r eco n ciliati on a ction plan · asaleo care’s tork brand has participated in the squeaky clean...

ReconciliationAction Plan

March 2020 – March 2021

Acknowledgement of Country

Asaleo Care acknowledges and honours Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, past, present, and future, and the many Countries they belong to and care for. We recognise the rich cultural diversity that exists across the areas we operate in, and that each area has its own language, Country and cultural protocols that deserve to be respected.

Reconciliation Action Plan 2

We will work to achieve the goals set out in our plan that aim to raise awareness and appreciation of the culture, history and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and consider activities to improve health equality and hygiene in indigenous communities and provide greater employment opportunities.

Our Company, with around 700 employees, operates in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Across every part of our business, we strive to create a diverse and inclusive environment.

Greater diversity in our workplace, which more closely reflects the diverse nature of our customers and consumers, improves our ability to solve key business problems and to harness new ideas and innovation that will build an even stronger and better company.

Message from the CEO and Managing Director

In developing our RAP, we reflected on what reconciliation means to us, shared our personal stories, and considered how our purpose of Care, Comfort and Confidence every day relates to our RAP activities.

To deliver on our RAP, we have established a Working Committee that will lead the way, driving our RAP activities throughout the organisation’s Australian business. The Committee will leverage the knowledge and experience of our colleagues who have worked with indigenous communities in New Zealand, Fiji and other Pacific Islands.

Our RAP journey has begun. We look forward to getting started and working toward achieving greater inclusion and new growth opportunities for all our Asaleo Care employees and the indigenous communities in which we operate.

We are proud to present Asaleo Care’s first Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). Our RAP outlines our commitment toward progressing reconciliation to strengthen our relationships and increase our understanding with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Sid Takla

CEO and Managing Director Asaleo Care


As a member of the RAP community, Asaleo Care joins over 1,000 dedicated corporate, government, and not-for-profit organisations that have formally committed to reconciliation through the RAP program since its inception in 2006. RAP organisations across Australia are turning good intentions into positive actions, helping to build higher trust, lower prejudice, and increase pride in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Reconciliation is no one single issue or agenda. Based on international research and benchmarking, Reconciliation Australia defines and measures reconciliation through five critical dimensions: race relations; equality and equity, institutional integrity; unity; and historical acceptance. All sections of the community—governments, civil society, the private sector, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities—have a role to play to progress these dimensions.

The RAP program provides a framework for organisations to advance reconciliation within their spheres of influence. This

Message from Reconciliation Australia

Reflect RAP provides Asaleo Care a roadmap to begin its reconciliation journey. Through implementing a Reflect RAP, Asaleo Care will lay the foundations for future RAPs and reconciliation initiatives.

We wish Asaleo Care well as it takes these first critical steps in its reconciliation journey. We encourage the organisation to embrace this journey with open hearts and minds, to grow from the challenges, and to build on the successes. As the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation reminded the nation in its final report:

“Reconciliation is hard work—it’s a long, winding and corrugated road, not a broad, paved highway. Determination and effort at all levels of government and in all sections of the community will be essential to make reconciliation a reality.”

On behalf of Reconciliation Australia, I commend Asaleo Care on its first RAP, and look forward to following its ongoing reconciliation journey.

Karen Mundine

Chief Executive Officer Reconciliation Australia

Reconciliation Australia is delighted to welcome Asaleo Care to the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) program and to formally endorse its inaugural Reflect RAP.


Asaleo Care is a leading, publicly-listed personal care and hygiene company that manufactures, markets, distributes and sells everyday personal care and hygiene products. Our portfolio of market-leading brands includes Libra, TENA, Tork, Treasures, Purex, Sorbent, Handee, Viti and Orchid.

The Company has 15 manufacturing and distribution facilities throughout Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Asaleo Care employs around 700 people who work together to offer products and services which provide care, comfort and confidence every day. At this time, we do not have information about the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples employed at the Company. However, through our RAP commitments, we intend to develop a greater understanding about the indigenous people within our organisation.

