Keysborough civil construction company Wara Paring Civil has been recognised as a Social and Economic Justice Industry Leader in the 2021 Victorian Sustainability Awards in a virtual awards ceremony held last month.
The awards, now in their 19th year, recognise Victorians across the state who demonstrated leadership and innovation in sustainable practices.
Wara Paring worked in collaboration with Melbourne Water and Aqua Metro Services and provided an 18-month training program for young indigenous people to join the civil construction industry, with a goal to create a 100 per cent Indigenous-owned civil construction business.
In April 2021 the project came to fruition with the establishment of Wara Paring Civil Construction Pty Ltd.
Wara Paring director Leon Egan said the award was one step on a much longer path for the organisation.
“We’ve got an amazing opportunity in collaboration with Melbourne Water and Aqua Metro Services right now,” Egan said.
“We’re looking at purchasing a second truck, then a third, fourth truck, who knows by the end of next year, and increasing our footprint, hopefully, in the water industry and staying in the water industry. That’s a service provider industry and an industry that’s going to be around forever, and there’s a need for this type of machinery in that industry on a daily basis.
“We have one casual employee at the moment and whole idea is, as we grow and develop we will be able to offer opportunities for young Indigenous people to work in the civil construction industry.”
Wara Paring is a Wemba Wemba word meaning ‘come walk the path together’, and in this instance Egan is walking with former Doveton Football Club teammates Daniel Charles and David George.
Doveton has been considered a club of choice for Aboriginal players in the region for a long time because of the “cultural safety” it provided.
Charles worked as a plumber after completing his apprenticeship and spent some time as a borer before joining Wara Paring, while George worked in the fields of horticulture, landscaping and construction.
Charles said that he could not have envisaged this opportunity arising when the trio were representing the Doves.
“To think that we’ve got a business together now and creating an opportunity for others is fantastic,” he said.
Egan has worked with a number of organisations over the years including Victoria Police and the AFL Players Association which provided him the opportunity to work with young Aboriginal people.
Through Wara Paring, he wanted to address a gap in the market where there was a void of Indigenous engineers.
“Aboriginal people are extremely under-represented in civil construction industry,” he said.
“There’s no role-modelling. They visibly can’t see Aboriginal people working as engineers and they can’t be what they can’t see.
“Through Wara Paring, Aboriginal young people become operators of non-destructive digging equipment and if they want to further careers in industry there’s pathways to do so.”
Non-destructive digging involves the use of high-powered water pressure equipment to break apart dirt and soil and expose utilities and assets underground.
It’s a safer practice than “blindly digging”, according to Egan, and the raw materials washed-away in the process are placed into a truck and taken to a recycling plant to create top soil, packing sand and rock, among other products.
Their trucks have the capacity to store 8000 litres of dirt and soil broken apart by the pressured water, and 4000 litres of water to facilitate the digging.
Non-destructive digging is also more respectful to the land compared to excavating, something significant to Indigenous culture.
“Being 100 per cent Aboriginal owned, one important thing was to maintain significant responsibility to care for the land which was passed down by family members,” Egan said.
“I don’t know any different. It was drilled in from my Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles to protect the land.”
Sustainability Victoria Chief Executive, Claire Ferres Miles congratulated the winners, recognising the outstanding calibre of entries received.
“We received inspiring entries for this year’s Premier’s Sustainability Awards across multiple sectors and industries, and our 2021 winners are role models for all Victorians and across Australia,” Ms Ferres Miles said.
“Sustainability Victoria is proud to be showcasing the extraordinary achievements of Victoria’s innovators, as together we accelerate our transition to a circular, climate-resilient clean economy.”
