Ashburton Aboriginal Corporation
Building a positive workforce through Indigenous enterprise
The Ashburton Aboriginal Corporation (AAC) was formed in 2000 to promote the interests of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Shire of Ashburton. From humble beginnings, AAC has grown to be a responsive and forward-thinking organisation delivering a wide range of services to job seekers, Indigenous communities and the broader Pilbara region.
With its head office at Tom Price, and offices in Newman, Hedland, Onslow, Marble Bar and Perth, AAC owns and operates a number of enterprises, including Ashoil, Ashmulla Pastoral Company, Onslow Tyres and Mechanical Services and Ashburton Distribution and Logistics. One of AAC’s focuses is on finding and creating culturally appropriate employment, education and training opportunities for Aboriginal people in the Pilbara.
Sodexo became involved with AAC in 2016 and has supported the organisation in the growth of its fresh oil sales and maintenance of its biodiesel production through the provision of raw materials. Since then, Sodexo has spent more than $2.5M purchasing cooking oil from Ash Oil.
Ashoil collects used cooking oil from Sodexo's camps across the Pilbara region. This waste is then converted into biodiesel. Biodiesel produced by Ashoil is sold under contract to Rio Tinto Iron Ore for use in their drill and blast operations, supporting a reduction of thousands of tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Through the various enterprises that have been established by AAC, like Yurrama Water, we’ve seen many Indigenous people begin to find their place in corporate Australia. Sodexo provided the business partnership needed for Yurrama Water to become commercially viable.
Our partnership with Sodexo has had untold benefits due to their commitment to supporting Indigenous culture. It’s hard to believe that one conversation with the Sodexo team in 2019 could have resulted in such outcomes.