For more information visit www.asaleocare.com

Our Business

Australia 244 employees

1 Distribution centre Melbourne

2 Manufacturing facility Springvale Product Categories Feminine Care, Incontinence Care and Professional Hygiene Brands Libra, TENA and Tork

3 Distribution centre Sydney

4 Distribution centre Brisbane

5 Distribution centre Adelaide

6 Distribution centre Perth

New Zealand 352 employees

7 Distribution centre Auckland

8 Distribution centre Christchurch

9 Distribution centre Tauranga

10 Distribution centre Palmerston North

11 Manufacturing facility Te Rapa Product Category Baby Care Brands Treasures

12 Manufacturing facility Kawerau Product Categories Consumer Tissue and Professional HygieneBrands Sorbent, Handee, Purex and Tork

Fiji 92 employees

13 Distribution centre Labasa

14 Distribution centre Nadi

15 Manufacturing facility Nakasi Product Categories Consumer Tissue and Professional Hygiene Brands Orchid, Viti, Softly and Tork


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Our purpose is care, comfort and confidence and we deliver this every day through our products which are used in households and businesses across Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and the Pacific Islands.

Our Reconciliation Action Plan

We demonstrate a difference through market-leading product innovation, such as new product features, packaging and marketing, that adds value for our customers and consumers. We maintain an intense focus on delivering the best quality, value and benefit for our customers and our consumers.

Asaleo Care recognises the rich cultural diversity that exists in the regions where we operate. Each has its own culture and language that deserves to be respected. For it is through such diversity that our Company can innovate, grow and prosper.

At the start of 2018, in keeping with the Company’s Diversity policy, we began our process of developing Asaleo Care’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and established our RAP Working Group.

The RAP team explored actions we could take in our first year that will drive our Company’s contribution toward reconciliation to make positive, meaningful social change.

We are guided by our values:

Pride Integrity Courage

We know we are successful when we exceed our customers and consumers expectations and create a workplace where our people perform at their very best, every day.

We are embarking on our RAP journey to make an impact on race relations and historical acceptance with our employees and to explore the challenges and barriers of accessing and using hygiene products. With a focus on our purpose of delivering care, comfort and confidence, we aim to improve health and hygiene for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in incontinence, feminine care and hand hygiene.

We will look to encourage greater understanding among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and our employees by exploring opportunities to:

• Become a culturally welcoming environment

• Investigate ways to increase representation in the recruitment process

• Review supplier diversity and

• Consider ways to improve health outcomes within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through our products and services which provide care, comfort and confidence every day to thousands of Australians.

Asaleo Care recognises some of the unique challenges that many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples face. The commitments we have made in our RAP seek to play a small, but important part in addressing those challenges.

Our RAP will be championed by our Business-to-Business leadership and implemented by our RAP Working Group.


Trachoma is the most common cause of infectious blindness worldwide. Australia is the only developed country where trachoma still exists. The World Health Organisation adopted a resolution, to which Australia has signed and committed, to defeat the eye disease by 2020. The highest rates of trachoma are found in young children living in remote Aboriginal communities.

Our Partnerships

Asaleo Care’s Tork brand has participated in the Squeaky Clean Kids program through Soap Aid, a program partner. Squeaky Clean Kids aims to help reduce the incidence of trachoma by providing soap to communities at risk and promoting the importance of good hygiene.

Tork has donated more than 1,800 liquid soap dispensers and provided more than 5,500 litres of discounted soap refills into over 36 schools and community centres across Western Australia’s four regions of the Pilbara, Goldfields, Kimberley and the Midwest for more than two years.

Progress is being made and trachoma rates are falling as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities increase awareness and understanding of the issue and its prevention.


