshena Wilson, General Manager at GEAT says she isn’t surprised by the popularity. “Our board believed the laundry was a smarter use of money and a better solution to improving health outcomes”.
Local employment holds the key to success
GEAT and Remote Laundries worked together to find staff for the laundry. “We carried out a small awareness campaign in Angurugu, promoting the laundry and the job opportunities it presents. GEAT managed the applicant process, and we carried out staff training at our Casuarina laundry in June and the onboarding process in Angurugu” explained Jaime Asher, General Manager of Remote Laundries Project.
Employment of locals is an important feature of the Remote Laundries model and something that we believe contributes to the success of the project more broadly.
Keshena explains employing locals provided the community buy in needed to drive support for the laundry. “People are proud of their job and proud of their laundry. Even if people come late with their washing they’re not turned away. There is a sense of wanting to look after family”.
Remote Laundries Project Officer Brittany Ciupka says its human nature to want to make a meaningful contribution to your community. “We know that there are few jobs available in remote communities, but the desire for a job is there. We’ve seen it in Barunga since the day we launched and now we’re seeing it in Angurugu. There is a great amount of pride in working at the laundry and providing an important service”.
Growth saves money in the long run
GEAT have bought two more laundries, one to go on Bickerton Island at the end of the year and one to go in Umbakumba in 2022. This forms part of the plan to have eight more laundries throughout the NT by the end of 2022.
As we keep growing, we know our laundries will provide substantial benefits in health, quality of life, and economic development for Aboriginal people living in remote communities.
An aspect of our project which is less understood is the benefit to the broader Australian community through cost savings to the Commonwealth. In a nutshell, if money is not needed because of improvements to health and quality of life for Aboriginal Australian’s, it can be used elsewhere. KPMG recently completed a cost saving analysis showing total net benefit of $72M over five years with seven laundries (https://www.remotelaundries.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Remote-Laundries-Project-Cost-benefit-Analysis.pdf).
The ongoing work for the Remote Laundries team is finding partners who share our vision because the ongoing operational costs of each laundry are too great for us to manage on our own. If you think your corporation would be interested in partnering with us, please get in touch (details below), or check out our partnerships page on the website https://www.remotelaundries.org.au/partnerships/
Jaime Asher, General Manager
(08) 8922 2666
Brittany Ciupka, Project Officer
0420 840 494
