About two weeks ago Yarralin Community Store had its first licencing check with the National Indigenous Australian’s Agency since management of the store was taken over by Aboriginal Investment Group.
A store check is an important part of the compliance process and involves government officers from NIAA coming into the store armed with a checklist and a mandate to find things in the store that need fixing.
“They are checking for things like the range of products on the shelves, cleanliness of the store, cost of products, as well as ticketing on all items to make sure it is clear what they cost, and that they scan at the same price at the register. They also want to know about the number of Indigenous staff working, the range of fruit and vegetables in store and spot checks for out of date produce” explained Carol Brown, the Area Manager for AIG.
A+ score card
Out of extensive checklist used by NIAA at all stores, Yarralin only presented three minor issues that needed to be fixed. To put that into perspective, the NIAA officers explained the best store they had seen prior to Yarralin had 21 issues that needed to be fixed. According the same checking system, Yarralin had only three things.
The officers were very impressed as they struggled to find anything that needed fixing in the store. “They were saying it was extremely unusual to have so few issues to be addressed their report” said Carol.
Hard work pays off
In an email from NIAA, AIG was told “the visit was very positive, and your store managers were helpful, and the store presented well”.
From Carol’s perspective, feedback like that makes all the hard work worthwhile. “It is a huge effort to get that sort of feedback, the team put lots and lots of hard work into the store and it makes a difference”.
Store owner and manager unite
The store is owned by the local Walangeri Ngumpinku Aboriginal Corporation and AIG took over managing the store in June 2020 after the locals pushed to end their management contract with RMS.
AIG believes the key to a well-functioning stores is to share the responsibility between owners and the managers. In the case of Yarralin, both groups have worked hard to install a sense of community pride in the store which motivates staff and acts as an example to visitors to what can be achieved when the best interests of the community are the priority.