Asaleo Care understands the importance and value of building strong relationships with all our stakeholders – from our customers and consumers to our employees, shareholders, and our communities – based on mutual respect, openness and ongoing communications and transparency over our activities. It is only through respectful partnerships that we can strengthen the understanding and improve the outcomes and opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Actions Deliverable Responsibility Timeline

1 Build internal and external relationships

• Connect with like-minded organisations in our industry to assist with our reconciliation journey

RAP Working Group Chair April 2020

• Reach out to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations within our local area and sphere of influence to connect with on our reconciliation journey

B2B Communications Manager April 2020

• Support Victoria’s reconciliation council B2B Communications Manager April 2020

2 Participate in and celebrate National Reconciliation Week (NRW)

• Host an event to celebrate NRW for employees to attend Corporate Communications Manager May/June 2020

• Encourage employees to attend an external NRW event Corporate Communications Manager June 2020

• Circulate Reconciliation Australia’s NRW resources and reconciliation materials to employees via Intranet

Corporate Communications Manager June 2020

• Ensure our RAP Working Group participates in an external event to recognise and celebrate NRW and inform via social media and internal communications

RAP Working Group Chair June 2020

3 Raise internal awareness of our RAP

• Develop and implement a communications plan to raise awareness among employees across the organisation about our RAP commitments

RAP Working Group Chair & Corporate Communications Manager

April 2020

• Develop and implement a plan to engage and inform key internal stakeholders of their responsibilities within our RAP

RAP Working Group Chair April 2020

4 Raise external awareness of our RAP

• Post content about our RAP actions on our Company website Corporate Communications Manager April 2020

• Post content about our RAP actions with our TENA Coordinator Facebook group

B2B Communications Manager April 2020

• Post content about our RAP actions on Tork’s LinkedIn page B2B Communications Manager April 2020

5 Promote positive race relations through anti-discrimination strategies

• Research best practice and policies in areas of race relations and anti-discrimination

HR Manager Sept 2020

• Conduct a review of HR Policies and procedures to identify existing anti-discrimination provisions and future needs


Relationships


Asaleo Care is respectful of the rights, lands, culture and needs of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in the countries where we operate. We recognize the importance of addressing local community needs and respecting their priorities, the value of local insight and the flexibility needed to make a difference at the local level.

We have a long-standing partnership with the local Iwi in New Zealand who supplies our Kawerau facility with geothermal steam which we use to manufacture our products. We respect the health and wellbeing of our communities and work to minimize any negative environmental effect from our operations. By using geothermal steam in our manufacturing process, we are also able to reduce our carbon footprint by 46 per cent.

In the Pacific Islands, we provide support to our local communities through health and hygiene educational programs. Asaleo Care is also known for volunteering and providing aid during times of disaster.

Through our corporate sustainability programs, we aim to help support a more sustainable society through our products and business operations. We recognise our responsibility to respect human rights and are committed to eliminate modern slavery within our supply chain and source goods and services free from the exploitation of workers.

Respect


6 Investigate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural learning and development within Asaleo Care

• Develop a business case for increasing awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, histories and achievements within our organisation


• Capture data and measure our employees’ current level of knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, histories and achievements

HR Manager Jan 2021

• Conduct a review of our organisation’s cultural awareness training needs within our organisation

HR Manager March 2021

7 Participate in and celebrate NAIDOC Week

• Raise awareness and share information amongst our employees of the meaning of NAIDOC Week which includes information about the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities

Corporate Communications Manager

July 2020

• Introduce our staff to NAIDOC Week by promoting community events in our local area


June/July 2020

• Ensure our RAP Working Group participates in an external NAIDOC Week event

RAP Working Group Chair July 2020

8 Raise internal understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural protocols

• Explore who the Traditional Owners are of the lands and waters in our local area


March 2020

• Scope and develop a list of local Traditional Owners of the lands and waters within our organisations sphere of influence


March 2020

• Develop and implement a plan to raise awareness and understanding of the meaning and significance behind Acknowledgement of Country and Welcome to Country protocols (including any local cultural protocols)


June 2020

9 Create a culturally safe and welcoming environment

• Explore opportunities to conduct a review of the level of cultural safety within our organisation

HR Manager Aug 2020

• Purchase and display the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags in our offices


June 2020

• Investigate opportunities to purchase and display Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artwork in our offices


June 2020


As a Company, we are committed to creating opportunities for greater diversity and inclusion. We are all different and by embracing our differences, we can harness new ideas and innovation that will build an even stronger and better company. This includes providing equal employment and economic opportunities, access to services and facilities and an environment of inclusiveness to encourage every employee and member within the communities where we operate to fully participate as they choose.

