Coates partners with Kinaway

Coates has established a new partnership with the Kinaway Chamber of Commerce, who represent the Victorian Indigenous economy, as part of Coates’ ongoing commitment to reconciliation and its collaborations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Chambers of Commerce nationally.

Coates is Australia’s leading equipment hire and solutions provider, operating across a range of markets including engineering, mining and resources, infrastructure, manufacturing, construction, agriculture and major events.

With a national footprint of over 150 branches, more than one million pieces of equipment and over 1,900 highly skilled employees, Coates Hire provides expert equipment solutions for nearly 19,000 customers. This includes end-to-end solutions for temporary works, traffic management, water management, industrial shutdowns, maintenance, training services and events.

The role of Kinaway is to deliver business support and advice to Victorian Aboriginal, businesspeople while also improving the visibility and networks of Aboriginal businesses.

The chamber also provides recognised certification ensuring that at least 50% of each member’s business is indigenously owned that they create employment opportunities for Aboriginal people living in Victoria and adhere to local and social indigenous procurement targets.

As a new partner, Coates’ journey to develop and strengthen respectful relationships and business opportunities with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is enhanced but also aligns with both the group and Kinaway’s mandate to increase indigenous employee participation and procurement of Victorian indigenous goods and services.

Coates has always been about relationships – with each other, with its customers and the communities in which it operates. Coates recognise that it’s part of a community that has existed for over 60,000 years and it is committed to developing respectful relationships and creating meaningful opportunities with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and aim to increase employee participation and continue to support local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses through the procurement of goods and services.

This is demonstrated by the partnership Coates has established with the Clontarf foundation, a national foundation of academies for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men, that optimises training and youth employment opportunities. It is another example in which the group is committed to indigenous empowerment and employment from an early age. The financial commitment Coates made was matched by the state and federal governments and it will help over 120 indigenous students finish school during the partnership.

Coates also launched its Reconciliation Action Plan in November 2020 and as part of the Coates commitment to reconciliation, it has established partnerships with the peak indigenous chambers across NSW, VIC and WA.

Coates’ ongoing mission to engage with and improve its relationships with Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders and their acknowledgement of the traditional owners groups across the land, make them an ideal and supportive partner for Kinaway.