Opportunities


10 Investigate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

• Develop a business case for increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment within our organisation

RAP Working Group Chair Oct 2020

• Identify current Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to inform future employment and development opportunities.

HR Manager July 2020

• Investigate opportunities to increase the representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders during the recruitment process


• Investigate opportunities to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in our graduate or technical traineeship programs


11 Investigate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander supplier diversity

• Develop an understanding of the mutual benefits of procurement from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander owned businesses

Procurement Manager June 2020

• Develop a business case for procurement from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander owned businesses

Procurement Manager Aug 2020

12 Investigate Pro bono activities that promote health and hygiene within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

• Continue sponsorship of Soap Aid program that provides soap and education in remote communities to reduce infectious diseases such as trachoma

B2B Communications Manager May 2020


Opportunities continued


13 Investigate opportunities to increase pro bono activities to help improve economic opportunities and build institutional integrity

• Investigate potential to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cleaning and food service companies in our industry with hygiene compliance training

Tork National Distributor Manager

April 2020

• Investigate potential to provide commercial price support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cleaning and food service companies in our industry

Tork National Distributor Manager

April 2020

14 Investigate opportunities to increase pro bono activities to improve health equality and equity

• Investigate potential to provide hygiene upgrades with free dispensers for schools to improve hygiene and health outcomes for students

B2B Communications Manager

Oct 2020

• Investigate potential to provide Libra Girl feminine hygiene education and sample packs to prepare girls for menstruation

Libra Brand Manager Oct 2020

• Investigate potential to provide incontinence health support materials for community health centres to help manage incontinence and improve quality of life

TENA Health Care Marketing Manager

Oct 2020

15 Develop insights into the barriers and challenges of using hygiene products and the potential to improve health and hygiene outcomes

• Investigate whether there are any cultural differences between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Australians using products in our categories (female sanitary pads and tampons, incontinence pads and soaps and hand towels for hand hygiene)


April 2020

• Investigate the barriers and challenges that maybe associated with accessing, using and disposing products in urban, rural and remote areas

Libra Brand Manager July 2020

• Identify opportunities for potential hygiene and health improvements and how best to communicate this


Nov 2020

• Use the insights to understand where we can make a meaningful impact and use to develop our future RAP plans and activities

Libra Brand Manager Nov 2020


The benefit of any corporate program is only as good as the system in place to report and monitor the progress. Asaleo Care recognises the need for good governance and the importance of honouring our commitments. It is our intention to regularly measure the outputs and outcomes of our RAP program as we progress, and provide periodic updates as appropriate and required.

Governance and tracking


16 RAP Working Group • Establish a quarterly meeting program RAP Working Group Chair March 2020

• Oversee the development, endorsement and launch of the RAP RAP Working Group Chair April 2020

• Establish Terms of Reference for the RWG RAP Working Group Chair May 2020

• Invite Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to participate in the RWG


• Establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advisory committee

RAP Working Group Chair Feb 2021

17 Provide appropriate support for effective implementation of RAP commitments

• Define resource needs for RAP implementation RAP Working Group Chair April 2020

• Present RAP progress updates to the Executive Leadership Team RAP Working Group Chair April 2020

18 Build accountability and transparency through reporting RAP achievements, challenges and learnings both internally and externally

• Complete and submit the annual RAP Impact Measurement Questionnaire to Reconciliation Australia

RAP Working Group Chair Sept 2020

19 Continue our reconciliation journey by developing our next RAP

• Register via Reconciliation Australia’s website to begin developing our next RAP

RAP Working Group Chair Jan 2021

20 Understanding the state of reconciliation

• Participate in the next Australian Reconciliation Barometer RAP Working Group Chair May 2020


Reconciliation Action Plan inquiries:

Rochelle Lake, Head of Marketing B2B

03 9549 3529

[email protected]

r eco n ciliati on a ction plan · asaleo care’s tork brand has participated in the squeaky clean...

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